Bake

Black Cake

by:
December 19, 2018
4.3
25 Ratings
Black Cake
Photo by Ty Mecham
  • Prep time 72 hours
  • Cook time 4 hours
  • Makes 3 (9-inch) round cakes
Author Notes

Months before Dec. 25, hundreds of thousands of home cooks throughout the Caribbean combine pounds of raisins, dried cherries, currants, and prunes, and subsequently drown them in a boozy bath of local rum and fruit-forward brandy. This dried fruit—saturated in liquor—is then pulverized to a smooth paste that gives black cake its remarkably moist texture. This ground fruit also rids the cake of the dense, stone-like chunks that afflict many versions of fruit cake. The color (from which its name derives) is attributed to the addition of burnt sugar essence, or browning, which is the last ingredient added to the batter. And while there are myriad tweaks and tricks to this recipe, black cake will always retain its relevancy from the backwaters of Caribbean history. —Brigid Ransome Washington

Test Kitchen Notes

Featured in: A Spiced Caribbean Black Cake for Christmas, Aged in Rum & Memory. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 pound pitted prunes
  • 1 pound raisins
  • 1 pound dried currants
  • 1 pound dried cherries, deseeded
  • 4 ounces mixed dried citrus peel
  • 2 cups cherry brandy (Manischewitz Concord Grape Wine is an apt substitute)
  • 1 quart dark rum
  • 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1 pound unsalted butter, plus more for preparing the pans
  • 1 pound dark brown sugar
  • 10 eggs
  • 2 limes, zested
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla essence
  • 1 teaspoon almond essence
  • 1 teaspoon Angostura bitters
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Directions
  1. In a large, air-tight container combine the prunes, raisins, currants, cherries, and citrus peel, all of the brandy, and 3 cups of the rum. Stir to combine and set aside for at least three days and up 3 months.
  2. When ready to bake, working in batches, place the alcohol saturated fruit in a food processor. Slowly pulse to a rough paste, ensuring that some of the fruit remains somewhat intact. If needed, add more brandy to thin the consistency. Continue this process until all of the fruit has been processed. Set aside.
  3. Next make the "browning." In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium high heat, add the granulated sugar and stir with a wooden spoon until it has melted. Continue stirring until the sugar darkens. It will indeed smoke. Don’t panic. When the sugar is almost black, carefully stir in the boiling water. Take caution, because it will splatter. Turn off heat.
  4. Prepare cake pans with butter and a double layer of parchment paper. Preheat oven to 250°F. (Note: Because this cake is so dense, it seldom rises. As such, employing relatively shallow baking pans are necessary).
  5. In a stand mixer or by hand, cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy aerated. One at time, combine the eggs, then the lime zest, essences, and bitters. Transfer this mixture to a very large bowl. Then, in a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Stir in the fruit and a 1/4 cup of the browning. The batter should be dark brown; if it's too light add in more of the browning, a tablespoon at a time.
  6. Divide batter among prepared cake pans. The batter will not rise very much, so fill pans a hair off the top. Bake for one hour, then reduce heat to 225°F. Continue to bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours longer. Check for completion using a tester, which when inserted should come out clean. Allow the cakes to cool on a wire rack.
  7. 10 minutes after the cakes have been retrieved from the oven, and they are cooling on the wire rack, brush the top of the cakes with more rum and allow it to soak in. Continue this process about every 30 minutes while the cakes cool.
  8. The cakes can be served one small slice at a time, as is custom in the Caribbean. To store, wrap them in wax paper first, then wrap in foil. These cakes keep for up to a month in a cool dry place.
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55 Reviews

Sydneybloke
Sydneybloke December 6, 2024
Hi, I see a lot of you use ready made Browning Liquid to make this (and I have it, though Lebovitz uses blackstrap molasses and Lawson black treacle) - but how much browning/bought burnt sugar essence would you use in this recipe instead of the sugar and water combo given!? Thanks
 
Klee
Klee December 7, 2024
In the recipe instructions it says use 1/4 cup. I made it a year ago and honestly can’t recall but I did remember I measured it over the batter and of course, I accidentally over poured too much in so I would say use a scant 1/4 cup.
 
dstange
dstange November 24, 2024
After reading the ingredient list I knew this was an authentic black cake recipe. First time, I followed the recipe exactly as written and it came out aromatic, fragrant and overall perfect. Gave several of my Caribbean colleagues from Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica as well as non- islanders and got rave reviews and special requests to bake some for them. Next time I added allspice and a little salt to balance the sweetness and richness of the cake. I also cut the sugar by ¼. I always use dark muscovado sugar and Blue Mountain burnt sugar instead of making my own. I soak my fruits for a full year. Success every single time.
 
