JAMAICAN BAKERY RECIPES

Steps:

• Combine the milk and 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) water in a small saucepan and heat until lukewarm, 110 to 116 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Transfer milk mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add brown sugar and yeast and stir to combine; set aside 5 minutes. (The yeast should look foamy. If it doesn’t foam, discard and try again with different yeast.)
• Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Using the dough hook attachment on your mixer, stir in all but 1 cup of the flour. Mix in salt. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, thoroughly mixing after each addition and scraping down the bowl before adding the next. Add the remaining 1 cup flour and mix on low speed, stopping once or twice to pull the dough off the hook, about 5 minutes, or until the dough is glossy, pulls away from the side of the bowl and has gathered in a ball on the hook.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 2 hours. The dough will double in size. Stir the puffed dough with a spoon to deflate, then re-cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
• Remove dough from refrigerator and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in the pearl sugar (or your homemade version) a little at a time. The dough will be stiff but will become more pliable as it warms. Cut dough into 16 equal pieces with a bench scraper or chef’s knife and return to the refrigerator.
• Heat your waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Working with 1 or 2 balls of dough at a time (leave the rest in the refrigerator), arrange on the waffle iron and cook until golden brown all over, 2 to 5 minutes depending on your iron. Use tongs to transfer waffles to a baking sheet or cooling rack. Some of the sugar will melt out of the waffles and collect in your iron, adding an extra layer of glossy molten sugar to each waffle as you continue. Serve waffles warm.

Steps:

• Generously butter the inside of a 7-inch round springform pan. Mix the graham cracker crumbs and the melted butter in a medium bowl, then pour this mixture into the prepared pan. Press this mixture evenly across the bottom and about halfway up the sides of the pan to make a crust.
• Put the cream cheese and sugar in a food processor, cover, and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the eggs one at a time, processing each until smooth. Open the machine, scrape down the inside, and add the sour cream. Cover and process until smooth.
• Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt (if using). Process again until smooth — and again, stop the machine and scrape down the inside. Add the flour and process for 1 minute. Pour this mixture into the prepared crust in the pan (it will rise above the crust on the sides). Do not cover the pan.
• Pour 1 1/2 cups water into a 6-or 8-quart cooker. Set a heat- and pressure-safe trivet in the cooker. Make an aluminum foil sling, set the filled springform pan on it, and use it to lower the pan into the pot. Fold down the ends of the sling so that they do not touch the batter in the pan. Lock the lid onto the pot.
• Press Pressure cook (Manual) on High pressure for 25 minutes with the Keep Warm setting off.
• When the machine has finished cooking, turn it off and let its pressure return to normal naturally, about 20 minutes. Unlatch the lid and open the cooker. Use the sling to transfer the hot springform pan to a wire rack. Cool for 15 minutes, then refrigerate for 1 hour. Cover and continue refrigerating for at least 1 more hour or up to 2 days.
• To serve, uncover and run a thin knife between the pan and the cake. Unlatch the sides of the pan and open it to remove the cake inside. If desired, use a long, thin knife to slice the cake off the pan’s base and use a large metal spatula to transfer the cheesecake to a serving platter.