Bajan Fruit Cake
This recipe for fruit filled cake is chock full of cherries, almonds, citrus, and dried fruits and soaked in Bajan rum for a heady and decadent holiday treat. Bajan Fruit Cake is made by soaking dried fruit in rum for a month before baking the cake.
Cooking Time2 hr 30 min
Ingredients
- For Fruit Mixture:
- 3/4 cup candied citron, diced
- 1/2 cup candied orange peel, diced
- 3/4 cup candied cherries
- 4 cup raisins (mix golden and dark)
- 2 1/2 cup currants
- 1 cup dates, chopped
- 1 cup cooked prunes, chopped
- 1/2 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
- 2 1/2 cup dark Bajan rum
- For Cake:
- 2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
- 2 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
Instructions
For Fruit Mixture:
- Combine all ingredients. