Black Cake (Jamaican Fruitcake)

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Title: BLACK CAKE
Categories: Cakes, Jamaican, Fruits
Yield: 24 servings

1 lb Raisins; minced
1 lb Prunes, pitted; minced
1 lb Currants, dried; minced
1 lb Cherries, glaceed; minced
6 oz Lemon peel, glaceed; minced
6 oz Orange peel, glaceed; minced
3/4 l Passover wine
3/4 l Rum, dark
2 lb Sugar, dark brown
4 1/4 c Flour, cake
4 ts Baking powder
1/2 ts Nutmeg, grated
1/2 ts Cinnamon
2 c Butter, sweet; softened
10 lg Egg
1 T Vanilla
1 1/2 c Almond paste; if desired

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2 lb Sugar, confectioners; sifted
6 lg Egg white; room temp
2 T Lemon juice
Dragees; for decoration

In a large bowl, mix all the fruits thoroughly with the wine and the
rum; let the fruit macerate, covered, at room temperature for at
least two weeks.

In a heavy skillet combine one pound of the brown sugar and 1 cup water.
Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until the sugar is dis-
solved, and gently boil the syrup, swirling the skillet occasionally,
for a few minutes, or until it is reduced to 1 3/4 cups. Let the syrup
cool; reserve.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together 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,
one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla,
the flour mixture, and 1 1/3 cups of the burnt sugar syrup, reserving
the remaining syrup for another use. In another large bowl, combine
well the flour mixture and the fruit mixture and divide the batter
between two buttered and floured 10" springform pans. Bake the cakes in
the middle of a preheated 350 F. oven for two hours, or until a tooth-
pick inserted in the centers comes out with some crumbs adhering to it.
(The centers of these cakes will be quite moist.) Let the cakes cool in
the pans on a rack, remove the sides and 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 cups of the confectioners' sugar
with the egg whites and lemon juice until the mixture will hold a soft
peak. Beat in the remaining sugar, and beat the icing until it will
hold a stiff peak. Transfer two cups of the icing to a pastry bag
fitted with a decorative tip, spread the remaining icing on the tops and
sides of the cakes with a long metal spatula, and pipe the icing in the
pastry bag decoratively onto the cakes. Arrange the dragees on the
cakes.

Makes two cakes.

Laurie Colwin
Gourmet magazine, November 1988

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