This Jamaican Rum Cake combines the most amazing flavors and takes holiday fruitcake to a tropically festive new level! There's just so much to love about this tasty cake that features rum and wine-soaked mixed peel and dried fruits spread beautifully throughout the whole cake! The icing is optional, but topping the cake with toasted coconut rounded out the whole Caribbean appeal for me!
This deliciously fruity Jamaican rum cake has tropical flavors infused in every bite!
Jamaican Rum Cake Recipe {Jamaican Christmas Cake or Jamaican Fruitcake}
I have a confession to make and I hope that I'm talking to others like me out there. I'm a huge Christmas and holiday nerd. I absolutely love to geek out on holiday traditions, especially Christmas.
Around the world. I seriously can't get enough! If you all were to send all of your Great Grandma's, Nana's, and Granny's holiday recipes ( especially Christmas goodies ) I would be in pure heaven. I would LOVE it!! <-- And that's still an understatement!
For me, the fun is finding out the reason behind the tradition. Why it is held so dear.
I have many of my own treasured traditions, memories, and recipes. I hope that you enjoy this international Christmas recipe for the blog!
What Is a Jamaican Rum Cake
A Jamaican Rum Cake is a holiday cake that is simply called fruit cake or Christmas cake in Jamaica. There are, of course, other rum cakes that are Caribbean or Jamaican style ( or inspired ).
A darker version of this cake, which would have a higher browning content, is called black cake. Personally, I would also add more of the port wine to the cake batter. My version uses both rum and port wine for soaking the fruit, however, I only added Malibu coconut rum to the cake.
These cakes are very similar to the British Christmas Cake! Jamaica was a crown colony of England, and they adapted the traditional Christmas cake to make this fabulous tropical variation!
How To Make Jamaican Rum Cake from Scratch
Despite the ingredient list ( don't let that keep you from making this amazing cake! ) this homemade fruitcake is an easy cake to make from scratch. A little planning for soaking your fruit makes a huge difference in the resulting cake, even though it can be made last-minute in a pinch.
Soak the Mixed Fruit
Start with soaking your mixed fruit in rum and port wine, or a sweet wine. I like a dark rum for this stage, and the better the rum, the better the cake!
Try to get your hands on some authentic Caribbean rum like Wray and Nephew. The brand offers exceptional dark rum and the world's top selling white overproof rum ( which is a top notch choice with hints of fruit, spice, and molasses ). I've never used the overproof rum for my cakes, but it is by far my favorite rum!
In addition the Old English fruit cake mix from Paradise Fruit that I'm using for my cake, I also added sultanas ( golden raisins ), dried cherries, and raisins to make a total of two pounds of fruit.
Place the fruit in a small to medium-size bowl and cover with 1 cup each of dark rum or overproof rum and port wine or sweet wine. Use more rum and wine to cover the fruit completely, if needed.
How Long Should I Soak My Fruitcake Fruit?
I would soak my fruit for as long as possible. At a minimum, try to soak the fruit for 4-5 hours before baking your Jamaican rum cake. I've found that soaking my fruit for a month to two is perfect for my fruitcakes.
Two days, two weeks, or two months are all within reason. I have even heard of people soaking their fruit for up to a year for baking fruitcake!
However long you have available to plan your cake in advance, keep the fruit in a cool area to best soak up the alcohol. As needed, top off the soaking fruit with more rum and wine as it evaporates over time.
The night before my baking, I added a ½ cup of orange juice and 1 cup of crushed pineapple to add to my tropical fruit flavors in the cake. This is optional, but very tasty!!
Make the Rum Cake Batter
- Preheat your oven to 325ºF ( 163ºC ) and line the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Spray the pan and paper with non-stick baking spray.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs 1-2 at a time to the creamed butter and sugar. With the last egg, add a tablespoon of flour and mix in at the same time.
- Add the baking powder, mixed spice, cinnamon, and orange peel then mix to combine.
