Jamaican Fruit Cake (Vegan, Gluten Free)

A delicious, super moist fruit cake also known as black cake, the quintessential Caribbean holiday cake. My take on this recipe is vegan friendly, gluten free and contains no alcohol making it perfect for children and drivers to consume throughout the holiday season or weddings.

If you are on the hunt for a fruit cake with big bold flavours then this black cake is what you need. It's totally eggless, moist and has no alcohol or gluten.

This is perfect for anyone with dietary requirements and is longing for some black cake during the holiday season.

**If you are novice/inexperienced/ first time baker PLEASE make sure you read through the ingredients/instructions thoroughly. If you need help before making the cake or unsure comment/email me first**

What is black cake/fruit cake?

In short, it's a cake that is eaten throughout the Caribbean region during Christmas, the New Year and at weddings (albeit with royal icing).

Although the title of the post denotes to Jamaica, it's more or less a Caribbean cake eaten by most of the English speaking islands.

It was known by various names including Christmas fruit cake, Caribbean black cake, rum cake and so fourth.

Irrespective of it's name here in the Caribbean community it's all the talk as Christmas is approaching.

Traditional black cake is made from pre-soaked fruit. A combination of fruit is used and varies from person to person.

Typically you will find prunes, raisins, currants, cherries, mixed peel and mixed fruit laced with wine and rum (usually the rum from that specific island).

The soaking of the fruit is BIG BUSINESS for island people some soak their fruit for years or a little as a few months. The longer the fruit is soaked for, the stronger the taste in alcohol.

Once the fruit is ready to be used it is pureed to the texture that the person desires. Some people will cook off some of the alcohol before doing the aforementioned.

Then the fruit is added to your usual cake mix to make the batter (spices, eggs, flour and butter) etc...

What gives this cake that signature dark hue is the browning sauce aka caramelized sugar.

If you have been following my culinary journey then you will know that browning pops up in my infamous Brown Stew Chicken, Oxtail and Turkey Steaks.

It is crucial for Jamaican cuisines although some people just make theirs as they go along with brown sugar and water.

Once the cake is baked it is glazed with just rum or a mixture of wine and rum which gives the cake more moisture with an even more alcoholic edge.

The taste of alcohol free black cake

Most people are afraid that black cake that omits alcohol won't taste just as good as its traditional counterpart.

That's simply not true, the taste of black cake with no alcohol is more fruit infused so that taste of the fruit is more pronounced.

While the flavours aren't as intense and optimal as the boozy version, it has a nice sweet flare to it much is almost parity to Christmas fruit cake.

Ingredients that you need

• Gluten free flour - You can use either my homemade GF flour or any other brand that you prefer. Prior to making my own flour blend I use to use Bob Red Mills 1 to 1 flour.
• Almond flour - I've updated the recipe since I first published it by adding ⅓ cup of almond flour as I feel this helps a lot with the structure of the cake especially being vegan.
• Vegan/dairy free butter - it must be soft and/or at room temperature so it's able to cream.
• Raw cane sugar - for sweetness.
• Mixed spice/cinnamon/nutmeg/pink salt - all needed for flavour and warmth from the spices.
• Almond and vanilla extract - for flavour!
• Applesauce - this replaces the use of eggs and makes it vegan friendly and soft in texture.
• Chopped fruit - Additional chopped pieces of fruit really make the cake taste a million times better.
• Browning - For that dark hue, I use a combination of my homemade and storebought to achieve that extra dark colour.
• Soaked fruit - You can bypass preparing the fruit for the recipe by using my already prepared soak fruit recipe instead.

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The texture of the cake

Many people believe that the texture and consistency of black cake is what makes or breaks it. Honestly, growing up  and having my fair share of Christmas cake I can say no cake tastes the same.

This is the one Caribbean recipe that I can think that even though the base ingredients are the same the overall outcome will vary.

Personal preference varies greatly, by that I mean some will like a more crumbly fruit cake. On the other hand, some will like a dense pudding textured cake.

Some will like a boozy cake that will leave you tipsy after a few bites while others will have a subtle taste in alcohol.

Do you see what I mean? It varies doesn't it?

I personally like a pudding texture because it's super smooth and melts in your mouth and this is what my recipe is the basis of.

I also don't care for alcohol so I'm quite relieved to leave it out just like I did with my Coconut Rum Cake which use rum flavouring instead.

The texture of your Jamaican fruit cake is a matter of what YOU prefer so when you make this recipe I suggest pulsing the fruit to your preferred consistency and do what works for you!

Reasons to make this cake

• It's a true taste of the Caribbean
• Contains no alcohol and vegan (yet it taste just a nice as the cake that's laced with alcohol so don't be fooled)
• It's free from gluten
• Perfect for children, drivers, pregnant/lactating women, people who are conflicted with an illness or abstaining from alcohol.
• Great for special occasions and weddings
• It's delicious!!

