Caribbean Fruit And Rum Cake

By West Africa Cooks, 7 November, 2017
Description

This popular cake is eaten Chrisrmas, weddings and other special occasions. It's know as black cake, because the traditional recipe uses burnt sugar.
MAKES ONE CAKE

Yield amount
8
Yield units
Servings
Preparation time
0 minutes
Cooking time
0 minutes
Total time
0 minutes
Instructions

How to make Caribbean Fruit And Rum Cake?

1. Wash the currants, raisins, prunes and mixed peel, then drain and pat dry. Place in a food processor and process until roughly chopped. Transfer to a large, bowl and add the the mixed spice, rum and sherry. Stir in 115g/4oz/1/2 cup of sugar. Mix well, then cover with a lid and set aside for anything from 2 weeks to 3 months — the longer it is left, the better the flavour will be.
2. Stir the fruit mixture occasionally, adding more alcohol, if you like, before replacing the cover.
3. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/ Gas 3. Grease a 25cm/10in round cake tin (pan) and line with a double layer of greaseproof (waxed) paper or baking parchment.
4. Sift the flour into a bowl, and set it aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with the remaining sugar. Beat in the eggs until the mixture is smooth and creamy, adding a little of the flour if the mixture starts to curdle.
5. Add the fruit mixture, then gradually stir in the remaining flour and the vanilla essence. Mix well, adding 15-30m1/1-2 tbsp more sherry if the mixture is too stiff; it should just fall off the back of the spoon, but should not be too runny.
6. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, cover loosely with foil and bake for about 21/2 hours, until the cake is firm and springy. Leave to cool in the pan overnight. Unless serving immediately, sprinkle the cake with more rum and wrap in greaseproof paper and foil to keep it moist.

COOK'S TIP Although it is usual to roughly chop the dried fruits, they can be marinated whole if you prefer. If there is no time to marinate the fruit, simmer it gently in the alcohol mixture for about 30 minutes. and leave overnight.

Notes

INGREDIENTS 450g/llb/2 cups currants 450gillb/3 cups raisins 225g/8oz/1 cup pitted prunes 115gi4oz/276 cup mixed (candied) peel 5m1/1 tsp ground mixed spice (pumpkin pie spice) 90m1/6 tbsp rum, plus more if needed 300m1/1/2 pint/11/4 cups sherry, plus more if needed 400g/14oz/13/4 cups soft dark brown sugar 450gillb/4 cups self-raising (self-rising) flour 450g/11b/2 cups butter, softened 10 eggs, beaten 5m1/1 tsp natural vanilla essence (extract)
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ISBN-13: 9780754819776 ISBN-10: 0754819779 The Illustrated Food and Cooking of the Caribbean, Central and South America by Jenni Fleetwood, Marina Filippelli

Source

Jenni Fleetwood, Marina Filippelli

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