Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Cocoa Tea and Fried Bakes
Spiced local cocoa simmered into a rich, cinnamon-scented "tea," served with hot fried bakes, breakfast on the Spice Isle.
Grenadian · medium · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 20 min
~497 cal · 13g protein · 76g carbs · 18g fat · 7g fiber · 19g sugars · 5g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Cocoa tea and fried bakes is a classic breakfast on Grenada, the Spice Isle, where cocoa is grown on the hillsides and worked into rustic sticks or balls of pure ground cacao. Despite the name, cocoa tea is a rich, spiced hot chocolate, not a leaf tea.
The local cocoa is grated and simmered with water, cinnamon, bay, and nutmeg, then sweetened and enriched with milk, releasing a deep, aromatic chocolate flavour a world away from powdered mixes. Alongside it come bakes, soft rounds of dough fried until puffed and golden.
The hot, spiced cocoa and the warm fried bread are made for dunking. Cocoa tea and bakes is a comforting Grenadian morning ritual, a delicious showcase of the island's most famous crop.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
1/2 cup local cocoa (grated) or cocoa powder
1 stick cinnamon
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 cups milk
2 cups flour (for the bakes)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3 cups , for frying
Instructions
1
Simmer the grated cocoa with the water, cinnamon, bay, and nutmeg for 10 minutes, until deeply fragrant.
✎ Chef’s note
Grating a real cocoa stick (rather than using powder) is what makes island cocoa tea rich and spiced. Simmer it long enough to release the oils and aroma.
2
Add the milk and sugar and heat through without letting it boil hard, then strain into cups.
3
For the bakes, mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, and water into a soft dough and shape into rounds.
4
Fry the bakes in hot oil until puffed and golden, and serve hot with the cocoa tea for dipping.
Grenadian Spice Isle tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
St. George's. Oil down is named for what happens at the end. Breadfruit, salted meat, callaloo and dumplings simmer in coconut milk until the liquid has gone entirely and only the oil that separated out is left in the bottom of the pot, and that is the point at which it is ready.
🗺️
Grenada. The spice trade is real but it is also a recovering one. Hurricane Ivan destroyed most of Grenada's nutmeg trees in 2004 and the industry has only partly come back, so present-tense claims about its ranking need checking. Cocoa tea, made by grating a stick of local cocoa into water with spice and sweetening it, is the breakfast drink.
🌍
North America. The most consequential technique on this continent is nixtamalisation, cooking maize with lime or wood ash. It loosens the skins, makes the dough that becomes tortillas and tamales, and frees up niacin the body cannot otherwise absorb, which is why maize spread around the world without the technique and took pellagra with it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Grenada
Oil DownGrenada's one-pot national dish: breadfruit, salted meat, dumplings, and callaloo cooked down in coconut milk and turmeric.
Grenadian Nutmeg Ice CreamA cool, creamy ice cream fragrant with fresh-grated nutmeg, showcasing the spice that defines the Isle of Spice.
Grenadian Fish BrothA restorative Saturday soup of fresh fish, green figs, and provisions simmered with dumplings, coconut, and island spice.
Browse all Grenada recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Grenada meal
Cocoa TeaDrink
Grenadian Nutmeg Ice CreamDessert
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Cocoa Tea and Fried Bakes?
Spiced local cocoa simmered into a rich, cinnamon-scented "tea," served with hot fried bakes, breakfast on the Spice Isle.
Where does Cocoa Tea and Fried Bakes come from?
Cocoa Tea and Fried Bakes is a Grenadian dish from St. George's, Grenada.
Can Cocoa Tea and Fried Bakes be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Cocoa Tea and Fried Bakes recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Cocoa Tea and Fried Bakes safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Cocoa Tea and Fried Bakes take to make?
About 40 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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