Black Cake Recipe

Black Cake Recipe

This recipe comes from one of our Harvest Kitchen partners, East Scarborough Boys and Girls Club. A rich Caribbean tradition, Black Cake is made with rum-soaked fruits and warm spices, making it a perfect treat for holidays and special occasions.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pitted dates
• 1 cup dried figs
• 1 cup maraschino cherries
• 1 cup currants
• ½ cup dried prunes
• ½ cup dark raisins
• ½ cup golden raisins
• 1 ¼ cups dark rum, divided
• 1 ¼ cups Red Label wine, divided
• 1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter (plus extra for greasing pans)
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 4 tsp browning
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 5 large eggs

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Instructions:

1. Mix all the fruit with 1 cup of wine and 1 cup of rum in a large bowl. Cover and let soak overnight (reserve ¼ cup each of wine and rum).
2. Blend the soaked fruit into a paste and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare two greased and lined cake pans.
4. Cream butter, brown sugar, and vanilla together. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each.
5. Stir in the blended fruit.
6. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Gradually mix into the wet ingredients by hand until just combined.
7. Add browning and mix until evenly colored.
8. Divide batter between the pans and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes.
9. Sprinkle the baked cakes with the reserved wine and rum, then let cool.

Wrap in parchment and plastic for storage. Cakes will keep for days at room temperature or weeks when frozen.