charlotte
charlotte December 3, 2023
This is the 6th year that I've made this recipe. I have friends from Trinidad and Barbados. They all love this cake. One of my friends orders 6 cakes every Christmas. I make 9 cakes (3 batches) every year. The other 3 cakes goes to beloved friends. I start soaking my fruit the first weekend in August. This recipe is totally worth the time an effort ❤️
 
patterna@gvsu.edu
[email protected] May 25, 2023
My cakes are in the oven right now. Everything seemed to go together just fine until it came time to add the browning sauce. It was solid. I turned the stove on to the lowest simmer I could get to get it into a more liquid state, but as soon as it hit the batter it solidified into strands. And, it definitely did not turn the batter dark. I don't think I over-cooked the sugar, but perhaps I needed to add more water. I just tried pouring it on a smaller cake that came out of the oven early. It's bitter, so, though I followed the directions, I burned the sugar. A temperature range would help. Also, I don't know if I put too much marinated fruit in. I figured the 10 eggs would glue things together. think the cake itself reminds me more of sticky toffee pudding without the toffee. The smaller cake will be my test bite and guide me to how to possibly correct the color with a commercial browning sauce.
 
charlotte
charlotte December 3, 2023
I've always used Grace Browning liquid instead of making my own. It's in the grocery stores or Walmart in the international foods isle. It's a Caribbean product. It never fails me😊
 
Charspon
Charspon September 19, 2024
How much of the Grace browning liquid do you use? Thank you for your res;pose.
 
Klee
Klee December 22, 2022
I had prepped my fruit for Christmas 2020 and we all know how that went. So the fruit sat there in the back of my pantry for another 2 years and I cracked open the jar today, the fruit smelled amazing and syrupy. I halved the recipe and ta-da, we have black cake for the holidays! In keeping with Caribbean tradition, I made a marzipan and royal icing to decorate it with. So happy with this recipe, it smells like my childhood memories.
 
ChuckT
ChuckT December 11, 2022
This is not a review as such . . . just wanted to state that I have a very similar mixture (my late mother's recipe) sitting in a bottle for at least the last 15 (or more) years. Haven't gotten around to baking the cake as yet but I do serve the mixture from time to time with a scoop of ice cream. Delicious!!!!!!!
 
Beverly B.
Beverly B. December 9, 2022
Havent made this for years—used the Laurie Colwin version-because it was a giggle to use a whole bottle of Maneschevitz for anything! it is yummy 24/7. You should publish this in October so folks can get the marinating in before xmas
 
Jacquelyn S.
Jacquelyn S. December 9, 2022
I confess to not having used this recipe yet, but I have been a confirmed Black-Cake-at-Christmas baker and eater for at least 18 years, since reading Laurie Colwin's excellent rendering of a recipe for it in an old issue of Gourmet magazine. The only thing I would add further to the written recipe here is to note that it also freezes well. As I am the only diehard fruitcake eater in my family, I wrap it in waxed paper, foil and a sealed plastic freezer bag and tuck it in the freezer and ration it out to myself (it is pretty rich!). Last year, I finished off my last frozen portion -- and it tasted just as great at year 5 as it did when it was made!! Working on its replacement now for this year and another four, at least! :-)
 
traceywarren
traceywarren December 9, 2022
It does freeze well. I don't get to bake them often anymore (mostly for weddings).
 
traceywarren
traceywarren December 9, 2022
As a young girl,I began making black cake with my Mum around Halloween. The recipe is on point. It tastes close to my Mum's and reminds me of my childhood.
 
SAS
SAS December 9, 2022
As someone with Caribbean roots who makes this cake, this recipe is accurate. I was not expecting to be happy with the recipe. Pleasantly surprised.
 
chloe1962
chloe1962 November 19, 2022
Oh yum! Tried Black Cake for the first time. Amazing! Full of all the flavors I like. It will be a labor of love, but worth it!
 
dlibera
dlibera September 23, 2022
Hello Brigid. I neglected to post a review last year. I made this delicious cake last year and it turned out absolutely amazing. I'm of Italian dissent living in Toronto. I grew up with a cross section of many cultures making some great friends from the Caribbean. I am presently soaking the fruits for this years bake. I do want to apologize in advance. I added an Italian twist. I added dried figs and instead of making the browning I used Italian fig syrup. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
 
Anita
Anita November 2, 2024
I was thinking of using dried dates. What do you think of that idea?
 
Adi M.
Adi M. March 3, 2021
If I want to bake only one cake, how long to bake it? Same as the three all together?
 
Arlene
Arlene March 4, 2021
Adi, I baked all 3 in the time and heat called for in recipe.
Everyone who ate the cake absolutely loved it.
Good luck
 
Adi M.
Adi M. March 5, 2021
That's nice, but I'm making only a third of the amount and wanted to know how long to make for just one cake
 
Arlene
Arlene March 5, 2021
I too only did a half portion of ingredients, but the yield was quite a bit. Per the instruction, it was recommended to keep it fairly shallow and I had smaller cake pans. Followed time as per recipe.
 
