Caribbean Christmas Cake - Black Cake Recipe

By Cynthia Nelson

Updated 07/01/19

Caribbean Christmas Cake Recipe

The Spruce

  • Total: 2 hrs
  • Prep: 30 mins
  • Cook: 90 mins
  • Yield: 1 10-inch cake (serves 5)
Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)
1090 Calories
46g Fat
57g Carbs
11g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1 10-inch cake (serves 5)
Amount per serving
Calories 1090
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 46g 59%
Saturated Fat 26g 128%
Cholesterol 348mg 116%
Sodium 592mg 26%
Total Carbohydrate 57g 21%
Dietary Fiber 2g 6%
Protein 11g
Calcium 233mg 18%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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 has been a success not just for me, but for many who have tried it.

Ingredients

  • 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)

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Christmas cake ingredients
    The Spruce 

  2. Preheat oven to 350 F with the baking rack in the middle of the oven.

  3. 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.

    Greased cake pan.
     The Spruce

  4. Line the bottom of the pan, only, with a cut-out piece of parchment paper. Set aside the pan.

  5. 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.

    Creamed butter and sugar.
     The Spruce

  6. Sift together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon into a large bowl and set aside.

    Sifted flour.
     The Spruce

  7. Whisk eggs in a large bowl until frothy.

    Frothy whisked eggs.
     The Spruce

  8. Add extract or essence to eggs and continue to whisk until incorporated—about a minute.

    Extract added to eggs.
     The Spruce

  9. 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.

    Rum cake mixture.
     The Spruce

  10. Add the rum-soaked fruits to the egg-butter-sugar mixture and stir to fully incorporate.

    Rum-soaked fruits.
     The Spruce

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

    Rum cake batter in pan.
     The Spruce

  13. Bake for 90 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

  14. 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.

    Baked Caribbean rum cake.
     The Spruce

  15. Slice and serve at room temperature.

    Sliced Caribbean Christmas Cake
     The Spruce

  16. Enjoy!

Tip

  • To soak fruits, place them in a bowl with the rum and leave overnight, until they are soft. Then drain using a strainer and use in the recipe.