I made Jamaican fruitcakes for Christmas. They turned out great! I
highly recommend this recipe.

The recipe calls for caramelisation of the brown sugar. According to
the instructions, the sugar should be heated in a pan until it
liquefies, then just starts to turn black. When I did this, it never
really liquefied, but it did turn into a thick, stirrable goop. As
soon as I noticed a color change to dark brown (almost black), I
removed it from the heat and continued stirring. At this point it
liquefied, but a large chunk of "hard candy" formed in the liquid. I
fished this out and used the remaining burnt sugar essence in the
batter. I'm wondering if I did anything wrong to cause this ... In
any case the fruitcakes were delicious.

I also added dried apricots, dried cranberries, a teaspoon of
allspice, a teaspoon of cinnamon and two teaspoons of dried orange
peel to the fruit/rum mixture, which I allowed to sit for 2-3 weeks.


Jamaican Dark Rum Christmas Fruitcake

Servings: 1 large or 2 medium cakes

Comments:

The elements of this fruit cake from Jamaica and Trinidad are prepared
on separate days. The preparation has been divided it into three
sections - the early preparation, caramelizing sugar, which can be
done the day before, and the day of cooking. This is a rum cake, a
fruit cake, a Christmas cake. This is euphoria.

"Jackie, a guest to Diana's Desserts website told me that this
delicious cake should be served with Whole Cream, not whipped cream,
and that there is enough batter to make 2 tube cakes in this recipe"
....Diana

Ingredients:

1 pound currants
1 pound raisins
1 pound prunes
1 pound dried figs
1 (16 ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained
1/2 pound mixed peel
1/4 pound almonds, chopped
1 tablespoon angostura bitters
2 1/2 cups Dark Jamaica rum

For Caramelizing Sugar:

3/4 pound brown sugar
1/2 cup boiling water

For Final Cooking:

2 teaspoons grated lime peel
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 pound butter (4 sticks) softened
2 1/4 cups sugar
9 large eggs

Equipment:

Two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans or one 10-inch tube pan. Parchment paper or
waxed paper.

Step 1: Preparation Day:

Chop currants, raisins, prunes, figs and cherries. Put in large bowl
with mixed peel and almonds. Stir to combine. Sprinkle on bitters and
pour rum over mixture. Soak for a minimum of 24 hours, extending to
one month. [Note from Laurie Colwin in _Home Cooking_: Marinate at
least two weeks, but the longer the better, up to six months.] Dream
about this cake for whatever period of time you have chosen.

Step 2: Caramelizing Sugar

Put brown sugar in heavy pot. Stir, letting sugar liquefy. Cook over
low heat until dark, stirring constantly, so sugar does not burn. When
almost burnt, remove from heat and stir in hot water gradually. Mix
well, let cool, and pour into container for use in final cooking.

[Note from Laurie Colwin in _Home Cooking_: A Black Cake … gets its
blackness in part from Burnt Sugar Essence, which is available in West
Indian grocery stores. If it's unavailable, Betty (author of recipe)
suggests putting a pound of brown sugar in a heavy skillet with a
little water and boiling it gently until it begins to turn black. You
do not want to overboil. It should be only slightly bitter, black and
definitely burnt.]

Step 3: Final Cooking

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Bring fruit from its resting place. Stir lime peel, vanilla and
caramelized sugar into fruit. Mix well. Set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder and cloves. Set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar until mixture is light. Add the eggs,
one at a time until blended.

Stir in dry ingredients gradually. When mixed, stir in fruit mixture.

Pour into tins lined with buttered parchment paper or waxed paper.
Place pan (or pans) in large shallow pan of hot water. Cook in
preheated 250°F oven for 2 1/2 - 3 hours or until a tester inserted in
center of cake comes out clean. Cake should have shrunk from sides of
pan.

Cool for 24 hours in pans. When cool, moisten with rum, remove from
pans, and wrap in aluminum foil or a rum drenched cloth. Cakes may be
stored to ripen. If keeping for any length of time, check occasionally
to add more rum.

Makes: 1 large or 2 medium cakes.

Date: October 30, 2002

© 2003 Diana Baker Woodall

Derek Juhl

What sort of pan did you heat the sugar in. It makes a BIG difference.

Derek N.P.F. Juhl wrote:

I made Jamaican fruitcakes for Christmas. They turned out great! I
highly recommend this recipe.

