Home » Dessert » Jamaican Black Rum Cake Recipe
Written by Lesa Updated on February 22, 2023 in Dessert
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It’s the time of year when we prepare Jamaican black rum cake, and you’re looking for the best recipe. Look no, future! Grab the Wray & Nephew white rum, the Red Label Wine, a bottle of port wine, dry fruits of your choice, the spices, the eggs, the flour and let’s prepare for Christmas day!
What Is Jamaican Black Rum Cake
Jamaican black cake, also described as Jamaican rum cake or Jamaican fruit cake, is a dark, liquored cake packed with lots of mixed fruits, spices and tons of flavour. To get the rich dark colour of the cake, Jamaicans use what is known as browning, caramelised brown sugar, which is either homemade or store-bought. The mixed fruit, dried raisins, cherries, sultana and/or prunes, is soaked in white rum and a combination of wines.
Traditionally a Christmas treat, the Jamaican black rum cake has become the perfect centrepiece for many local festivities. This moist, rich, flavourful liquored Jamaican dessert has graced many events, including weddings and birthday parties
How Long Do You Soak Fruits In Rum?
Soaking the fruits for a period means the fruits will absorb more of the alcoholic liquid, making the fruit a lot moist and flavourful. The soft fruits make a moist and flavourful rum cake.
Always soak the fruits, even if it’s only for a few hours. I recommend soaking the fruits for at least a week. Baking enthusiast like my mother soaks their fruit for six months up to a year.Because of the alcohol, you can soak the fruits for a long period. As long as it’s in a food storage container, you’re able to seal.
Jamaican Rum Cake Ingredients
First here is a list of the obvious ingredients for your Jamaican rum cake:
- Unsalted butter: Use unsalted butter whether you want salt in your cake are not. Some add salt to Jamaican black cake, but this recipe doesn’t include it. Using unsalted butter allows you to control the amount of salt you add to the cake if you wish to use salt.
- Blended fruit: Pulse the soaked fruit for about a minute in a blender. Don’t blend to fruit until smooth.
- Essentials: Plain flour and eggs. Use large eggs. But one or two more eggs if you’re using small ones.
- Lemon: The lemon it for the zest and the juice.
Now a list of ingredients that makes Jamaican black cake, Jamaican black cake.
- Sugar: I’m using soft brown sugar, which is best for this recipe.
- Browning sauce: Thebrowning sauceis to help darken the cake. You don’t want to use too much of a store-bought browning sauce as it could make the cake bitter. Browning sauce is burnt sugar so you could make your own. Also, you can use molasses to help darken the cake, which is what I used.
- Spices: Without ground cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, ground allspice, vanilla extract, and rose water, rum cake won’t have any flavour.
- Baking powder: No explanation needed.
- Oops!: Other ingredients I forget to photograph is the white rum and molasses. Don’t forget this when making the cake. I “burnt” the molasses and white rum for a minute or two and let it cold before adding it to the cake batter.
How To Make Jamaican Black Rum Cake
- Preparation: First, make the browning sauce, if you are making your own, and put it aside to cool. Learn how to make browning sauce here. Next, line the baking tray with baking paper and set it aside. Prepare the dry ingredients: sieve the flour and baking powder, add the nutmeg, ground cinnamon, and ground allspice and combine – set aside. Pulse the fruit for about a minute. Now preheat the over at 170
- The cake batter: Start by creaming the butter and sugar for about a minute. Don’t mix for long because you don’t want to overwork the batter. Whisk the eggs with the lemon zest and juice, then add the eggs a little at a time to the cake mix. Grab the dry mixture you prepared earlier and add it a little at a time. Gracefully fold in the flour, but don’t overwork the cake batter.
- Finish up and bake: To finish up the cake batter, add the blended fruit, vanilla extract, rose water and browning sauce. For a darker cake, use more browning sauce, but note that store-bought browning sauce will make the cake bitter if you use too much. Pour the batter into the backing tray you prepared earlier and place it in the oven.
How To Store Jamaican Black Rum Cake?
If stored correctly, Jamaican black rum cake can last for years, though it’s generally eaten up before the holiday season ends.
Since fruit cake gets better with age, bake your Jamaican black cake for at least a month of the festive season. Spray it with rum and wine every four to six weeks for a more flavourful taste.
Wrap your Jamaican black cake in a rum-soaked towel or cheesecloth, then wrap it in either aluminium foil or cling film. Don’t wrap the cake directly with aluminium foil because it spoils the taste of the cake.
Store in a cool place or the refrigerator and keep out of sunlight.
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Jamaican Black Rum Fruit Cake Recipe
Jamaican black rum cake is the fruit cake recipe for the festive season. Fill your kitchen with the smell of rum, wine, mixed fruits, spices and the sounds of the Christmas cheers.
