Jamaican Black Fruit Cake is known by different names throughout the Caribbean diaspora. This traditional Christmas dessert also called “Black Fruit Cake,” “Christmas Cake,” “Rum Cake,” or “Black Cake,” is arguably the best-tasting cake ever invented.
In this blog, you will learn a bit about black cake and how to make this traditional sweet delicacy.
JAMAICAN CHRISTMAS TRADITION
Baking this black fruit cake brought back many childhood memories for me. My mother reigned supreme over this family Christmas tradition.
Growing up, Black Fruit Cake baking was a family affair in our house and many households in Jamaica, and almost everyone pitched in.
Because we did not own a mixer at the time, my siblings took turns creaming the butter and sugar with the infamous aluminum metal spoon. This method was time-consuming and was also a good arm workout.
Our first reward was to argue about who did the most work and thus earned the right to lick the raw fruit cake batter from the bowl or spoon. However, in the Christmas spirit of sharing, we all ended up enjoying the fruits of our labor.
Where Did Black Fruit Cake Originate?
According to Caribbean Heritage Magazine and NPR , the invention of the black cake dates back to the 1700s to 1800s during British colonial rule. It was said that black fruit cake evolved from the Plum Pudding, which the British colonizers brought and introduced to the Caribbean.
The locals improved the recipe by adding their own spin using local ingredients. Since then, Black Fruit Cake has evolved and become a Christmas holiday tradition in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean.
Click HERE to read more about the History of Black Fruit Cake
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Why You Should Make Jamaican Black Fruit Cake?
Eating black fruit cake will make you forget about your worries. The aroma of the rum fruit cake baking permeated our home and the yards of our neighbors.
We could not wait for the twelve fruit cakes to come out of the oven, drizzled with liquor, cool down, and have our first slice of cake for dessert.
A black fruit cake recipe has many variations. As a result, the color, flavor, and texture vary from one another.
This traditional delicacy is not just for Christmas; it is also popular as a wedding, birthday, or anniversary cake. It can be made for any occasion at any time of year. Furthermore, because of the rum content, it has a long shelf life.
Do not be intimidated by the number of ingredients in my recipe. “If Yuh Waa Good, Yuh Nose Haffi Run,” is a commonly used phrase used by many Jamaicans.
In other words, in order to achieve certain goals, such as baking a delicious black fruit cake, you must make sacrifices.
If you haven’t read my last blog already, Jamaican Sorrel Drink is traditionally also served during the Christmas holidays and pairs nicely with this fruit cake. Click HERE for the sorrel recipe.
Happy Holidays And A Blessed New Year
I hope you enjoy this Jamaican fruit cake recipe as much as my family does. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year filled with joy and a delicious slice of my Jamaican rum fruit cake.
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Jamaican Style Black Fruit Cake
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How To Make Jamaican Rum Black Fruit Cake
Equipment
- Oven
- Hand Mixer
- Wooden Spoon
- Mixing Bowls
- Zester
- Food Processor or Blender
- 8-inches Foil Baking Tins or Pans (2)
- Sieve
Ingredients
Rum Infused Fruits Ingredients
- 3½ cups Mixed Peels
- 2½ cups Raisins
- 2 cups currants
- 2½ cups Prunes
- 3 cups Cherry Brandy or Red Label Wine
- 2 cups Manischewitz Cherry Wine
- 3 cups J Wray & Nephew White Rum
Dry Cake Ingredients
- 1¼ cups All-purpose Flour
- 2½ cups Light Brown Sugar
- 1 medium Lime and Lemon, Zested
- ¼ cup Browning Sauce
- 1 tbsp. Cinnamon Powder
- 2 tsp. Nutmeg, Grated
- 1 tsp Salt
Wet Cake Ingredients
- 2 sticks Unsalted Butter (16 oz.)
- 5 medium Brown or White Eggs
- ¼ cup J Wray & Nephew White Rum
- ⅓ cup Cherry Brandy or Red Label Wine
- 1 tsp. Almond Extract
- 2 tbsp. Vanilla Extract
- ¼ cup Browning
Instructions
Soaking Fruits In Rum and Wine
- This is the most important and simplest part of the black fruit cake recipe, and it can be done months ahead of time. The fruits used in this recipe, however, were only soaked in rum/wine for about a month.Combine the mixed peels, currants, raisins, and prunes in a mixing bowl.
- Stir the fruits together with a spoon to evenly distrbute them. Pour in roughly equal parts red wine, cherry brandy, and white rum until the fruits are covered. This step does not have a specific recipe. The goal is for the fruits to soak up the alcohol's delicious goodness.
- Fill clean glass jars with the rum fruits. Do not overfill the jars with fruits. You'll need space for the fruits to expand as they absorb the rum during storage. Cover glass jars with lids and store them at room temperature.The fruit ingredients in this recipe produced three glass containers. Each glass container holds approximately 3-4 cups of soaked rum fruits.
Let's Blend The Fruits
- Add 3 cups of the rum-soaked fruits (1 glass jar) to a food processor or blender and blend on low until smooth or desired texture is reached. Personally, I prefer mine a little chunky.
Cream Butter and Sugar
- The butter in the recipe must be room temperature soft. In a mixing bowl, combine the softened butter and brown sugar. Cream them together with a hand mixer until they are light and fluffy.