The recipe calls for caramelisation of the brown sugar. According to
the instructions, the sugar should be heated in a pan until it
liquefies, then just starts to turn black. When I did this, it never
really liquefied, but it did turn into a thick, stirrable goop. As
soon as I noticed a color change to dark brown (almost black), I
removed it from the heat and continued stirring. At this point it
liquefied, but a large chunk of "hard candy" formed in the liquid. I
fished this out and used the remaining burnt sugar essence in the
batter. I'm wondering if I did anything wrong to cause this ... In
any case the fruitcakes were delicious.

I also added dried apricots, dried cranberries, a teaspoon of
allspice, a teaspoon of cinnamon and two teaspoons of dried orange
peel to the fruit/rum mixture, which I allowed to sit for 2-3 weeks.


Jamaican Dark Rum Christmas Fruitcake

Servings: 1 large or 2 medium cakes

Comments:

The elements of this fruit cake from Jamaica and Trinidad are prepared
on separate days. The preparation has been divided it into three
sections - the early preparation, caramelizing sugar, which can be
done the day before, and the day of cooking. This is a rum cake, a
fruit cake, a Christmas cake. This is euphoria.

"Jackie, a guest to Diana's Desserts website told me that this
delicious cake should be served with Whole Cream, not whipped cream,
and that there is enough batter to make 2 tube cakes in this recipe"
...Diana

Ingredients:

1 pound currants
1 pound raisins
1 pound prunes
1 pound dried figs
1 (16 ounce) jar maraschino cherries, drained
1/2 pound mixed peel
1/4 pound almonds, chopped
1 tablespoon angostura bitters
2 1/2 cups Dark Jamaica rum

For Caramelizing Sugar:

3/4 pound brown sugar
1/2 cup boiling water

For Final Cooking:

2 teaspoons grated lime peel
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 pound butter (4 sticks) softened
2 1/4 cups sugar
9 large eggs

Equipment:

Two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans or one 10-inch tube pan. Parchment paper or
waxed paper.

Step 1: Preparation Day:

Chop currants, raisins, prunes, figs and cherries. Put in large bowl
with mixed peel and almonds. Stir to combine. Sprinkle on bitters and
pour rum over mixture. Soak for a minimum of 24 hours, extending to
one month. [Note from Laurie Colwin in _Home Cooking_: Marinate at
least two weeks, but the longer the better, up to six months.] Dream
about this cake for whatever period of time you have chosen.

Step 2: Caramelizing Sugar

Put brown sugar in heavy pot. Stir, letting sugar liquefy. Cook over
low heat until dark, stirring constantly, so sugar does not burn. When
almost burnt, remove from heat and stir in hot water gradually. Mix
well, let cool, and pour into container for use in final cooking.

[Note from Laurie Colwin in _Home Cooking_: A Black Cake … gets its
blackness in part from Burnt Sugar Essence, which is available in West
Indian grocery stores. If it's unavailable, Betty (author of recipe)
suggests putting a pound of brown sugar in a heavy skillet with a
little water and boiling it gently until it begins to turn black. You
do not want to overboil. It should be only slightly bitter, black and
definitely burnt.]

Step 3: Final Cooking

Preheat oven to 250°F.

Bring fruit from its resting place. Stir lime peel, vanilla and
caramelized sugar into fruit. Mix well. Set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder and cloves. Set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar until mixture is light. Add the eggs,
one at a time until blended.

Stir in dry ingredients gradually. When mixed, stir in fruit mixture.

Pour into tins lined with buttered parchment paper or waxed paper.
Place pan (or pans) in large shallow pan of hot water. Cook in
preheated 250°F oven for 2 1/2 - 3 hours or until a tester inserted in
center of cake comes out clean. Cake should have shrunk from sides of
pan.

Cool for 24 hours in pans. When cool, moisten with rum, remove from
pans, and wrap in aluminum foil or a rum drenched cloth. Cakes may be
stored to ripen. If keeping for any length of time, check occasionally
to add more rum.

Makes: 1 large or 2 medium cakes.

Date: October 30, 2002

© 2003 Diana Baker Woodall

Derek Juhl

wrote in message hlink.net...

What sort of pan did you heat the sugar in. It makes a BIG difference.

Thanks for your reply. I used a standard aluminum pan with copper on
the bottom. In retrospect, it wasn't a heavy pan like the
instructions advised. Live and learn...

Derek Juhl

The use of a stainless steel sauté pan works very well for us.
Good luck.
Matt

Derek N.P.F. Juhl wrote:

wrote in message hlink.net...


What sort of pan did you heat the sugar in. It makes a BIG difference.


Thanks for your reply. I used a standard aluminum pan with copper on
the bottom. In retrospect, it wasn't a heavy pan like the
instructions advised. Live and learn...

Derek Juhl