The steps

• Preheat the oven 150c/302f/gas mark 2 (this isn't a mistake!!)
• Grease an 8 inch spring form pan.
• Line the pan by using a pencil/pen to form a circle around the removable base and line the sides. Then set aside.
• Add all of the fruit to a medium sized saucepan along with the red grape juice, water and simmer on medium-low heat for 15 minutes (until most of the liquid has absorbed) then leave to cool down.
• Add the fruit to your food processor/blender and pulse until your desired texture is achieved. I like a pudding style of cake so I semi (with some bits) puree my fruit. Then set aside.
• Place the gluten free flour, almond flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, mixed spice, baking powder and pink salt into a medium bowl and combine.

• In another medium bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electronic whisk/mixer until fluffy.
• Add the applesauce, pureed fruit ,browning sauce, almond essence, vanilla and whisk (by hand) to form a smooth paste.
• Add the bowl of flour to the wet ingredients - adding the flour a little at a time while whisking until fully incorporated.
• Any chopped or dried mixed fruit should be added at this stage.
• Pour the cake batter into the cake pan.
• Place some water in a large oven proof bowl to create a water bath and place this on the bottom oven shelf underneath the pan (this will help with heat distribution)
• Bake the cake on the middle shelf for around 1hr and 30 minutes to 2 hours. If the cake is browning too much half way through baking, place some foil over the top of the cake.
• Once done check the readiness by inserting a skewer or a knife. It should come out clean when done. If not return to the oven to bake for 10-15 minute intervals (foil covered) and repeat.
• Combine the grape juice, rum flavouring and water together in a spray bottle and spray the top of the cake.

Darkening the cake

I'm going to address the topic of - how to darken your cake. The colour of the cake is determined by the amount of browning etc is used.

There are 2 ingredients that can give your cake the colour that you desire

• Blackstrap molasses
• Browning sauce (homemade or store bought)

I find that my homemade browning sauce doesn't yield a jet black cake. It will give you a dark brown cake, as I prefer a jet black cake I used a combination of my homemade and store bought sauce.

This is only time (that I can think of) where I depended on the store bought kind because I was running low on molasses.

• For a jet black cake - 4 tablespoon of homemade sauce with 4 tablespoon of store bought browning (if using a combination of both).
• Use 5-6 tablespoon of store bought browning for a jet black cake or 3 tablespoon or less for a lighter cake.
• For a dark brown cake use - 6-8tbsp of my homemade browning by itself or ⅓ cup of molasses.

I'm Caribbean and vegan but not gluten free, can I still make this recipe?

Yes, just use your preferred flour and it will work just fine.

Can you make the cake ahead of time?

It's best to make it no more than 1-2 days in advance and keep the cake wrapped in an airtight container until ready to serve.

Can you use pre-soaked fruit instead?

Yes, you can omit the soaking process and use my soaked fruit recipe instead.

Can you keep the cake vegan but add alcohol?

Yes, Just use alcohol in place of grape juice but stick to the same amount of liquid that is listed.

Is there an alternative to the browning sauce or molasses?

Yes, you can use treacle that will give you that dark hue that you need but treacle can be bitter in taste so only use a few tablespoons.

How important is the applesauce?

It's very important for structure in place of eggs, don't skip this ingredient!!

Can you freeze this cake?

Yes, make sure the cake is completely cool before attempting to freeze. You will also want to cut the cake into slices/portions, wrap it in saran/cling film or press and seal.

Wrap in aluminium foil and label the cake with the name and date of freezing and freeze for up to 3 months.

Leave to thaw out on the counter top before consuming.

Notes and tips

• I used raw cane sugar for this recipe which is sweeter than coconut sugar, but use whatever sweetener works best for you.
• Make sure the vegan butter is soft and/or at room temperature.
• Don't forget to place a pan or oven proof dish at the bottom shelf to assist with heat distribution.
• 1hr and 30 minutes is a guideline for baking, sometimes black cake can take 2 hours or more to bake.
• It's normal for the cake to have a few small cracks they tend to close as the cake cools down.
• Have the ingredients laid out and prepared the night before.
• Once the cake is baked and cool, store in an air tight container.
• The cake should last for up to 3 days although we eat ours within days of baking it.
• Use a mixture of fruits i.e  prunes, raisins,, currants etc....for a balanced flavour.
• When processing the fruit, you will want to pulse to YOUR preferred texture.
• I used red grape juice as my alcohol alternative but you can use non alcoholic wine.
• You can use either Bob Red Mills 1 to 1 flour or my homemade GF Flour Blend for this recipe.
• Don't keep opening the oven door, this will fluctuate the temperature.
• For best results, after dowsing the cake with liquid allow to cool completely then wrap in saran/cling film to preserve the moisture.

Other Christmas recipes to try

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