Black Cake (Guyanese Rum Soaked Fruit Cake)

  • Total time (without fruit soaking) - 3 hours
  • Prep - 45 minutes
  • Baking - 2 hours
  • Fruit Soaking Time - Minimum 5 days (Ideally 3 months)
  • Servings: 12
  • Country: Guyana
A dense, dark Guyanese Black Cake soaked in rum and often covered with white icing.

The most important part of the preparation is macerated fruit – a mixture of dried fruits (raisins, prunes, currants, cherries) that are blended and soaked in rum and wine. The longer, the better! If you are short on time, you can boil them in alcohol for 15–20 minutes.

'Burnt Sugar' (also called Browning) is used to achieve the characteristic dark, almost black colour. You can buy it ready-made, or make it yourself by caramelizing sugar and adding water/wine.

Ingredients

For Macerated Fruit (Prep in Advance)

  • 450 g dried raisins
  • 225 g pitted dried prunes
  • 225 g dried currants
  • 100 g glacé cherries or candied peel
  • 1 cup dark rum (El Dorado, Goslings)
  • 1 cup port wine (or other dark red wine)

For the Batter

  • 450 g softened butter
  • 2.5 cups brown sugar (demerara or dark)
  • 10 pieces eggs, room temperature
  • 400 g all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 2 tsp almond extract
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract or essence

For Colour and Moisture

  • 3 Tbsp Burnt Sugar (caramelized dark sugar) or 'Browning'
  • 0.5 cups extra dark rum (for soaking after baking)
  • 0.5 cups cherry brandy (optional, for soaking)

Instructions

Step 1: Macerating the Fruit (In Advance)

Place all the dried fruit (raisins, prunes, currants, cherries/peel) into a blender or food processor. Add 1 cup of rum and 1 cup of port wine.

Blend until a coarse, but relatively smooth, paste forms. Consistency is important; it should not be liquid.

Transfer to a sterilized glass jar, pour any remaining alcohol over it (if not already added), and store in the refrigerator for a minimum of 5 days. Ideally, macerate for 3–6 months. If you are short on time, you can boil the mixture in alcohol for 15 minutes and let it cool.

Step 2: Preparing the Batter

Preheat the oven to 150 °C (300 °F). Grease and line a cake pan (ideally 2x 23 cm / 9-inch round) with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the softened butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

Step 3: Mixing the Batter and Baking

Add the eggs one at a time to the butter-sugar mixture, mixing thoroughly after each addition to prevent curdling. Add the almond and vanilla extracts.

Stir the macerated fruit into this mixture.

Then, alternately add the dry ingredients and the Burnt Sugar (browning). Mix until everything is combined into a dark, thick batter. If the batter is too thick, add a little port wine (1 Tbsp at a time).

Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake for 1.5–2 hours, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. You can cover the pans with foil for the first hour to prevent the cake from drying out.

Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, pierce it all over with a skewer.

Step 4: Soaking with Rum

Slowly pour the extra dark rum and cherry brandy mixture (or just rum) over each cake. Up to 0.5 cup per cake can be used; the cake should soak up the liquid.

Let the cake cool in the pan. It is recommended to remove it after cooling, wrap it in foil, and repeatedly soak it with rum (every few days) for several weeks for maximum moisture and flavour.