Bajan black cake

Ingredients

Fruit to soak

• 500 graisins
• 400 gprunes, pitted
• 300 gcurrants
• 200 gglace cherries
• 150 gmixed candied peel
• 500 mldark rum
• 300 mlfalernum
• or 300 ml cherry brandy

Browning

• 300 ggranulated sugar
• 150 mlboiling water

Cake

• 450 gplain flour
• 450 gbutter, softened
• 450 gdark brown sugar
• 8eggs
• 2 teaspoonsbaking powder
• 2 teaspoonsmixed spice
• 1 teaspoongrated nutmeg
• 1 teaspoonground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoonsvanilla
• the zest of 1 lime

To finish

• extra rum, for feeding the cake

Directions

1. Chop the prunes and any large pieces of fruit. Put all the fruit into a large sterilised jar. Pour the rum and falernum over it. The liquid should cover the fruit completely. Seal the jar and keep it in a cool dark place. Shake or stir the jar every week or so.
2. Top it up with more rum if the fruit rises above the liquid. Blending the fruit is done just before baking. Tip the soaked fruit with its liquid into a food processor. Blend it into a thick dark paste. Some cooks leave it coarse and others go nearly smooth.
3. Put the granulated sugar into a heavy dry pan. Set it over a medium heat without stirring. Let it melt and then begin to darken. It will go golden, then amber, then dark brown. Keep going past the point that feels comfortable. It should turn almost black and smoke slightly. Stand well back and pour in the boiling water. Pour it slowly and keep your face and hands clear.
4. Stir it carefully until the hardened sugar dissolves. Return it briefly to a low heat if lumps remain. Let it cool completely before using it. Cream the butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each. Add a spoonful of flour if it starts to curdle.
5. Sift the flour with the baking powder and all the spices. Fold it into the butter mixture in three additions. Stir in the vanilla and the lime zest. Bringing it together needs a large bowl. Fold the blended soaked fruit into the batter. Add the browning a little at a time.
6. Keep adding until the batter is genuinely dark. How much you need depends on your browning. Add a splash of rum if it is too stiff. Heat the oven to only 150C for it.
7. Line two deep cake tins with a double layer of paper. Take the paper well above the rim of each tin. Divide the batter between the tins. Bake them for about two hours. Start testing at ninety minutes. A skewer should come out with moist crumbs. Cover the tops with foil if they darken too fast.
8. Take the cakes out and leave them in their tins. Pierce them all over with a skewer. Spoon rum generously over each hot cake. Let it soak in completely first. Repeat the feeding once a week for as long as you keep them. Cooling and storing them takes patience.
9. Let them cool completely in their tins. Wrap each one in greaseproof paper and then foil. Keep them in a tin in a cool dark place. Serving it is done in thin slices.

Technique

• Browning is burnt sugar dissolved in water and is used across the Caribbean for colour in both sweet and savoury cooking.
• Falernum is a Barbadian syrup flavoured with lime, ginger, clove and almond, and is sold both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

Substitutions

• Bottled browning from a Caribbean shop is safer and easier than burning sugar at home.
• Cherry brandy or a sweet dark liqueur replaces falernum reasonably well.

Variations

• Similar black cakes are made across Trinidad, Guyana and the wider eastern Caribbean.
• A non-alcoholic version soaks the fruit in fruit juice, though it will not keep as long.
• Some households add a little stout to the soaking liquid.

History

Barbados’s Christmas cake, its blackness from burnt-sugar browning; the fruit steeps from one year to the next.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bajan black cake?

Bajan black cake is a dessert from Barbados: very dark fruit cake made with fruit soaked for months in rum and falernum. Barbados’s Christmas cake, its blackness from burnt-sugar browning; the fruit steeps from one year to the next.

How long does Bajan black cake take to make?

Bajan black cake takes 1 hour plus months of soaking of preparation and 2 hours of cooking. The recipe makes two cakes, 24 slices. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Bajan black cake?

Yes, within limits. Bottled browning from a Caribbean shop is safer and easier than burning sugar at home. Cherry brandy or a sweet dark liqueur replaces falernum reasonably well.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bajan black cake?

Put the granulated sugar into a heavy dry pan. Set it over a medium heat without stirring. Let it melt and then begin to darken. It will go golden, then amber, then dark brown. Keep going past the point that feels comfortable. It should turn almost black and smoke slightly. Stand well back and pour in the boiling water. Pour it slowly and keep your face and hands clear.