In the realm of Christmas delicacies, the Caribbean Christmas fruit cake, also known as "Great Cake," stands as a culinary masterpiece, a testament to the region's rich cultural heritage. This delectable treat is an exquisite fusion of flavors, textures, and aromas, a labor of love that brings families and communities together during the festive season. With its origins deeply rooted in the Caribbean's history, this cake has become a symbol of unity, joy, and the spirit of giving. Its unique blend of spices, dried fruits, and rum creates an unforgettable taste experience that has captivated hearts and palates for generations.
Here are our top 5 tried and tested recipes!
CARIBBEAN BLACK CAKE CHRISTMAS CAKE
Steps:
- Gather the ingredients for the rum-soaked fruit. Add the dried fruit to a medium non-reactive bowl. Pour the rum over the fruit and stir to combine. Set aside to soak for at least 8 hours or up to overnight, stirring occasionally over the soaking time.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 1104 kcal, Carbohydrate 145 g, Cholesterol 327 mg, Fiber 10 g, Protein 16 g, SaturatedFat 26 g, Sodium 321 mg, Sugar 91 g, Fat 46 g, ServingSize 1 10-inch cake (serves 5), UnsaturatedFat 0 g
CARIBBEAN CHRISTMAS CAKE (KNOWN AS BLACK CAKE)
I have never made this recipe; posted in response to a request. I worked with a woman from Guyana many years ago, and she brought a Black Cake to a Christmas party one year; it was fabulous!
Provided by Lennie
Categories Dessert
Time 1h50m
Yield 12 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 18
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 325°F; spray a nine-inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla and browning until soft and creamy.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.
- In a third bowl, beat the eggs with the rum.
- Add egg mixture to butter mixture and thoroughly combine, then stir in zest, fruit and nuts.
- Fold in flour mixture; do not overbeat.
- Put batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for approximately 90 minutes, or until cake tests done; may need longer.
- Remove cake from pan when cool.
MY OWN CARIBBEAN CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE ALSO KNOWN AS GREAT CAKE
This is a dense fruit cake that is prepared for Christmas and for weddings in Barbados and other areas in the Caribbean. It is usually sweet and soaked in alcohol. The fruit mixture can be prepared many months in advance and allowed to soak.
Provided by Catinthecloud
Categories Dessert
Time 5h
Yield 1 large cake, 20 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 23
Steps:
- About three months before preparation of the cake mix or puree the fruits.
- Pour the alcohol over them and allow them to soak.
- Cream the sugar and butter together.
- Add the eggs two at a time.
- Add the essence and angostura bitters.
- Combine the dry ingredients and spices with the flour and add them to the batter.
- Add the colouring to the mixture.
- A wooden spoon should be able to stand in the mixture with falling to easily.
- Grease and double line a large cake pan.
- Cover the pan with foil paper.
- Place a shallow pan of water in the bottom of the oven. This is to increase the moisture of the cake.
- Bake at 250- 300°F for 2-3 hours.
- Test for doneness with a skewer after about 2 hours.
- When done, prick the cake with a skewer repeatedly and pour sweet red wine all over the cake.
- Replace wine when the cake has soaked it up.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts : Calories 757.6, Fat 32.6, SaturatedFat 15.9, Cholesterol 141.8, Sodium 406.9, Carbohydrate 101.1, Fiber 7.1, Sugar 65.8, Protein 8.5
TRINIDAD BLACK CAKE
The traditional Caribbean Christmas cake, aka euphoria! This heavy-duty rum fruit cake takes some time to make: with the minimum soaking time the recipe extends over two days, but I always take a month! However, it's of course not active working time ;-) and the cake is not difficult to make at all, so don't let the length of the instructions scare you! The most tedious part is chopping the fruit - try to resist to urge to use a food processor, as chopping by hand will give you the best results. Have a glass of wine, listen to your favourite music and make a night of it! If, however, you do give in to temptation, be very careful not to process the fruit into a sticky mass: you want finely chopped, not jam! Serve this wonderful cake in thin slivers with a dollop of whipped cream.
Provided by stormylee
Categories Dessert
Time 5h
Yield 1 cake, 20 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 18
Steps:
- To prepare the fruit mix: Finely chop currants, raisins, prunes, figs and cherries.
- Combine in a large bowl with mixed peel and almonds.
- Mix vanilla and ground cloves with rum, and pour the rum mixture over the fruit mix.
- Stir to combine.
- Cover the bowl tightly, and let soak for a minimum of 24 hours and up to one month.
- Prepare the caramelised sugar on the day you intend to bake the cake.
- Put brown sugar in a heavy pot.
- Carefully cook over low heat stirring constantly, until sugar liquefies and begins to turn darker.
- Do not burn!
- When sugar has turned dark, remove pot from heat and gradually stir in hot water.
- Mix well.
- Let the mixture cool.
- Final cooking: Preheat oven to 120 C (250 F).
- Line a round cake tin with buttered parchment paper.
- Stir lime peel and caramelised sugar into the fruit mixture.
- Set aside.
- Sift together flour and baking powder.
- Set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until blended.
- Add the flour mixture, stir to combine.
- Add the fruit mixture, stir to combine.
- Pour batter into the prepared tin and place the pan in a larger shallow pan filled with hot water.
- Cook in the preheated oven for 2 1/2- 3 hours or until cake tests done.
