Caribbean Black Cake Christmas Cake

By
Cynthia Nelson
Cynthia Nelson
Cynthia Nelson
Food columnist and blogger Cynthia Nelson is the author of "Tastes Like Home: My Caribbean Cookbook." Living in Barbados, Cynthia shares her love of the diverse food of the islands.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 04/13/22
Tested by
Tracy Wilk
Photo of Tracy Wilk
Tested by Tracy Wilk
Tracy Wilk is a professional pastry chef, recipe developer and chef instructor, and, most importantly, a firm believer in sprinkles.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Caribbean Black Cake Christmas Cake

The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 90 mins
Soaked Fruit: 8 hrs
Total: 10 hrs
Servings: 5 servings
Yield: 1 cake

Christmas cake, black cake, wedding cake, or great cake are all names used to describe this famous Caribbean dessert that is made with aged rum-soaked fruits. This is a cake made to mark the celebration of Christmas, weddings, christenings, baptisms, and significant anniversaries, and in more elaborate versions it takes days to assemble as the cake is brushed with rum and wine syrup on various occasions to add a stronger flavor. In either case, the result is a dense and moist cake.

Each household and Caribbean island has its own version, but this basic recipe is easy enough to make and use as a template to add more fruit, flavored rum, or additional spices like nutmeg. Check our tip section on how to make your rum-soaked fruit mixture.

“This is a rich and delicious cake, while not being too overwhelmingly sweet. I like that you can customize your choice of dried fruits to adapt the cake to your preference. I used a dark, spiced rum for this cake, and I felt like the flavors really went well together.” –Tracy Wilk

Caribbean Christmas Cake/Tester Image
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

  • 3 cups dried fruit

  • 1 cup rum

  • 8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, more for the pan

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour, more for the pan

  • 1 cup Demerara sugar

  • 2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 6 large eggs, room temperature

  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, or vanilla essence

Steps to Make It

  1. 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.

  2. When ready to bake, gather the remaining ingredients.

    Christmas cake ingredients

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  3. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 350 F.

    Generously grease a cake pan with butter. Rub it well all around the insides of the pan, sprinkle with flour, and swirl the pan to coat it with flour. Turn the pan over and tap it to remove the excess flour.

    Greased and floured cake pan

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

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

    Line the bottom of the pan only with a cut-out piece of parchment paper

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  5. Cream 1 cup of butter and the sugar until the mixture is a pale color. If using a standing mixer, mix for 5 to 6 minutes. If working by hand, mix for up to 20 minutes. Set aside.

    Creamed butter and sugar

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  6. In a medium bowl, sift together 2 cups flour, the baking powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.

    Sifted flour

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  7. In another medium bowl, whisk the eggs until frothy.

    Frothy whisked eggs

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  8. Add vanilla to the eggs and continue to whisk until well combined, about 1 minute.

    vanilla extract added to eggs

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  9. Pour whisked eggs into the bowl with the creamed butter and sugar, stirring gently using a rubber spatula. Keep stirring until incorporated. The mixture will look curdled but that's okay as it will change texture once the remaining ingredients are added.

    Rum cake mixture

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  10. Drain the rum-soaked fruit, then add it to the egg-butter-sugar mixture and stir to fully incorporate.

    Rum-soaked fruits added to cake mixture

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  11. Gradually add the flour-baking powder-cinnamon mixture to the wet ingredients and mix gently but thoroughly with a silicone spatula to incorporate. Do not over mix or beat the batter.

    cake batter in a bowl

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  12. Use a spatula to scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Lift the pan a little and let it drop back to the surface about 2 to 3 times to remove any air bubbles in the batter.

    Rum cake batter in pan

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

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

    baked cake in a pan

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  14. Remove pan from oven and let cool on a wire rack in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully and quickly invert the pan, removing the cake. Let the cake continue to cool completely on the wire rack.

    cake on a cooling rack

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

  15. Slice and serve at room temperature.

    Caribbean Black Cake Christmas Cake slices

    The Spruce / Diana Chistruga

Make Rum-Soaked Fruit

To make liquor-soaked dry fruit you need:

  • 3 cups of mixed dry fruit (raisins, dry cherries, dry cranberries, currants, and finely chopped dates and prunes)
  • 1 cup of rum or sweet wine

Soak the fruits by placing them in a non-reactive bowl with the rum or wine. Mix well and leave to rest overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours, covered, mixing once or twice. If you believe the mixture needs more liquid, add more rum, or if you want to use less alcohol add 2 to 4 tablespoons of water. Once the fruit is soft, drain it well using a strainer and use as instructed in the recipe. You can choose any combination of fruit that you'd like, but a more varied fruit mixture adds a lot of different flavors and textures.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
1104 Calories
46g Fat
145g Carbs
16g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 5
Amount per serving
Calories 1104
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 46g 59%
Saturated Fat 26g 132%
Cholesterol 327mg 109%
Sodium 321mg 14%
Total Carbohydrate 145g 53%
Dietary Fiber 10g 35%
Total Sugars 91g
Protein 16g
Vitamin C 4mg 19%
Calcium 231mg 18%
Iron 6mg 35%
Potassium 1038mg 22%
*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.)