There is always a Christmas cake on the table during the Christmas season, especially a fruit cake. In Trinidad the traditional black cake is usually crumbly-moist or sticky-wet and black; its moisture resulting from the excessive use of alcohol. Some people also like icing on their black cake, thus making the cake decadent. But I tend to stay away from cakes with icing – enough of all that sweetness and not to mention calories galore.
Christmas Cake and Alcohol
However, I don’t have to worry too much about getting a slice of black fruit cake with icing. Most people I know prefer to layer their cake with alcohol. That is what I have to worry about usually. I mean, I have come across some fruit cakes that could make a person a bit tipsy. Because of this I know some people don’t like Trinidad black fruit cake with excessive alcohol.
Most people are well aware that excessive alcohol energy can trigger craving and compusive eating and drinking. Around the Christmas season, these effects are not so welcoming. However, some studies do show that alcohol has a short-term stimulatory effect on appetite.
However, alcohol in desserts, such as cakes is not a bad idea as the alcohol extends the shelf life of the cake and avoid wastage. Now, you will be interested to know that if you bake your fruit cake with alcohol, it retains 25% of the alcohol content, but when you add it to the cake right after it is baked it retains 70% of the alcohol. For most people this is excessive.
That is why I am posting this cake today, a Christmas Fruit Cake, a fruit cake for everyone to enjoy, including children. I’m calling this one rated E for everyone.
A Fruity Christmas Cake
This Christmas fruit cake is made of mostly fruits. Yes, mostly fruits. You don’t have to worry about any ingredients sinking to the bottom of the cake, or the cake not spongy enough, or whatever. It is very easy to make, even if you are a first-time cake maker. This cake could make you look like you know what you are doing. So don’t despair. Just follow the instructions and soon you will have a tasty, fruity, cake in one hour.
Here is Christmas fruit cake. Enjoy!
Christmas Cake Recipe
CHRISTMAS CAKE
Ingredients:
1/2 lb raisins
1/2 lb maraschino cherries, halved
1/2 lb preserved pineapple (or candied pineapple)
1/2 lb mixed fruit
1/2 lb almond, chopped
1/2 lb( (2 cups) all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup molasses
4 tsp. almond or vanilla essence
1/2 cup rum or red wine
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Mix together the fruits and nuts in a deep bowl. Set aside.
In another bowl, sift the flour; then add the salt, baking powder, and spices.
Mix well. Remove 1 cup of the flour mixture and…
add to the fruit mixture. Mix the flour with fruits. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar. Do not over beat the butter and sugar.
Add one egg at a time, and continue creaming.
Blend in the molasses and essence.
Blend in the flour – mix with a spatula. Mix in the fruits with the spatula.
Grease the cake pan.
Note: It is best to use vegetable shortening instead of butter. Butter may contain some amount of water that could have the cake stick to the pan.
Pour cake mixture into the cake pan and bake for 1 hour.
Brush the wine or rum on the cake immediately as it is taken out of the oven. Cool before serving
OK, it’s 3:30 a.m. and I’m tired but don’t worry I still have one or two posts to put up. I’m definitely having breakfast at 11:00 a.m. today lol!!
Christmas Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb raisins
- 1/2 lb maraschino cherries halved
- 1/2 lb preserved pineapple or candied pineapple
- 1/2 lb mixed fruit
- 1/2 lb almond chopped
- 1/2 lb (2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 4 tsp. almond or vanilla essence
- 1/2 cup rum or red wine
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- Mix together the fruits and nuts in a deep bowl. Set aside.
- In another bowl, sift the flour; then add the salt, baking powder, and spices. Mix well.
- Remove 1 cup of the flour mixture and add to the fruit mixture. Mix the flour with fruits. Set aside.
- Cream the sugar and butter. Add one egg at a time, and continue creaming.
- Blend in the molasses and essence. Blend in the flour, then the fruits (mix with the spatula).
- Grease the cake pan. Pour cake mixture into the cake pan and bake for 1 hour.
- Brush the wine or rum on the cake immediately as it is taken out of the oven. Cool before serving.
Ah gone!
Don’t forget to leave your comment about this fruity Christmas cake in the comment box below.
Those photos make it easier for me to understand the procedure. And definitely the finished cake makes me hungry. I really want to try it out. I will print the recipe out. I’ll be making this together with some recipes I got from pepperrecipes.blogspot.com . I really hope they will both taste luscious!
Looks fantastic
Gonna try this today 😀
Will let y’all know how it turns out
And I’m gonna make a cream cheese icing for this too, hope it won’t be too sweet :p
Hi, I want to try this out but can you tell me how many cups is half pound of fruit please? Thanks
About 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups based on the density of the fruits used. This is a very tricky question because you want to convert weight to volume so I can only give approximations. For example a cup of feathers will always be lighter than a cup of steel balls.
In the future it is better to get a kitchen scale to weigh your fruits or have it weighed at the supermarket. Hope this helps.
Hi. I was wondering if the measurements are correct. I made the cake using 200 gram packs of fruit and substituting organic whole wheat flour and brown sugar for white. When I added the fruit to the batter it was so thick that I could barely stir it, so I had to pack and shape it into the cake pan. It came out great otherwise and tastes great.
Yes, the measurements are correct. This cake is has more fruits in it and so the batter would be thick.
Where did your eggless black cake recipe go, it was the best I ever made. Please repost it if you can.
Will try this recipe out