Grenada Black Cake Food

BAJAN BLACK CAKE

Steps:

• Mince the fruit and soak in 1 cup of rum with spices, essences, nuts, jam and 1/4 lb sugar. Mix ingredients well and put in a jar, cover and allow mixture to steep for 3 weeks or more.
• When ready to bake, cook fruit over a low heat with 1 cup of water for 15 minutes. Cream the butter/margarine and remaining sugar well and add eggs beating in one at a time. Add this to the fruit mixture. Stir in enough browning to make the mixture dark brown in color. Add the flour and baking powder last.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Place mixture into 2 baking pans that are greased and lined with 2 sheets of waxed paper. Fill the pans 3/4 full.
• Bake for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Test with skewer before removing from oven.
• As soon as cakes are removed from oven, prick all over with skewer and pour slowly over them a mixture of rum and wine which the cakes will absorb.
• Allow to remain in baking pans for 2 to 3 days to fully absorb liquor before serving.

BLACK CAKE (CARIBBEAN RUM SOAKED FRUIT CAKE)

Steps:

• Wash and dry all fruits. Mix together in a large bowl. Place fruits a little at a time in a food processor, food mill, or ninja blender. Add enough wine to grind fruits to a paste. Repeat process until fruits have been macerated. Fruit mixture should not be too watery. Add 3-4 cups dark rum. Stir and let mixture soak at minimum one week or even one year+. Adding more wine or rum periodically.
• If using store-bought burnt sugar, skip this step. Place sugar in a small saucepan. On low heat turn sugar with a spoon until it begins to caramelize. Once dark brown, add wine and remove from heat. Let cool completely.
• Preheat oven to 275 or 300 degrees F.
• Line 3-8in or 2-9in baking pans with parchment paper. Trim paper and set aside.
• Bring eggs and butter to room temperature.
• Crack eggs into a separate bowl one at a time, Remove little white membrane from each egg (optional). Beat in zests, vanilla, almond, and mixed essence. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Set aside.
• In deep mixing bowl or stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until pale. Add eggs a little at a time. Blend well.
• Of the macerated fruit mixture, add 1 1/2 lbs (3 heaping cups) a little at a time, continue blending.
• Add flour mixture a little at a time- fold in with a spatula. Add 1 tbsp burnt sugar at a time until desired color is achieved. If using store bought burnt sugar, 4 tbsp should suffice for a very dark cake. Mix well.
• Pour batter into lined cake pans.
• Bake anywhere from 275-300 degrees F for 80-90 minutes. When cake come out of oven, pour alcohol mixture on top. When cool, cover cake with plastic wrap. Flavor is best after a few days.

GRENADA SPICE CAKE

Steps:

• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together onto a piece of wax paper and set aside. Cream together the butter, sugar, lime rind, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice until silvery and light-no sugar grains should be discernible on the tongue when the mixture has been properly creamed. (This may take as long as 5 minutes at high mixer speed.) Beat the eggs in, one at a time. Now add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry. (I usually mix the flour in - in about five separate additions and the milk in - in three.).
• Spoon the batter into a well buttered and floured 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan, pushing the batter well to the corners and smoothing the surface as much as possible. Bake in a slow oven 300 F for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until the cake begins to pull from the sides of the pan and leaves an imprint that vanishes slowly when you press the top with your fingers.
• Remove the cake from the oven, stand the pan upright on a wire rack and allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Loosen the cake around the edges with a thin-blade spatula, turn out on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. To serve, slice just as you would pound cake.
• Jean Anderson Cooks.

GRENADIAN SPICE CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.
• In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
• Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the lime zest, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice.
• Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, stirring after each addition.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake for 75 to 90 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.