- Cake should shrink from the sides of the pan.
- Cool cake in the tin for 24 hours before removing.
- Let the cake ripen for some time before serving.
- Fruit cake keeps very well, but if you want to store it for a longer time, moisten it with additional rum from time to time.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 396.5, Fat 12.4, SaturatedFat 6.4, Cholesterol 77.3, Sodium 136.6, Carbohydrate 62.6, Fiber 3.6, Sugar 45.2, Protein 4.9
CARIBBEAN CHRISTMAS CAKE/ WEDDING CAKE
This cake is versatile and you can substitute strawberry jam with marmalade or any other flavour of jam. You can use alcohol to flavour it or not. You can ice it or leave it plain. You can serve it as a Christmas fruit cake or use it to make a wedding cake. It does make enough cake to fill a set of three graduated wedding cake pans (7.5 in, 5.5 in, and a 4 in pan). Each cake is about 2 inches high and the total weight is about 11.5 lbs. If you cut it up for a wedding cake, it would probably serve anywhere from 100-150 people depending on how small you want the pieces to be.
Provided by Ranikabani
Categories Dessert
Time 1h34m
Yield 125 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 20
Steps:
- Day 1: Measure nuts, raisins, currants, citron peel into a large bowl.
- Drain cherries and reserve juice.
- Chop cherries (they should measure about 1 1/4 cups) and add to the fruit mixture.
- Stir in brandy and soak over night.
- I actually do this a few weeks in advance and leave it in the fridge and really let the fruit soak in the brandy for more depth of flavour but it's up to you.
- If you're going to do it the day before baking however, I'd cover it with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter at room temperature.
- In a heavy dutch oven or large saucepan, simmer the entire contents of the can of pineapple with 2 cups of the sugar.
- Cook uncovered until thickened, about 30 minutes.
- Stir frequently and make sure the heat isn't too high.
- When cool, stir in the juice from jar of maraschino cherries (it shouldn't be more than 1/2 cup) and the strawberry jam.
- This mixture doesn't have to be done the day before baking but it does have to bee cool before you add it to the cake.
- In fact, I'd recommend that you do this step on the day of baking.
- Prepare cake pans by greasing and then lining with a double thickness of heavy brown paper.
- Brown shopping bags do well or else you can use tin foil with dull side out.
- Grease the paper or foil well.
- Use whatever size pans you wish but leave an inch space at the top of the pan.
- Total weight is 11.5 lbs.
- Preheat oven to 275°F.
- Sift or stir the flour with the spices, salt and soda until well mixed.
- Sprinkle a cup of the flour mixture over the fruits and nuts and toss till they are coated with flour.
- Set remaining 3 cups of flour aside.
- In a large measuring bowl, cream 2 1/4 cups of the sugar with butter.
- Beat in eggs one at a time.
- Stir in dry ingredients, alternating with pineapple mixture.
- Make 3 dry and two liquid additions, combining lightly after each addition.
- Pour over flour-coated fruits and nuts and mix until well combined.
- Turn into prepared pans and they can be filled to about one inch from the top.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 3 - 3 1/2 to 5 hrs depending on pan size.
- Put a shallow pan of water on a lower rack for added moisture if you'd like.
- Cake should be fairly firm in the centre and a skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes.
- Remove from pan and peel off paper and then let it cool on a rack.
- When cool, wrap it in a piece of cheesecloth that has been soaked in brandy, rum, black wine, liqueur, or fruit juice.
- Then wrap the cake in tin foil (leaving the cheesecloth on the cake).
- Freeze if not being used right away.
- Note: I usually start soaking the fruits around the end of October for a couple of weeks in the fridge, then mid Nov, I bake the cake, and freeze it.
- Every couple of weeks, I take it out, re-soak the cheesecloth in liquor and wrap it back up and re-freeze.
- By the time Christmas rolls around, you will have one moist and intoxicating cake!
- (You can just use fruit juice if you don't want the alcohol. I think pineapple juice is the best).
- You can decorate with an almond paste or icing of your choice or serve plain.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 133, Fat 4.3, SaturatedFat 2.1, Cholesterol 28.1, Sodium 63.6, Carbohydrate 22.6, Fiber 1.2, Sugar 16.6, Protein 1.8
Tips:
- Choose ripe, flavorful fruits. This will ensure that your fruitcake is packed with flavor. If you're using dried fruits, make sure to soak them in brandy or rum overnight before adding them to the batter.
- Use a variety of fruits. This will give your fruitcake a complex and interesting flavor profile. Some popular fruits to use include raisins, currants, cranberries, cherries, pineapple, and apricots.
- Don't be afraid to experiment with different spices. Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice are all classic additions to fruitcake, but you can also try using more unusual spices like cardamom, star anise, or fennel.
- Soak the fruitcake in alcohol. This will help to keep the cake moist and flavorful. You can use brandy, rum, or even bourbon.
- Wrap the fruitcake tightly in plastic wrap and let it age for at least two weeks before serving. This will allow the flavors to develop and meld together.
Conclusion:
Caribbean Christmas fruit cake, also known as great cake, is a rich and flavorful cake that is perfect for the holidays. With its variety of fruits, spices, and alcohol, this cake is sure to be a hit with everyone who tries it. So gather your ingredients and get baking! Your taste buds will thank you.
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