- Add flour and mix until all of the flour is incorporated.
- Add the molasses and browning to the batter then mix to combine.
- Add the drained, soaked fruit along with lime juice and zest, rum, vanilla extract, and orange extract. Mix until the fruit is evenly distributed through the batter and the batter is thick enough to hold a spoon upright.
Bake the Jamaican Christmas Cake
- Transfer the cake batter to your prepared springform pan, and smooth the top.
- Place in the center of the middle rack and bake at 325ºF ( 163ºC ) for 1 hour 45 minutes, or until an inserted knife or cake tester comes out clean.
Jamaican Rum Cake
Ingredients
- 2 lbs mixed peel (I used the Old English Fruit Cake Mix from Paradise Candied Fruit - plus dried fruits like sultanas, cherries, raisins, or prunes)
- 1 cup dark rum (such as Wray and Nephew, Appleton Estate, Myer's Dark Rum, Bacardi, Plantation, or Captian Morgan - more as needed, to soak the fruit)
- 1 cup port wine (or a dark sweet wine - more as needed, to soak the fruit)
- 1 ⅛ cups butter (20 tablespoons or 2 ½ sticks butter)
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3 tsp mixed spice (see recipe)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp orange peel
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1-3 Tbsp browning (or burnt brown sugar)
- 2 Tbsp molasses
- 1 lime (zest and juice)
- ¼ cup rum (dark rum or coconut rum)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp orange extract (or almond extract, or coconut extract)
Instructions
- Soak your fruit in advance. Place mixed peel, sultanas (golden raisins), and dried cherries in a medium bowl or storage container and cover with rum (or a combination of rum and port wine). Set aside in a cool place to allow the fruit to soak up the alcohol.
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F ( 163 degrees C) and prepare a 10-inch springform pan with a layer of parchment paper in the bottom. Spray the pan and parchment paper with non-stick baking spray.
- Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs into the creamed butter and sugar 1-2 at a time. For the final egg, add a tablespoon of the flour with the egg to prevent the mixture from breaking or 'curdling'.
- Add the baking powder, mixed spice, cinnamon, and orange peel to the butter mixture and combine.
- Add the flour. Mix until the flour is incorporated to the wet ingredients and thick batter is formed.
- Add the molasses and browning (or burnt brown sugar) to the batter and combine.
- Add the drained soaked fruit (including the mixed peel, sultanas, dried cherries), lime zest and juice, rum, vanilla extract, and orange extract. Mix to combine. The fruit should be evenly distributed in the batter when ready to bake. *The batter should be thick enough that a spoon with stay upright. If it is not, add a bit more flour a tablespoon at a time to thicken the batter consistency.
- Transfer the rum cake batter to your prepared springform pan and smooth the top of the batter.
- Bake in the center of the middle oven rack at 325 degrees F (163 degrees C) for 1 hour 45 minutes, or until a knife or cake tester comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.
- Remove the baked Jamaican rum cake when done and allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before removing the springform round. If desired, poke the cake with a toothpick and soak with more rum or port wine while still warm. Allow the cake to cool completely before serving.
Optional Icing & Toasted Coconut
- In a small non-stick frying pan or skillet heat about a ½ cup of shredded coconut (sweetened) over medium heat. Keep the coconut moving once it starts browning. Immediately remove your pan from heat when the coconut is golden brown. Transfer toasted coconut into a small bowl to stop the toasting process.
- In a small bowl, combine 1 ½ cups confectioners sugar with 2 tablespoons of karo light corn syrup, 1 tablespoon of heavy cream, and a teaspoon of coconut extract (or vanilla extract). Mix until the icing is smooth and fairly thick. Adjust the thickness by adding more sugar to thicken, or more heavy cream to thin.
- Apply the icing to the center of the top of the cake. Use an offset spatula to spread the icing in a thin, even layer toward the cake edges. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.
Notes
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
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