4.17 from 87 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Jamaican
Keyword: rum cake, fruit cake, Jamaica christmas cake, black cake
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours hours
Servings: 10 inche cake
Calories: 381kcal
Author: Lesa
Ingredients
Mix Fruit Ingredients
- 330 g (1.39 cups) Dry fruits
- 236.59 ml (1 cups) White Rum
- 354.88 ml (1.5 cups) Red label wine
Fruit Cake Ingredients
- 384 g (3.00 cups) Plain flour
- 200 g (0.88 cups) Unsalted butter
- 200 g (0.91 cups) Soft dark brown sugar
- 8 Eggs
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp Cinnamon powder
- ½ tbsp Allspice
- ½ tbsp Vanilla extract
- ½ tbsp Rose water
- 5 tbsp Browning sauce
- 5 tbsp Molasses Optional (Use more browning sauce to replace)
- 59.15 ml (0.25 cups) White rum
- ½ tbsp Lemon juice
- Lemon zest from a whole lemon
Instructions
Fruit Mix Instructions
Add the mixed fruit to a glass kitchen container.
Pour the rum and the wine over the mixed fruit. Cover and leave to soak for at least a week.
On baking day, pour the soaked fruit to a blender and pulse until you know longer recognised the fruit but not until smooth. Set aside.
Fruit Cake Instructions
Get the molasses runnier by heating it with half the white rum for about a minute on high heat. Stir continuously! Set aside to cool whilst you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Grease a 10-inch round cake tin and line it with a layer of baking parchment paper.
Preheat the oven to 150°C fan or 325 °F or gas mark 3.
In a kitchen bowl, sift the plain flour and the baking powder. Add and combine the ground allspice, cinnamon powder and freshly grated nutmeg. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the butter and dark brown sugars until creamy.
Whisk together the eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest. Add it a little at a time to the cream butter and sugar.
Add the flour mixture a little at a time. Fold in using a wooden spoon. Don't overwork the batter or the fruit cake will turn out dense.
Add the blended fruit, vanilla extract, rose water, browning sauce, molasses and the rest of the rum. Combine without overworking the batter.
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan. Bake in the preheated oven for about 2 hours, until a toothpick in the middle comes out clean.
Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool. Once cool, spray the cake with 1/4 cup/100ml of rum and wine. The ratio of rum to wine is up to you.
Notes
- You don’t have to use molasses like I did, you can use use the browning sauce. The more browning sauce you use the darker the cake will turn out.
- You can make your own browning sauce by caramelising brown sugar.
- If rose water isn’t available, you could make the cake without it. It won’t make a great difference to the flavour.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Jamaican Black Rum Fruit Cake Recipe
Serving Size
95 g
Amount per Serving
Calories
381
% Daily Value*
Fat
20
g
31
%
Saturated Fat
11
g
69
%
Trans Fat
1
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
1
g
Monounsaturated Fat
6
g
Cholesterol
174
mg
58
%
Sodium
114
mg
5
%
Potassium
247
mg
7
%
Carbohydrates
39
g
13
%
Fiber
1
g
4
%
Sugar
9
g
10
%
Protein
9
g
18
%
Vitamin A
692
IU
14
%
Vitamin C
1
mg
1
%
Calcium
79
mg
8
%
Iron
3
mg
17
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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32 Comments
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Kellie W
September 15, 2022 at 2:33 am ·Reply
I like that your recipe uses less sugar and salt. Black cake normally has a lot of sugar! So much so that I can’t eat it without it spiking my inflammation. Would love to see your recipe for the fruits before soaking. -
Amanda
September 15, 2022 at 7:59 pm ·Reply
Love this recipe! Getting my fruits ready. Can’t wait to start baking lol. Thanks for sharing. -
Luna S
September 26, 2022 at 7:49 pm ·Reply
I have beeen longing to try Jamaican rum cake and finally found a good recipe! Love Jamaica, love this Jamaican rum cake recipe. -
Beth
September 26, 2022 at 9:34 pm ·Reply
I love all the dense flavor in this recipe. This is the perfect Jamaican black rum cake recipe! -
Christine
September 26, 2022 at 10:07 pm ·Reply
YUM! This cake looks so delicious. My favourite cake to eat around Christmas time with the family. We are trying you recipe this christmas. Thanks! -
Jennifer Prince
September 27, 2022 at 12:38 pm ·Reply
This recipe sounds so good! I love how it’s styled for a holiday vibe, too. What a fun treat to make!
