How to make a Trinidad Black Cake | Classic Bakes

Published Date

December 30th 2020

#Fancy Desserts #Fruit Desserts #Low Sodium #Christmas #Baking

Front shot of One whole Trinidad Black Fruit Cake

A slice of Trinidad Black Fruit Cake on a dish.

Overview of Trinidad Black Fruit Cake with cherry wine soaking on it

Healthy Easy Dinners Cookbook cover

Healthy dinners to kickstart your weight loss

$7.99 Limited time offer $2.99

Eat healthy &
lose weight

As Seen On

Trinidad Black Cake, also commonly referred to as Trinidad Fruit Cake, is a staple cake for the Christmas holiday season. However, in reality, the preparation for the ideal Trini Black Cake should be started months (even up to 1 year) in advance. This black cake (or fruit cake if you so wish) is a popular rum cake dessert soaked in rum and cherry brandy and contains macerated dried fruits. The fruit cake is alcoholic, so keep it away from kids, but if you want to make the non-alcoholic version, you can substitute the white rum and cherry brandy with grape and apple juice. Trinidad Black Cake is eaten all over the Caribbean and is known to be a descendent of the British plum pudding.

How to store a Trinidad Black Cake?

Black/Fruit Cakes can last up to 1-2 months when wrapped in plastic wrap or stored in an airtight container while being refrigerated. Infuse the cake with rum weekly in order to keep it moist while storing.

Author: Classic Bakes Editorial Team

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

120 mins

Total Time

140 mins

Serves

2 cakes in 8 " pan

Ingredients

1/2 cup Raisins
1 cup Dried Currants
1/2 cup Dried Cherries
1/2 cup Pitted Prunes
50 grams Candied Mixed Citrus Peel
240 ml Cherry Wine
240 ml Dark Rum
1 Cinnamon Stick
1 Star Anise
227 grams Unsalted Butter at room temperature
227 grams Granulated Sugar
5 Eggs
Grated Zest of 1 Lime
227 grams All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
2 ½ tablespoons Browning
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Almond Extract

Instructions

To be prepared in advance: The soaked fruits should be macerated for a minimum of one day and up to one year. Simply cover the dried fruits with 120 ml rum and 120 ml cherry wine and let them steep with a cinnamon stick as well as a star anise.

Overview of a bowl of soaked macerated fruit

For the cake batter: Remove the cinnamon stick and the star anise and blend the macerated fruits along with the liquid it was soaked in. The consistency should be pasty but slightly coarse.

Arial view of blender with blended fruit and spices

Preheat the oven to 280 °F (121 °C) and line two 8 inch pans with parchment paper.

Combine the soft butter with sugar and beat on low to medium speed using a mixer for 5-10 minutes until the mixture appears fluffy and light.

Overview of a bowl of whipped butter and sugar

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with some lime zest, vanilla extract and almond extract. Then slowly add to the butter mixture while stirring continuously.

Overview of whipped eggs butter and sugar in a bowl

Sift the flour and mix it with baking powder as well as ground cinnamon. Gradually fold the dry ingredients into the butter-egg-mixture.

Bowl containing dry and wet ingredients for cake batter

Add puréed fruits and browning to batter.

Bowl containing cake batter with pureed fruit on top

Pour the batter into the baking pans and place them on the middle rack in the oven. Bake for approximately two hours until a toothpick inserted to the center of the cakes comes out clean.

Arial of 2 cake pans filled with cake batter

While the cakes are cooling you can lightly pierce the surfaces with a toothpick. Slowly pour the remaining rum and wine mixture over the top until the cakes are fully soaked. Let the cake cool for a few hours before serving.

Arial of bowl containing rum and wine mixture

This recipe has been meticulously written by an independently selected Editorial Team or community member. In an effort to be fully transparent, Classic Bakes may earn a small commission from the external links on this page (at no cost to you) should you decide to buy any product. The links do not influence the recipes and are there for your convenience only. We use the income to offset costs such as website hosting, maintenance and to pay our editors. We know you will appreciate the hard work required to bring such high quality recipes to you for free. We thank you very much for your support.

Keywords

Trinidad Fruit Cake, best black cake, rum cake, Caribbean, black wedding cake, forest, old fashioned fruit cake recipe, fruit cake

Can you freeze this…

Artie Ramirez (not verified)

Can you freeze this delicious cake..Trinidad Black cake??

Permalink 10 Dec 2022

Hello, yes you can most…

Member for

1 year 4 months

First Name

Jennifer

Last Name

Dodd

Jennifer Dodd

Hello, yes you can most defiantly freeze Trinidad Black Cake. Simply wrap it up tightly using plastic wrap or a freezer bag with any excess air removed and it will taste as fresh as the day you baked it for up to 3 months in the freezer. Be sure to let it thaw naturally in the fridge or countertop overnight.

Permalink 16 Dec 2022

Add new comment