Caribbean Black Cake
A dark, sticky, rum-soaked Caribbean fruit cake made for Christmas and weddings, rich with burnt sugar.
- Time4 hr
- LevelMedium
- Costabout £0.88 a head
- Oven150°C (130°C fan)
Cost is worked out from Aldi and Tesco shelf prices in October 2026. Your shop and brands will differ.
Ingredients
Tick what you need to buy. It goes on your shopping list.
Method
- 1
The day before, chop the prunes and put all the dried fruit in a pan with the rum and port. Simmer for 10 minutes, cool, then blitz in a food processor to a thick, rough jam. Cover and leave overnight.
10 min - 2
Make the burnt sugar: heat the 100 g caster sugar in a dry pan, without stirring, until it is deep brown and smoking slightly, about 6 minutes. Carefully pour in the boiling water and stir until smooth. Cool.
6 min - 3
Heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan). Grease and double line a deep 20 cm round tin.
- 4
Beat the butter and muscovado sugar for 4 minutes until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time with a spoonful of flour each.
4 min - 5
Fold in the rest of the flour, baking powder, mixed spice, vanilla, lime zest, burnt sugar and fruit paste until dark and even.
- 6
Bake for 2 hours to 2 hours 15 minutes, covering with foil after 1 hour. A skewer should come out clean and the cake should smell of caramel and rum. Cool in the tin.
135 min - 7
Brush with a spoonful more rum if you like and wrap well. It slices best after 2 days and keeps for weeks.
Double check before you cook. Recipes can contain mistakes. Any diet labels come from the ingredients as written in this recipe and are a guide, not a guarantee. Always check every ingredient and the packet label for allergens and cross contamination, and ask your doctor or dietitian what is right for you, especially with coeliac disease, diabetes or a serious allergy. This is not medical advice.
