Caribbean Christmas Cake - Black Cake Recipe

Caribbean Christmas Cake Recipe

The Spruce

  • 2 hrs
  • Prep: 30 mins,
  • Cook: 90 mins
  • Yield: 1 10-inch cake (serves 5)
Ratings (189)

By Cynthia Nelson

Updated 08/07/18

Christmas cake, black cake, wedding cake, and great cake are all names used to describe the famous Caribbean cake that is made with aged rum-soaked fruits. This is a cake that is made to mark the celebration of Christmas, weddings, christenings, baptisms and significant anniversaries.

Each household and Caribbean island has its own version. This is my personal recipe that's been a success not just for me, but for many who've tried it.

What You'll Need

  • 8 ounce butter (unsalted; room temperature, plus extra for greasing cake pan)
  • 1 cup Demerara sugar
  • 6 eggs (room temperature)
  • 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla essence)
  • 4 cups rum-soaked fruits
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting pan)

How to Make It

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F with the baking rack in the middle of the oven.
  2. Grease the cake pan. Rub butter all around the insides of the pan, sprinkle with flour and swirl the pan to coat it with flour. Turn over the pan and tap to remove the excess flour.
  3. Line the bottom of the pan, only, with a cut-out piece of parchment paper. Set aside the pan.
  4. Cream butter and sugar until the mixture reaches a pale cream color. If using a hand-mixer, 5 to 6 minutes, if working by hand 20 minutes. Set aside.
  1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon into a large bowl and set aside.
  2. Whisk eggs in a large bowl until frothy.
  3. Add extract or essence to eggs and continue to whisk until incorporated - about a minute.
  4. Pour whisked eggs into the bowl with the creamed butter and sugar mixture and stir gently using a rubber spatula. Keep stirring until incorporated The mixture will look curdled; that's okay.
  5. Add the rum-soaked fruits to the egg-butter-sugar mixture and stir to fully incorporate.
  6. Add the flour-baking powder-cinnamon mixture gradually to the wet ingredients and mix gently but thoroughly to incorporate. Do not over mix or beat the batter.
  7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan; use the spatula to scrape all the mixture from the bowl. Lift the pan a little and let it drop back to the surface about 2 to 3 times, this is to remove any bubbles in the batter.
  8. Bake for 90 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
  9. Remove pan from oven and let cool on a wire rack in pan for 10 minutes. At the end of the 10 minutes, carefully, gently and quickly invert the pan, removing the cake. Let the cake continue to cool on the wire rack until completely cool.
  10. Slice and serve at room temperature.
Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)
Calories 1090
Total Fat 46 g
Saturated Fat 26 g
Unsaturated Fat 14 g
Cholesterol 348 mg
Sodium 592 mg
Carbohydrates 57 g
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Protein 11 g
(The nutrition information on our recipes is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. Individual results may vary.)