Caribbean · Jamaican holiday baking
Jamaican Black Cake
A rich Jamaican Christmas cake filled with rum-soaked fruit, warm spices, molasses, and generations of tradition.
29-inch cakes45 minprep2½–3 hrbake30 daysfruit soak
From Dianne's kitchen
A cherished Jamaican tradition
Jamaican Black Cake, also called Christmas Pudding, is a centerpiece of holiday and wedding celebrations.
The patient soaking of fruit gives the cake its iconic deep color, moist crumb, and unforgettable flavor.
What you'll need
Ingredients
For the fruit mixture
- ½ cup pitted prunes
- 2 cups raisins
- ¼ cup pitted dates
- ¼ cup apricots
- ½ cup cherries
- 1 tablespoon orange rind
- 1 cup Jamaican white or dark spiced rum
- 1 cup port wine
For the cake
- 6 ounces all-purpose flour
- 6 ounces bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ pound salted butter, softened
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons dark molasses or browning
For soaking
- ¼ cup rum
- ¼ cup port wine
Step by step
Instructions
- Combine fruit, orange rind, rum, and port in a glass jar. Soak at least 30 days, keeping fruit covered.
- Heat oven to 300°F. Grease and line two 9-inch pans.
- Blend soaked fruit until coarsely chopped. Whisk flour, bread crumbs, baking powder, spices, and salt.
- Cream butter and brown sugar until light. Beat in lime zest, lime juice, extracts, molasses, and eggs one at a time.
- Fold in fruit, then the dry ingredients just until combined.
- Divide batter between pans, cover with parchment and foil, and bake 2½–3 hours until a skewer is clean.
- Cool briefly, poke holes in the cakes, and spoon over rum and port. Wrap tightly to let flavors deepen.
Dianne's kitchen tip
Patience makes the cake
Soaking the fruit longer creates the richest depth of flavor.
Keep the wrapped cake in a cool place and feed it with a little rum and wine as desired.