Black Garlic Kitchen

Black Garlic Caribbean Christmas Cake

Based on a Caribbean Black Fruit Cake, BGK has used creative licence and replaced traditional ‘browning’ with Black Garlic for its dark colour and earthy flavour. This rich luxurious moist cake is also known as rum cake. It has a dense texture, rather like that of Christmas pudding. Guaranteed to please and a good alternative to a traditional iced Christmas cake.

BGK’s Festive Fun Fact – Caribbean Black Cake is believed to have originated from the British Figgy Pudding. This rum-soaked fruit cake is eaten during Christmas time as well as weddings and celebrations in the Caribbean incorporating local ingredients and flavours.

Black Garlic Black Cake

 Prep: 1 hour + overnight macerating | Cook: 1 hour 20 mins approx. | Serves: 16 | V

Ingredients

  • 175g raisins
  • 175g currants
  • 100g pitted prunes – roughly chopped
  • 125g glacé cherries – halved
  • 250ml dark rum
  • 225ml port
  • 2 tbsp Black Garlic Paste
  • 10 cloves Black Garlic
  • 225g unsalted butter – room temperature
  • Extra butter for greasing the tin
  • 125g dark brown sugar
  • 100g light brown sugar
  • 5 large eggs – room temperature – beaten
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • Zest of ½ lemon
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp almond extract
  • 150g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground allspice
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground ginger
  • ½ tsp ground nutmeg
 

To ‘feed’ the Cake

  • 70ml port
  • 70ml dark rum

Method

  • Start the day before you intend to make the cake. Put the raisins, currants, pitted prunes and glacé cherries in a large bowl. Pour over the dark rum and port. Stir, cover with cling film, then leave to macerate for 24 hours.
  • The next day, preheat the oven 160C/140Cfan/Gas3.
  • Grease and line a deep 23cm diameter deep loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment.
  • Transfer the soaked fruit, any remaining alcohol and the Black Garlic Paste and cloves to a food processor. Blitz to a thick purée with no lumps.
  • To make the cake, put the butter and sugars into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat for 6 minutes until creamy. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to ensure that the butter/sugar mixture is well combined.
  • Add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, beating after each addition. Add one tablespoon of flour if the mixture starts to curdle. Beat in the zests and vanilla and almond extract.
  • Sift together the flour, baking powder, allspice, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Beat into the butter and egg mixture until just combined. Add the puréed fruit and beat again until well combined.
  • Spoon the cake mix into the lined cake tin. Smooth the top using a spatula.
  • Transfer to the oven and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or until firm and until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean, without any sticky cake mixture clinging to it.
  • Once baked remove from the oven to a wire rack. Keep the cake in the tin and pierce the top all over with a toothpick. Mix the rum and port together and pour over the surface of the cake and allow to soak in.
  • When completely cooled remove the cake from the tin. Wrap in a double layer of baking parchment and foil. Store in an airtight plastic box.*
 

Top Tip: wrap the cake then allow the cake to mature for at least a week before eating. As the cake matures the colour and texture of the cake will change. BGK’s Black Garlic Caribbean Christmas Cake will keep for up to one month.*

To Serve: serve it as a cake, or for a really indulgent flourish, with a scoop or two of rum and raisin ice cream. Also great served with a cheeseboard.

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