Caribbean Christmas Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 - 9 inch round cake pans.
• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, then add rum, lime juice, vanilla, almond extract, and lime zest. Stir in mixed fruit, wine, and molasses. Sift together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and salt. Fold into batter, being careful not to over-mix. Pour into prepared pans.
• Bake in preheated oven for 80 to 90 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Steps:

• Day 1: Measure nuts, raisins, currants, citron peel into a large bowl.
• Drain cherries and reserve juice.
• Chop cherries (they should measure about 1 1/4 cups) and add to the fruit mixture.
• Stir in brandy and soak over night.
• I actually do this a few weeks in advance and leave it in the fridge and really let the fruit soak in the brandy for more depth of flavour but it's up to you.
• If you're going to do it the day before baking however, I'd cover it with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter at room temperature.
• In a heavy dutch oven or large saucepan, simmer the entire contents of the can of pineapple with 2 cups of the sugar.
• Cook uncovered until thickened, about 30 minutes.
• Stir frequently and make sure the heat isn't too high.
• When cool, stir in the juice from jar of maraschino cherries (it shouldn't be more than 1/2 cup) and the strawberry jam.
• This mixture doesn't have to be done the day before baking but it does have to bee cool before you add it to the cake.
• In fact, I'd recommend that you do this step on the day of baking.
• Prepare cake pans by greasing and then lining with a double thickness of heavy brown paper.
• Brown shopping bags do well or else you can use tin foil with dull side out.
• Grease the paper or foil well.
• Use whatever size pans you wish but leave an inch space at the top of the pan.
• Total weight is 11.5 lbs.
• Preheat oven to 275°F.
• Sift or stir the flour with the spices, salt and soda until well mixed.
• Sprinkle a cup of the flour mixture over the fruits and nuts and toss till they are coated with flour.
• Set remaining 3 cups of flour aside.
• In a large measuring bowl, cream 2 1/4 cups of the sugar with butter.
• Beat in eggs one at a time.
• Stir in dry ingredients, alternating with pineapple mixture.
• Make 3 dry and two liquid additions, combining lightly after each addition.
• Pour over flour-coated fruits and nuts and mix until well combined.
• Turn into prepared pans and they can be filled to about one inch from the top.
• Bake in a preheated oven for 3 - 3 1/2 to 5 hrs depending on pan size.
• Put a shallow pan of water on a lower rack for added moisture if you'd like.
• Cake should be fairly firm in the centre and a skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes.
• Remove from pan and peel off paper and then let it cool on a rack.
• When cool, wrap it in a piece of cheesecloth that has been soaked in brandy, rum, black wine, liqueur, or fruit juice.
• Then wrap the cake in tin foil (leaving the cheesecloth on the cake).
• Freeze if not being used right away.
• Note: I usually start soaking the fruits around the end of October for a couple of weeks in the fridge, then mid Nov, I bake the cake, and freeze it.
• Every couple of weeks, I take it out, re-soak the cheesecloth in liquor and wrap it back up and re-freeze.
• By the time Christmas rolls around, you will have one moist and intoxicating cake!
• (You can just use fruit juice if you don't want the alcohol. I think pineapple juice is the best).
• You can decorate with an almond paste or icing of your choice or serve plain.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F; spray a nine-inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla and browning until soft and creamy.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.
• In a third bowl, beat the eggs with the rum.
• Add egg mixture to butter mixture and thoroughly combine, then stir in zest, fruit and nuts.
• Fold in flour mixture; do not overbeat.
• Put batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for approximately 90 minutes, or until cake tests done; may need longer.
• Remove cake from pan when cool.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix all the fruits thoroughly with the wine and the rum. Let the fruit sit covered at room temperature for 2 wks. In a heavy skillet combine 1 lb. brown sugar & 1 C. water. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved & gently boil the syrup, swirling the skillet occasionally for a few mins or until it is reduced to 1 3/4 C. Let the syrup cool. Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon & nutmeg into a bowl. In the large bowl of an electric mixer cream together the remaining brown sugar and the butter until it is fluffy; then beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Beat in the vanilla, the flour mixture & 1 1/3 C. of the burnt sugar syrup. In another large bowl, combine well the flour & fruit mixture & divide the batter between 2 buttered & floured 10" spring form pans. Bake the cakes in the middle of a preheated 350 F oven for 2 hrs or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out with some crumbs adhering to it. Let the cakes cool in the pans on a rack, remove the sides & bottoms of the pans and wrap the cakes in foil or wax paper. Let the cakes stand at room temperature for a week. Roll out half the almond paste between sheets of plastic wrap to form a 10" round and remove the top sheet of plastic wrap. Fit the almond paste layer over one cake, trimming the edge if necessary and remove the other sheet of plastic wrap. Roll out and fit the remaining almond paste onto the remaining cake in the same manner. ICING: Using an electric mixer, beat 4 C. of confectioners' sugar with the egg whites & lemon juice until the mixture will hold a soft peak. Beat in the remaining sugar & beat the icing until it will hold a stiff peak. Transfer 2 cups of the icing to a pastry bag fitted with a tip, spread the remaining icing on the tops & sides of the cakes with a long metal spatula & pipe the icing in the pastry bag onto the cakes. Arrange the drages on the cakes.

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Generously grease and flour a Bundt pan and set aside (nonstick baking spray can also be used).
• 2. Mix together all ingredients (except the pecans and extracts) until blended. At medium speed, mix the batter at medium speed for about three minutes.
• 3. Mix in extracts on medium speed.
• 4. Add pecans to the bottom of the Bundt pan.
• 5. Then add cake batter.
• 6. Bake for an hour and ten minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan and prepare glaze during this time.
• 7. To prepare glaze, add butter, salt, water and cream of coconut in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and continue to cook at medium heat for another minute.
• 8. Remove from heat and add rum extract.
• 9. Before inverting the cake, poke holes with a fork.
• 10. Brush the glaze on the bottom of the cake. Give it a few minutes to sink in.
• 11. Once the cake is turned onto a plate, poke holes in the top of the cake.
• 12. Slowly pour glaze over warm cake, just a little at a time and giving each "coat" a little time to sink in. Keep glazing the cake and allow it to soak until you have used up all the mixture.
• 13. Add coconut to the top of the cake. This cake is good at this point, but you really need to let it sit overnight to allow the flavors to blend and all the moisture to soak into the cake. Enjoy!