Jamaican Patties

One bite of this savoury pastry will send you to the Caribbean. 

The Cornish pasty's tropical cousin, Jamaican patties are made with spicy ground beef wrapped in a satisfying flaky crust. And in case you need an extra kick, you can serve it with a Scotch bonnet pepper sauce.

Jamaican patties were the Technical Bake for Spice Week in Season 7 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

Jamaican Patties

Ingredients

Dough:

• 3⅓ cups (480 g) all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp Jamaican curry powder
• 1 tbsp tumeric powder
• 1 cup (135 g) grated beef suet, frozen
• ⅔ cup (115 g) shortening, frozen
• ¾ cup plus 2 tbsp water, very cold (and as needed)

Filling:

• 1 yellow onion, large
• 3 to 4 scallions (45 g)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 (1-inch) chunk ginger (6 g), peeled
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, picked
• 1 Scotch bonnet pepper, seeded
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• ¾ tsp ground allspice
• 3 tsp Jamaican curry powder
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp all-purpose seasoning
• 1 tsp monosodium glutamate
• 454 g medium ground beef
• 1 cup chicken stock, no salt added
• ⅔ cup (68 g) plain bread crumbs, dry
• 4 tbsp (60 g) unsalted butter, cold, cubed
• 1 egg white
• 2 tsp water
• All-purpose flour for dusting

Pepper Sauce:

• 5 to 9 Scotch bonnet peppers, seeded (to taste)
• 6 scallions , white part only (45 g)
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup water
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• ¼ tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp kosher salt

Preparation

Dough:

Heat oven to 400 F. 

Pulse flour, salt, sugar and spices in a food processor until well-combined. Add suet and shortening, and pulse a few more times until shortening is broken down into small pieces and suet and shortening are well-distributed. Pulse while drizzling in cold water, and continue pulsing until dough just comes together, taking care not to overprocess (you want to see pieces of suet in the yellow dough).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until cohesive (without dry crumbly bits or wet sticky parts). Put dough in a bowl in the fridge and let it rest for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 12 even portions, weighing 85 grams each. Roll each portion into a tight ball, place on a lightly floured half-sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge while you make the filling. 

Filling:

Process onions, scallions, garlic, ginger, thyme and Scotch bonnet pepper in a food processor until finely chopped. 

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add onion mixture. Increase heat to medium-high, add salt, spices, seasoning and monosodium glutamate, and sauté until onions have softened and liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. 

Add ground beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until beef is fully browned, stirring often, about 5 minutes. 

Add chicken stock and stir, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and add bread crumbs and butter. Mix until bread crumbs have absorbed any remaining liquid and butter has melted. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Scrape the filling onto a sheet pan and spread evenly. Chill in the fridge while you roll out the dough.

Assembly:

Place a ball of chilled dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a circle that is ¼ inch thick and 6 inches wide. 

Place a scant ¼ cup (60 g) filling on one half of a pastry circle. Fold the pastry over the filling to form a half-moon shape and gently press with your hand to evenly distribute the filling and to seal, then trim the edges. Crimp the edges with the tip of a fork. Continue with the remaining pastry and filling. Place the patties on a large parchment-lined baking sheet. You will have leftover filling.

In a small bowl, gently whisk together egg white and water. Brush egg wash on the patties. 

Bake the patties until light golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.

Pepper Sauce:

Wearing disposable gloves, seed peppers. Purée all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour mixture into a saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until sauce has thickened and reduced by half, about 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, and pour into a serving dish. 

Makes 12 patties and ¾ cup pepper sauce