Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (2024)

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This Jamaican Festival recipe is a homemade version of the popular Jamaican snack. Made with a few simple ingredients, this delicious fried sweet dough is the perfect side dish for your favorite Jamaican recipes.

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (1)

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When I say festival, I don’t mean a party. But then again, it’s always a party when I show up with my homemade festival! Ha! All jokes aside, this Jamaican festival recipe is the truth and I worked on it to make sure it was as delicious as the ones I had as a child.

Jamaican festival is a sweet fried dough made with cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, vanilla extract, and milk. The dough comes together quite easily and all you have to do is deep fry it. It goes well with some of my favorite Jamaican recipes like rasta pasta, jerk chicken, ackee and saltfish, or escovitch fish.

How to make Jamaican Festival

First, gather your ingredients. You’ll want to start heating a heavy bottom pot of oil that has at least 3 inches of oil in it or use a deep fryer if you have one. Turn the heat over medium heat until the temperature reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (2)

Prepare your festival dough by adding the all-purpose flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl and stirring to combine.

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (3)

Add the vanilla extract and milk and stir until the dough comes together. Then use your hands to lightly form the mixture into a ball.

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Pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into long oval shapes. Make about 12 dumplings.

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Once the oil has reached the temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit, fry the dough on all sides, until golden brown. This should take about 4-6 minutes.

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Remove dough and drain off any excess grease.

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Serve and enjoy.

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What does festival taste like?

Festival is like a combination of sweet cornbread and hushpuppies mixed together. It’s light and fluffy and sweetened to perfection.

Notes on Jamaican Festival

  • Make sure your oil is set to the proper temperature for deep frying. I use a thermometer to ensure my oil is at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Festival is best eaten when it’s made. The dough can be made a day ahead.
  • The amount of milk added may depend on the brand of flour used. You may need a little more or a little less. Slowly stir in the milk until the flour is moistened and can easily form into a ball of dough.
  • I don’t recommend making festival in an air fryer. I tried and it was not as good.

Looking for other Jamaican recipes? Try these out:

  • Jamaican Fried Dumpling
  • Oxtail
  • Curry Chicken
  • Curry Goat
  • Brown Stew Chicken

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (9)

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4.87 from 15 votes

Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe

This Jamaican Festival recipe is a homemade version of the popular Jamaican snack. Made with a few simple ingredients, this delicious fried sweet dough is the perfect side dish for your favorite Jamaican recipes.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Caribbean

Keyword jamaican festival, jamaican festival recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 minutes minutes

Total Time 16 minutes minutes

Servings 12 dumplings

Calories 117kcal

Author Tanya

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup fine cornmeal
  • 6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup milk a little less or more may be needed, see notes
  • Oil for deep frying*

Instructions

  • Heat a heavy bottom pot of oil that has at least 3 inches of oil in it or use a deep fryer if you have one. Turn the heat over medium heat until the temperature reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

  • Add the all-purpose flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl and stir to combine.

  • Add the vanilla extract and milk and stir until the dough comes together. Then use your hands to lightly form the mixture into a ball.

  • Pinch off pieces of dough and roll them into long oval shapes. Make about 12 dumplings.

  • Once the oil has reached the temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit, fry the dough on all sides, until golden brown. This should take about 4-6 minutes.

  • Remove dough and drain off any excess grease. Serve and enjoy.

Notes

  • Make sure your oil is set to the proper temperature for deep frying. I use a thermometer to ensure my oil is at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Festival is best eaten when it’s made. The dough can be made a day ahead.
  • The amount of milk added may depend on the brand of flour used. You may need a little more or a little less. Slowly stir in the milk until the flour is moistened and can easily form into a ball of dough.
  • I don’t recommend making festival in an air fryer. I tried and it was not as good.

Nutrition

Calories: 117kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 105mg | Potassium: 126mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 25IU | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 1mg

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Jamaican Festival (Sweet Dumpling) Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are Jamaican dumplings made of? ›

The dumplings are typically made of all-purpose flour, though sometimes cornmeal is added. Shaping them is a fun and quick project that kids can take part in too.

What's the difference between festival and dumpling? ›

The main thing that distinguishes Jamaican festival dumplings from fried dumplings is cornmeal. Whilst fried dumpling is plain flour mixed with salt and water, festival dumpling mix flour and yellow cornmeal. The cornmeal makes the festival dumplings crispy on the outside, unlike the softer outsider of fried dumplings.

