Black Cake is a traditional Jamaican recipe for a classic Christmas or special occasion cake made with pureed alcohol-soaked fruit and browning. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this Jamaican version of: Black Cake.
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This Authentic Jamaican black cake is rich, sweet and boozy, and perfect for the holidays or any celebration!
Ingredients:
145g Raisins
120g dried Cranberries
200g sultanas
175g Prunes pitted
250–200ml Red dessert wine
250ml Rum
For the black:
250g plain (All purpose_ flour
30g breadcrumbs
200g Brown sugar
6 large Eggs
300g butter, softened
500g Blended rum-soaked fruit
3 tbsp treacle (molasses)
4 tbsp Caribbean browning sauce
1 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 tsp freshly-grated Nutmeg
¼ tsp ground allspice
¼ tsp ground Cloves
1 tbsp Baking powder
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp Almond extract
1 tsp fine Salt
Finely-grated zest from ½ lime
juice of 1/2 lime
4 tbsp Red dessert wine
Method:
Combine the fruit, wine, and rum in a bowl. Make sure the fruit are covered with rum and wine. You may add more if needed. Cover and set aside to macerate for 1 week or more (some store the mixture in jars for up to a year).
To prepare the Cake: Pre-heat your oven to 150°C then grease a 25c round cake tin or line it with a parchment paper.
Place the soaked fruit (and their liquid) in a blender and process into a smooth puree.
Cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly to combine after each addition. The mixture might curdle, but you can fix this by working in a tablespoon of flour.
Whisk together the flour, breadcrumbs, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves until thoroughly combined. Add the flour mixture in batches into the butter mixture, working it in until smooth.
Finally add lime zest, lime juice, fruit puree, molasses, and browning. Mix well.
Pour the resultant batter into the greased or lined baking pan, smoothen the top, and bake at 150°C for about 120 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake emerges cleanly. (Depending on your oven, the cake tin size and the precise mixture some cakes might need up to 150 minutes) minutes.)
Once done, transfer the cake and the tin to a wire rack and allow to cool for 20 minutes. During this time drizzle over the 4 tbsp red dessert wine. After 20 minutes turn the cake out of the tin and allow to cool completely. Once cool cover with parchment paper and foil.
Keep at room temperature for up to 3 days to mature and pour more wine over the surface during this time to ensure the cake doesn't dry out.
