All across the English - speaking Caribbean , the Christmas delicacy know as fatal cake is such a cherished and awaited custom that preparations for next year ’s bar often start on New Year ’s Day . That ’s because one of the distinctive element of this dense , spicedcakeis an assortment of dry out fruit — raisins , currants , prunes and citrus Sir Robert Peel — infuse for calendar month in a drunken bathroom of rummy , wine-colored and/or cherry red brandy .
Black cake run by many names : Jamaican Christmas patty , Caribbean nut case , rummy patty , etc . , but whatever you call it , know that it has trivial in common with American - panache nut .
Black cake is a revolution of its own , a distinctly Afro - Caribbean gimmick on an honest-to-god - schooltime British baking custom that includes English plum pudding and dense European fruitcakes . opprobrious patty is also the traditional marriage cake in the Caribbean .
We spoke withCandice Goucher , professor emerita of chronicle at Washington State University and author of " Congotay ! Congotay ! A world History of Caribbean Food , " to learn more about the origins of black cake and why you ca n’t celebrate a legit Caribbean Christmas without it .
Colonial History in a Cake
Tucking into a cut of black cake is like eating a small-arm of Caribbean colonial chronicle . In the 17th and 18th century , more than a dozen Caribbean island were part of the British West Indies , a compound outpost built on a lucrative sugar industriousness power by enslave African toil .
Life on a cabbage woodlet was brutal and barbarous . To appease rebellion and release social pressures , plantation owners wouldhand out stiff ration of rummy , made from fermenting the sweet juice pressed from saccharide cane .
On Christmas , New Year ’s and Easter , the rummy flow freely and role - flip-flop ritual took plaza , include the impermanent swapping of " lord " and " slave . " During at least two of these holiday drunken revelry , the enslaved laborers decided not to return to their original oppressed purpose . The Barbados slave rebellion of 1816 happened during Easter and the massive Jamaican hard worker rising of 1831 - 1832 ( also screw asthe Baptist War ) started during Christmas .
The British introduced the tradition of English plum tree puddings which wereoften imbue in brandyto preserve them on the longsighted sea voyages . But in the Caribbean , brandy was interchange with the more - usable rum .
" Black cake itself has been describe as something between an English plum pudding and a Irish pound bar , but it ’s much more than that , " says Goucher .
The theme song ingredient in shameful patty ( beside the rum ) is a fountain - smutty sirup called " brown " made from burnt sugar that is similar to molasses . It ’s a basic of Caribbean cuisine that lends fragrancy and depth to both savory dishes like chicken , and desserts . In opprobrious bar , browning is the star .
" It give the patty an almost bittersweet caramel flavor and that darker , more nuanced savour is what makes pitch-dark cake so unique , " says Goucher . " It taste much more like a really dampish chocolate patty as oppose to a screwball . "
A Dessert You Can Drink
In the sidereal day before refrigeration , alcohol and sugar were two proven elbow room to preserve a dessert . The traditional English plum pudding was mean to be eat a full yr after it was prepared , the dry fruit and other component preserved by generous amounts of cognac , brandy , sherry and porthole . If a plum pudding or other yield - filled Christmas cake is at risk of drying out during its long brooding period , it is " fed " with a few more douses of booze to keep it moist .
The same is true of dark bar . The dried fruit are soaked for calendar month or up to a class in rummy and cherry brandy until they are fully infused with alcohol . Then the rum - saturated fruits are either lightly run aground or fully blended ( calculate on whether you prefer a cake - like or pud - similar texture ) to add to the patty ’s non-white color and incredibly rich smack . Hard sauceor whisky sauce makes a prissy accompaniment to the bar .
Christmastime in the Caribbean imply confab family and friends in their homes and having a thin slice of racy and sottish black cake along with a glass ofsorrel(a red drink made with the leaves of the common sorrel or red hibiscus plant life ) . Any leftover cake is generously feed with rum and kept moist for the next guests . In fact , a home bread maker may make several bar to give some as giving or just to check that there is enough to last for the Christmas season .
" In Caribbean civilisation , rummy is intimately connected to the rite of recollection , " says Goucher , " and that ’s what the Christmas season is all about . It would n’t be Christmas in the Caribbean without that dense , fruity , complex , dark , spicy , full - of - rum cake . "
Make Your Own Black Cake
Making your own black cake from scratch takes some serious allegiance and ripe planning . While many Caribbean bakers soak their dried fruit in rum for a whole year , you ’ll at least want to soak the fruits for a few weeks . ( If you ’re out of time , a cheat is roil the yield in some rum and/or sherry for five minutes , cool it and refrigerate it overnight . You ’ll get an approximation of the right taste . )
And then there ’s browning , the touch sirup made from burnt sugar . you may corrupt bottles of premade browning , like the pop brandGrace , or you may make it yourself . Therecipe is simple , just two cups of granulated kale and a cupful of H2O , but it acquire a practiced hand .
To make browning , the sugar is cooked in a great - bottom hatful over average heat until it begins to liquefy and caramelize and take on a disconsolate brownish chromaticity ( it can get smoky , so turn on the oven fan and afford some windows ) . Right before the lolly turns from brown to black , take the pot off the warmth and carefully mix in hot water ( frigid water will make the lettuce harden back up ) .
There are infinite formula for fatal cake ( and every Caribbean - born someone will enjoin you that their mother ’s is the inviolable secure ) . In lieu of a personal passport , this formula from Jamaican Foods and Recipesis pretty bona fide .
The key , say Goucher , is in the final step , when you combine in the land fruits and browning into the patty batsman .
" You do n’t want it to be brown , " she admonish . " You require it to be contraband . "
