Antiguan Black Cake
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The Tale of Antiguan Black Cake
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Black cake, a rum-soaked fruit cake darkened with browning and dried fruits steeped for weeks or months, descends from British plum pudding traditions brought to the Caribbean during colonization. Enslaved and free Afro-Caribbean cooks transformed it into the rich, dark holiday cake found across Antigua and the wider Caribbean today.
Ingredients
Scale:· 12 servings
- 2 cups mixed dried fruit (raisins, prunes, currants), soaked in rum for at least 1 week
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup burnt sugar syrup or dark molasses
- 5 eggs
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground mixed spice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup dark rum, plus more for soaking after baking
- 1/4 cup cherry brandy or port
Instructions
- 1Blend the rum-soaked dried fruit in a food processor until it forms a thick, chunky paste.
- 2Cream the butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy.
- 3Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the burnt sugar syrup for color and depth of flavor.
- 4Fold in the blended fruit paste until evenly combined.
- 5Sift together the flour, baking powder, mixed spice, and cinnamon, then fold into the batter in batches, alternating with the rum and cherry brandy.
- 6Pour the batter into greased and lined cake pans.
- 7Bake at 300°F for 75 to 90 minutes until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, covering loosely with foil if the top browns too quickly.
- 8While still warm, spoon additional dark rum over the cake, then wrap tightly and let it mature for at least a few days before serving.
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