What is Jamaican festival made of? ›

It is a dough made with wheat flour, Cornmeal, baking powder, salt, milk powder unflavored milk or evaporated milk, sugar and water, then fried in a neutral cooking oil and served hot. The finished festival should be crispy on the outside while soft and fluffy on the inside.

What is the difference between festival and Johnny Cakes? ›

Festival (always in the singular) are defined by their long oval shape and crisp golden crust, while Johnny cakes are round and do not have the sweetness and crumbly texture of a festival.

What are the 3 components of dumplings? ›

What are dumplings made of? The dumpling dough is made of three main ingredients: flour, water and salt.

Why do Jamaicans eat dumplings? ›

Fried dumplings have their origins in Jamaican colonization and slavery, where workers would pack fried biscuits to take with them on long journeys. Sometimes called “journey cake” or “Johnny Cake”, today's islanders often enjoy fried dumplings with other breakfast dishes like ackee and saltfish, callaloo, or kidney.

Why is Jamaican festival called festival? ›

According to legend, these light Jamaican corn bread fritters got their name because eating them is fun — like a festival. That might be just a story, but the name makes sense when you see how popular Festival is as street food in Jamaica, sold from carts by the road or at the beach.

What is a Jamaican bammy? ›

Bammy is a traditional Jamaican cassava flatbread descended from the simple flatbread eaten by the Arawaks, Jamaica's original inhabitants. Today, it is produced in many rural communities and sold in stores and by street vendors in Jamaica and abroad.

What are the ingredients in the Grace festival mix? ›

Enriched Wheat Flour (Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Sugar, Fructose, Yellow Corn Meal, Leavening Agents (Monocalcium Phosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Salt.

What is the name of the Jamaican sweet bread? ›

Coco bread is the Jamaican answer to American-style yeast rolls. The bread is made with flour, sugar, salt, yeast, butter, and coconut milk. Nestled in the Karibe 12" cast-iron skillet and baked until puffy and golden brown, each roll is slightly sweet due to the addition of granulated sugar and full-fat coconut milk.

What is the Jamaican festival called? ›

Reggae Sumfest is the largest music festival in Jamaica and the Caribbean, taking place each year in mid-July in Montego Bay.

What is the most popular festival in Jamaica? ›

One highlight of the Jamaica calendar of events is Carnival in Jamaica, a day of dazzling parades where costumed revelers dance through the city streets in bright, colorful costumes. Carnival has an entire series of events leading up to the big parade and will ensure a uniquely Jamaican experience for music fans.

Do people still eat Johnny Cakes today? ›

An early American staple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica. The food originates from the indigenous people of North America. It is still eaten in the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Canada, Colombia, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Saint Croix, and the United States.

What is Johnny Cakes slang for? ›

Other forms: johnny cakes. Definitions of johnny cake. cornbread usually cooked pancake-style on a griddle (chiefly New England) synonyms: johnnycake, journey cake. types: hoecake.

What's the difference between cornbread and Johnny Cakes? ›

A Johnny cake recipe makes a thinner batter that is fried into rounds, essentially making cornmeal pancakes. Cornbread is made with baking soda or baking powder to give it a bread-like lift and texture and is oven-baked in a baking dish and cut into squares for serving.

What are traditional dumplings made of? ›

Dumplings are made from a simple dough consisting of all-purpose flour, water, and salt. The shaped dumplings are either fried in a pan until golden brown or boiled in a soup. The fried version is usually served as an accompaniment to breakfast codfish.

What are dumplings usually made of? ›

Dumplings are most commonly formed from flour or meal bound with egg and then simmered in water or gravy stock until they take on a light cakey texture. Many recipes call for herbs, onions, grated cheese, or chopped meat to be rolled into the dough before cooking.

What are original dumplings made of? ›

The Chinese had figured out how to grind flour about 300 years earlier, which led to noodles and, eventually, dumplings. Some say that the first dumplings were made with lamb and pepper, but since then, they have adapted. Most dumplings now have a pork mixture as their filling.

How do you eat Jamaican dumplings? ›

Jamaican fried dumplings can be eaten as and served alongside traditional savory dishes. I love serving mine with Vegan Ackee and Saltfish, Jerk Tofu and pretty much any other savoury dish as a side. You can also serve them with hot sauce, ketchup, or chutney. Another option is to make them sweet.

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