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The Tonic Wine Chronicle

Jamaican black cake with Red Label wine

The rich, dark Christmas cake of Jamaica, made with fruit soaked in Red Label wine and rum.

Black cake is the centrepiece of a Jamaican Christmas. Dried fruit is soaked for weeks, often months, in Red Label wine and white rum, then blended into a dark, spiced batter coloured with browning (burnt sugar). After baking, the cake is fed with more wine and rum. Red Label is so central to it that a shortage in Jamaica in December 2021 made national news. This is our version of the traditional recipe.

REDLABELAbout Red Label Wine13.7% ABV

Our recipe

Jamaican black cake

Makes one 23 cm round cake, about 16 slices.

Makes:
16 slices
Plus at least 2 weeks to soak the fruit.

For the soaked fruit

  • 250 g raisins
  • 250 g currants
  • 250 g pitted prunes
  • 100 g glacé cherries
  • 100 g mixed peel
  • 300 ml Red Label wine
  • 150 ml white rum

For the cake

  • 250 g butter, softened
  • 250 g dark brown sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Finely grated zest of 1 lime
  • 250 g plain flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
  • ½ tsp ground allspice
  • A pinch of salt
  • 3 to 4 tbsp browning (burnt sugar syrup)

To feed the cake

  • 100 ml Red Label wine
  • 50 ml white rum

Method

  1. At least two weeks ahead, put all the dried fruit in a large jar, pour over the Red Label and rum, seal and leave in a cool place, shaking now and then. Many families soak their fruit for months.
  2. When you are ready to bake, heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan, gas 2). Grease a 23 cm round tin and line it with a double layer of baking paper.
  3. Blend the soaked fruit with its liquid until it is a coarse paste, or finer if you prefer a smooth cake.
  4. Cream the butter and sugar until light. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla and lime zest.
  5. Mix the flour, baking powder, spices and salt, and fold them into the creamed mixture.
  6. Stir in the blended fruit and enough browning to turn the batter a deep, dark brown.
  7. Spoon into the tin, level the top and bake for 2 to 2½ hours, until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. Cover the top with foil if it browns too quickly.
  8. While the cake is still warm in its tin, prick it all over with a skewer and spoon over half the feeding mixture.
  9. When cold, wrap it well. Feed it with the rest of the mixture over the next few days, then keep it wrapped in a cool place until Christmas.
  • The cake keeps a lot of its alcohol, so it is not suitable for children, during pregnancy, or for anyone avoiding alcohol.
  • White rum in Jamaica is traditionally overproof (around 63%). Use less, or a standard 40% white rum, if you prefer.