Caribbean Christmas Black Cake Recipes

BLACK CAKE (CARIBBEAN RUM SOAKED FRUIT CAKE)

Steps:

• Wash and dry all fruits. Mix together in a large bowl. Place fruits a little at a time in a food processor, food mill, or ninja blender. Add enough wine to grind fruits to a paste. Repeat process until fruits have been macerated. Fruit mixture should not be too watery. Add 3-4 cups dark rum. Stir and let mixture soak at minimum one week or even one year+. Adding more wine or rum periodically.
• If using store-bought burnt sugar, skip this step. Place sugar in a small saucepan. On low heat turn sugar with a spoon until it begins to caramelize. Once dark brown, add wine and remove from heat. Let cool completely.
• Preheat oven to 275 or 300 degrees F.
• Line 3-8in or 2-9in baking pans with parchment paper. Trim paper and set aside.
• Bring eggs and butter to room temperature.
• Crack eggs into a separate bowl one at a time, Remove little white membrane from each egg (optional). Beat in zests, vanilla, almond, and mixed essence. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Set aside.
• In deep mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until pale. Add eggs a little at a time. Blend well.
• Of the macerated fruit mixture, add 1 1/2 lbs (3 heaping cups) a little at a time, continue blending.
• Add flour mixture a little at a time- fold in with a spatula. Add 1 tbsp burnt sugar at a time until desired color is achieved. If using store bought burnt sugar, 4 tbsp should suffice for a very dark cake. Mix well.
• Pour batter into lined cake pans.
• Bake anywhere from 275-300 degrees F for 80-90 minutes. When cake come out of oven, pour alcohol mixture on top. When cool, cover cake with plastic wrap. Flavor is best after a few days.

CARIBBEAN BLACK CAKE CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients for the rum-soaked fruit. Add the dried fruit to a medium non-reactive bowl. Pour the rum over the fruit and stir to combine. Set aside to soak for at least 8 hours or up to overnight, stirring occasionally over the soaking time.

CARIBBEAN CHRISTMAS CAKE (KNOWN AS BLACK CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F; spray a nine-inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla and browning until soft and creamy.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.
• In a third bowl, beat the eggs with the rum.
• Add egg mixture to butter mixture and thoroughly combine, then stir in zest, fruit and nuts.
• Fold in flour mixture; do not overbeat.
• Put batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for approximately 90 minutes, or until cake tests done; may need longer.
• Remove cake from pan when cool.

CARIBBEAN CHRISTMAS BLACK CAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix all the fruits thoroughly with the wine and the rum. Let the fruit sit covered at room temperature for 2 wks. In a heavy skillet combine 1 lb. brown sugar & 1 C. water. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved & gently boil the syrup, swirling the skillet occasionally for a few mins or until it is reduced to 1 3/4 C. Let the syrup cool. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon & nutmeg into a bowl. In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream together the remaining brown sugar and the butter until it is fluffy; then beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Beat in the vanilla, the flour mixture & 1 1/3 C. of the burnt sugar syrup. In another large bowl, combine well the flour & fruit mixture & divide the batter between 2 buttered & floured 10" spring form pans. Bake the cakes in the middle of a preheated 350 F oven for 2 hrs or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out with some crumbs adhering to it. Let the cakes cool in the pans on a rack, remove the sides & bottoms of the pans and wrap the cakes in foil or wax paper. Let the cakes stand at room temperature for a week. Roll out half the almond paste between sheets of plastic wrap to form a 10" round and remove the top sheet of plastic wrap. Fit the almond paste layer over one cake, trimming the edge if necessary and remove the other sheet of plastic wrap. Roll out and fit the remaining almond paste onto the remaining cake in the same manner. ICING: Using an electric mixer, beat 4 C. of confectioners' sugar with the egg whites & lemon juice until the mixture will hold a soft peak. Beat in the remaining sugar & beat the icing until it will hold a stiff peak. Transfer 2 cups of the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a tip, spread the remaining icing on the tops & sides of the cakes with a long metal spatula & pipe the icing in the pastry bag onto the cakes. Arrange the drages on the cakes.