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Fransic verso
September 27, 2022 at 3:55 pm ·Reply
I give to recipe and 10 out of 10. Just the way my grandmother use to make it. Lovely, thanks for sharing and bringing back great memories. -
Patricia Chamberlain
September 27, 2022 at 4:27 pm ·Reply
This looks amazing! Been awhile I have been wanting to baked a Jamaican rum cake, so I’m trying this recipe out! -
Beth L
September 27, 2022 at 6:12 pm ·Reply
What a yummy cake for the Holiday Season that coming up fast. On my list to try this Christmas. Thanks for sharing! -
Mila R
September 27, 2022 at 6:52 pm ·Reply
Learning so much and trying lot of Jamaican recipes and this Jamaican black rum cake recipe is like the tenth Jamaican recipe I love. They really have so amazing kitchen! -
Melanie E
September 27, 2022 at 7:57 pm ·Reply
This is something I know I’m going to enjoy.Never had Jamaican black cake before but a friend recommended it. It tastes wonderful. -
Melanie
September 27, 2022 at 8:49 pm ·Reply
Oh my gosh, this Jamaican black rum came looks lovely had to try the recipe! Turned out just as perfect. x -
Caroline
September 28, 2022 at 12:28 pm ·Reply
Love Jamaican rum cake, but didn’t know it is also called black cake. I’m going to share this recipe with my friend who loves baking so that we can try it out.-
M.Millet
November 22, 2022 at 5:39 pm ·Reply
Love, love your receipt Have been looking for a receipt that was not loaded with sugar , and butter,, will be making my first black cake with this receipt.
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Abida
September 29, 2022 at 6:44 am ·Reply
This cake recipe looks soo good. can’t wait to try this. -
Monique
October 28, 2022 at 3:28 am ·Reply
My favorite cake in the whole wide world I loved to go to weddings just to get that cake when I was a young girl -
Carmen Paul
November 9, 2022 at 1:32 am ·Reply
I am german and have been to jamaica a few times and i always eat thais cake when i am there. Now i found this recipe and i try to make it at home.Thank you for share this☺️👍 -
Marie
November 22, 2022 at 6:44 am ·Reply
I am going to try your recipe Lesa. Thanks for sharing the “itsy bitsy” details as well. Much appreciated. Happy Holidays.
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Joost
December 20, 2022 at 8:47 pm ·Reply
In previous years I used a recipe that always came out as a pounding…. I really wanted a cake this year …. I soaked my fruit in rum
and ruby port for over a month and then made your recipe… It really came out well 🙂 I used three cups of soaked fruit and used mixed spice (home made) instead of nutmeg and zest. I left out the molasses and added extra browning until I got the colour I wanted (at the moment where you stir in the fruit) -
Adeline Scheetz
March 3, 2023 at 2:55 am ·Reply
I am going to try your recipe Lesa. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Much appreciated.
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M
April 19, 2023 at 5:47 pm ·Reply
Hi, I was wondering if you have a recipe of how to soak the fruits. I have an idea but I wanted the measurements 😉 I am not Jamaican so this isnt as obvious for me as it should have been 😛
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Emilia
November 3, 2023 at 10:12 am ·Reply
Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe, I am making it this weekend as it’s my Jamaican friend’s birthday. I hope the fruit has enough soaking time 72 hours!
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Katherine
November 18, 2023 at 10:00 pm ·Reply
After reading “Black Cake,” I’ve been looking for a recipe to bake this delicacy, so I’m going to try this.
One question: are we supposed to blend the fruits WITH the rum and wine, or spoon them into the blender within the soaking liquor?
If anyone could answer, I’d appreciate it.-
Katherine
November 18, 2023 at 10:02 pm ·Reply
Sorry for the typo! I meant spoon the fruit into the blender WITHOUT the soaking liquor.
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Leona
November 26, 2023 at 12:16 am ·Reply
when it says add the rest of the rum does that mean to add the soaking liquid
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Lorraine
December 6, 2023 at 4:20 pm ·Reply
Great recipe. Love the conversions, saving my brain the headache :D.
My cakes turned out great. Thanks 🙂 -
December 7, 2023 at 5:34 am ·Reply
Thanks for sharing your recipe, but I have one question.When you bake for 2 hours, do you bake on 350 or 300? I have been baking on 350 for 1 hour, and sometimes, my cake is a bit overdone. Is 350 too high to bake on?
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Jacqueline
December 10, 2023 at 1:29 pm ·Reply
Thank you for this great recipe, tried it and the cake was the best I ever made.
Blessings
Jacqueline
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Eva
December 16, 2023 at 12:23 pm ·Reply
Great info.. -
Marlene Scott
December 27, 2023 at 3:39 pm ·Reply
Thank you so much for thus wonderful recipe , it is so clear abd concise to follow. My cakes came out just as expected. You made my Christmas a merry one . -
Brittany Nelson
February 19, 2024 at 2:31 pm ·Reply
Hello I’m from the uk! Do you use medium or large eggs as we have those options so like to know what size yall use as the recipe just says eggs
ANYONE HELP PLEASE! -
Beverley
February 25, 2024 at 8:03 pm ·Reply
My seventeen-year-old son saw your rum cake recipe online and we made the cake together.
I was very impressed with the result thank you so much for sharing god bless!
The cake was so delicious my husband loved the taste. We are from Jamaica too but did not do a good job like our grandparents.
Thanks,
Beverley
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