- Zest a medium lime and lemon with a ZESTER; each should yield about 1 to 2 tablespoons.
- Break each egg into a bowl. Mix the lemon and lime zest into the egg. The zest not only adds flavor, but also masks some of the raw egg smell.
- While mixing on medium speed, gradually add the zesty eggs to the creamed butter-sugar mixture. The mixture may appear curdled, but this is perfectly fine.
- After the eggs have been incorporated, add the blended rum fruits. Combine these ingredients with a wooden spoon. You can use the mixer to help combine all of the ingredients.
- Preheat oven to 250 °F.
- Mix the browning, white rum, and wine into the cake batter with a spoon. The amount of browning you use determines how dark the cake will turn out; the more you use, the darker the cake.However, do not add too much browning sauce; It is actually burnt sugar. Adding too much may result in a bitter fruit cake.
Prepare The Dry Ingredients
- Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon powder in a mixing bowl. Mix in the grated nutmeg thoroughly.
- Cut and fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients in small batches with a spoon until evenly distributed.I personally like to add the vanilla and almond extracts at the end. Using a spoon, incorporate the liquid extracts into the cake batter.
- Grease each 8-inch cake pans with unsalted butter. In this recipe, however, I portioned some of the cake batter to fill a 5-inch pan.Pour the fruit cake batter evenly into each pan and bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until an Inserted bamboo skewer into the center of each cake comes out clean. Remove them from the oven.
- In a small bowl, combine equal parts wine and rum (about 1/4 cup). Drizzle the rum mixture over each cake while it is still warm. Allow it to cool completely at room temperature. Each pan of fruit cake yields 8 to 10 servings or slices.
Video
Notes
The Fast Lane Drunken Fruits The preparation of Black Fruit Cake for the Christmas season usually begins the year before. For the next Christmas cake season, the fruits are soaked in rum and wine for about a year. If you want to make this cake before Christmas or New Year's, cook the fruits in the wine and rum for 10 to 15 minutes before blending to your desired texture. This method allows the alcohol to penetrate and flavor the fruits much more quickly. However, the longer the fruits soak in the rum and wine, the better the fruit cake tastes, at least in my opinion. Give Fruit Cake A Steam Bath Baking pans may be lined with grease or wax paper. For a more moist cake, place pans with cake batter inside a large and wide enough container. Fill the container with water halfway up the sides of the cake pan and slow cook in the oven at 250 °F. Lock In The Moisture After the cakes have been dressed with wine and have completely cooled. Remove the cakes from the pan and wrap them with plastic wrap and then in a foil sheet. This will lock in the moisture and prevent them from drying out. Drizzle and bathe cake with the cherry wine or brandy each week to replenish the moisture. The cakes can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 months and up to 1 year in the freezer.
© Food Explora 2022 All Rights Reserved.
This sounds absolutely delicious, Kevin. Thank you for sharing this recipe and sharing some background on it. Sounds like lovely memories of you and your siblings taking turns creaming the butter.
yes, it is Jordanne, thank you.
Oh wow!!! This Jamaican style fruit looks yummy-licious! Thank you for sharing this recipe with me.
Oh wow!!! This Jamaican style fruit looks yummy-licious! Thank you for sharing this recipe with me. Would like to try it.
Oh this looks like such a good cake! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe!
Thank you Charity
Thank you Charity.
This looks like a great alternative to a classic Christmas cake! Thanks for sharing.
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Christmas cake differs from country to country. But they all taste great. Thanks for visiting Faye.
this makes me hungry
Sure It does Jimmy.
This looks amazing, I’d love to try it sometime. Love that you include an easy way out for those of us that aren’t prepared.
Hope you had a very merry Christmas and happy new year!
Thank you Kath. Appreciate the comment.
I love all of your Jamaican recipes! I think I’d really enjoy this Jamaican Style Black Fruit Cake Recipe. I’ve never used cherry brandy, but I can imagine it gives off a great flavor in this cake. Thanks for sharing, Kevin!
Thanks Jenna. The cherry brandy works just as well as the Red Label Wine.
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try the recipe myself!
Thank You Kali. Appreciate the star rating
Love how moist the cake looks. Very similar to rum soaked fruit cake we have in India around Christmas time!
Oh, Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Vaishali.
I baked on grandmarket night and I didn’t even get a proper slice out of 4 tins!!! And to think my fruit cake didn’t turnout like last year and I was missing one ingredient. I keep shying away from using the zest. In my recipe I use the orange rind but I never use it. I always domy cakes without it
Thanks for dropping by Kerona. Orange rind does the job as well. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thank you for sharing the recipe. It looks delicious. Now I just need to find some cherry brandy!
You are welcome Carrie. Don’t drink all of the Cherry Brandy lol.
Looks yummy! Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you, Danwil.
I have seen this cake before. I believe I had this years ago at a friends of mine party.
Headphonesthoughts, hope you did not see a chocolate cake. lol. But I am sure you enjoyed it anyways. Hope you get to try an authentic Jamaican black fruit cake.
I am usually not one for fruit cakes, but this sounds delicious and love how many memories it brings back for you! I really love when people share food and memories of them, makes a recipe even more special! Thanks for sharing Kevin!
You are welcome Cristina. Thank You for your comment.