Arlene
Arlene December 19, 2020
My first try at baking a Christmas cake. Followed step by step instructions. Now have come to adding browned sugar to the mix and it hardens as soon as it hits the mix. What do I do to avoid or does it melt once baked. It does not look like I have enough browning. What do I do? I hope I have not lost my effort to now.
 
Christy A.
Christy A. December 20, 2020
Hi - This happened to my fourth batch. I think I added the browning when it was too hot. I went ahead and mixed it in and the cakes still looked nice. Good luck!
 
Arlene
Arlene December 20, 2020
Thanks for the feed back Christy. Yes, I carried on and baked with hard caramelized browning and cake looks good. When I waited for it to cool down, it hardened.
Another thing I noted was that it was best to make browning after all ingredients were mixed.
 
Joan P.
Joan P. December 6, 2021
Did you add the boiling water to the burnt sugar? The browning should stay liquid.
 
Arlene
Arlene December 7, 2021
Joan, honestly, I can't remember (it was a year ago :) ) if I added boiling water. If the recipe called for it, I want to say, I would have.

So are you saying the brown sugar mix should be liquidy?
 
Joan P.
Joan P. December 7, 2021
yes. It should pour. Thick but pourable.
 
Arlene
Arlene December 9, 2021
My browned sugar mix hardened by the time I had the rest of the batter ready. I thought this time, I would make the sugar mix after the batter is ready, but then it will be hot going in that it will crystalize like before. Will keep it thick pourable.
Thanks Joan
 
SAS
SAS December 9, 2022
If it is easier, you can buy the mix bottled at Caribbean food markets.
 
Christy A.
Christy A. December 18, 2020
I'm pretty bold when it comes to make-it Christmas presents, so I raided the liquor store and quadrupled the recipe, hoping it would be a success. Thank goodness it was! Make sure to plan for length of time it took to bake the cakes and how much the browning smokes. For the first two batches I used 9” pans and for the second 2 batches I used 4 6” pans and ~8 small tart pans. Both turned out great, although I did add 1.5 tsp salt to the later two batches to help brighten the flavor. Tasty!
 
Christy A.
Christy A. December 18, 2020
I'm somewhat bold when it comes to make-it Christmas presents, so I raided the liquor store (seriously!) and quadrupled the recipe before testing the recipe first. Thank goodness it was a success! The only impediment to getting the cakes out the door quickly after the 2 -week marinade was the length of time it took to bake the cakes. For the first two batches I used 9” pans and for the second 2 batches I used 4 6” pans and 8 or so small tart pans. Both turned out great, although I did add 1.5 tsp salt to the later two batches to help brighten the flavor a bit. Tasty!
 
Christy A.
Christy A. December 18, 2020
I'm somewhat bold when it comes to make-it Christmas presents, so I raided the liquor store (seriously!) and quadrupled the recipe before testing the recipe first. Thank goodness it was a success! The only impediment to getting the cakes out the door quickly after the 2 -week marinade was the length of time it took to bake the cakes. For the first two batches I used 9” pans and for the second 2 batches I used 4 6” pans and 8 or so small tart pans. Both turned out great, although I did add 1.5 tsp salt to the later two batches to help brighten the flavor a bit. Really yummy!
 
Regine
Regine April 23, 2020
Best black cake ever. So so delicious. A few things. I could not find currants
so I skipped them, but i added about 1/4 cup of maraschino cherries which were
looking at me in refrigerator. I was not sure how much of the browning sauce to use other than the 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) but i ended up adding two more tbsp. My cake, however, was not as dark as in picture so maybe next time I could add a total of 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) instead of 6 tbsp. Note that the browning sauce yields a lot (maybe 1 1/2 to 2 cups based on my eyeballing). Cakes also took about 3 1/2 hrs to bake @ 225F after the one hour @ 350. The remaining 1 cup of rum, I split it among the 3 cakes ( 5 tbsp + 1 tsp on each cake). This is a super
delicious cake. Thanks for sharing.
 
Regine
Regine April 23, 2020
Best black cake ever. So so delicious. A few things. I could not find currants
so I skipped them, but i added about 1/4 cup of maraschino cherries which were
looking at me in refrigerator. I was not sure how much of the browning sauce to use other than the 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) but i ended up adding two more tbsp. My cake, however, was not as dark as in picture so maybe next time I could add a total of 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) instead of 6 tbsp. Note that the browning sauce yields a lot (maybe 1 1/2 to 2 cups based on my eyeballing). Cakes also took about 3 1/2 hrs to bake @ 225F after the one hour @ 350. The remaining 1 cup of rum, I split it among the 3 cakes ( 5 tbsp +
1 tsp on each cake). This is a super
delicious cake. Thanks for sharing.
 
Mally
Mally September 10, 2019
So let me clarify right now.. West Indian black cake/fruit cake/ rum cake is like no other cake you have ever eaten. So any fruit cake with almost similar ingredients is an attempt to duplicate it.. It's one of the hardest if not the hardest cake to make.