Last Updated on December 16, 2023
Today, we’re going to be looking at the perfect Jamaican black cake icing recipe, and also how to make the perfect black cake first! Jamaican black cake is a fantastic dessert for any occasion, but it’s particularly popular around the Christmas season – and makes for the perfect Christmas centerpiece. But what actually is it? Let’s take a closer look.
What Is Jamaican Black Cake?
You may know Jamaican black cake by one of its many other names: rum cake, Christmas cake…and sometimes even wedding cake! However you’ve heard of it, it’s an extremely popular dessert in the Caribbean and it’s not difficult to see why. It’s rich, dense, and gets its name from its extremely dark color. At weddings, Jamaican black cake is often covered in royal icing, and that’s what we’ll be looking at today.
Jamaican Black Cake Icing Recipe
This icing recipe from Jehan Can Cook is incredible and definitely worth using when making your Jamaican black cake.
Ingredients
The ingredients you’ll need are:
- 1 premade black cake (we’ll be looking at a recipe soon!)
- 10oz of almond paste
- 4 cups of icing sugar
- 3 tablespoons of meringue powder
- 6 tablespoons of water
- 1 drop of almond extract
- 1/8 of a teaspoon of vanilla extract
Recipe
All you need to do is:
- Grab the almond paste and knead for a few seconds until you have made a ball. Cover a surface with powdered sugar to ensure your paste does not get stuck. Roll the paste on the covered surface until it’s around a 1/8th of an inch thick
- Get your ready-made cake and brush with rum – this is to help the icing stick to the cake
- Add the almond paste to the top of your cake
- In a bowl, add the icing sugar, meringue powder, water, vanilla extract, and almond extract and mix well. Your icing is ready when fluffy
- Spread a layer of royal icing over the paste. Leave the icing to harden and your cake is ready to cut!
Jamaican Black Cake Recipe
Now we know how to make the icing, we need to learn how to make the cake! This recipe is adapted from Sian’s Cooking.
Ingredients
- 1lb of wine-soaked fruits
- 1 cup of dark rum
- 1 cup of port wine
- 1lb of brown sugar
- 1/2 cup of molasses
- 1lb of butter
- 12 large eggs
- 1 jar (14oz) of mincemeat
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 cups of flour
- 4 teaspoons of baking powder
- 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons of browning
Recipe
- Preheat your oven to 300°. Grab your fruits and the rum and wine. Place in a food processor until you have a paste. You may need to separate it into smaller batches.
- Grab the butter, sugar, molasses, and egg yolks together and cream with a mixer. In a separate bowl, you’ll need to beat the egg whites until they’re foamy. Slowly add the egg whites into the butter mix. Be sure it’s mixed well and fully combined. Add fruits slowly to ensure it’s mixed in properly. Once all fruit has been added, you can add the mincemeat. Mix well.
- Now add the dry ingredients. It should be looking a dark brown color. If this is not the case, try adding more molasses or browning until it reaches the correct color.
- Line pans butter and parchment paper. Add the batter to the cake pans. Don’t overfill.
- Bake in the preheated oven for one hour.
- After an hour is up, you’ll need to increase the oven temperature to 350. Then cook for a further 30 minutes. Insert a knife into the middle of the cake. The trick to knowing your cake is done is if the knife comes out clean. If the knife isn’t clean, place it back in the oven and check every 5 minutes or so, until it does.
- Take your cakes out of the oven and leave them to cool, preferably on cooling racks. Once cool, sprinkle the cakes lightly with wine or rum of your choice. After around 2 hours, do the same again with wine or rum. Now cover the cakes and leave for a minimum of 8 hours. Now your black cake is ready to ice.
- Ice your cake using the recipe above and your cake is ready to serve!
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you to find the perfect Jamaican black cake icing recipe. It may take a good few hours to make the perfect Jamaican black cake, but it’s most definitely worth the effort. It’s absolutely delicious, and it’s the richest, moistest cake you’ll ever eat – that’s for sure! It’s one of my absolute favorites.
Do you have any tips for making a Jamaican black cake? Or have you tried making your own using this recipe? If so, please feel free to let me know in the comments below. Sharing is caring!
Learn more about The Jamaican Fruit Cake Recipe