Jamaican Black Cake
This rich, fragrant spiced rum fruit cake is a quintessential holiday tradition in Jamaica and throughout the English-speaking Caribbean.
Servings: 16
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter room temp
- 1 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 3 large eggs room temp
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 cup white rum ideally Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum
- 1/4 cup red wine ideally Wray & Nephew Red Label Wine
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp rose water
- 1/4 tsp almond essence
- 2 tbsp browning
- 1 cup liquor-soaked fruits
- 1/2 cup dried mixed peel
- 1/2 cup maraschino cherries
- 1/4 cup liquid from maraschino cherry jar
- 2 tbsp 2 tbsp bread crumbs
For After Baking
- 1/4 cup red wine ideally Wray & Nephew Red Label Wine -OR- Manischewitz Blackberry Wine for variety
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch roundcake pan and line the sides with parchment paper.
- Combine the softened butter and brown sugaruntil light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
- Sift the flour, baking powder, and spices into abowl.
- Crack eggs into a separate bowl, remove thealbumen, and whisk.
- Combine the white rum, red wine, vanilla extract,almond essence, and rose water in a measuring cup.
- Blend the soaked fruits into a smooth puree.
- Blend the mixed peel and cherries with thecherry liquid until finely chopped.
- Gradually add the whisked eggs to the butter-sugarmixture while mixing.
- Alternate adding the flour mixture and theliquor mixture, mixing until well incorporated. Scrape the sides as needed.
- Fold in the browning, blended fruits, mixedpeel, and cherries using a wooden spoon.
- Sift in 2 tbsp bread crumbs and mix well to helpset the texture.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and tap gentlyto release air bubbles.
- Bake on the middle rack for 1 hour with a pan ofwater on the lower rack. If a toothpick doesn’t come out clean, bake anadditional 15 minutes.
- Cool for 5–10 minutes, then pour ¼ cup red wineover the warm cake.
- Allow to cool completely before removing fromthe pan, slicing, and serving.
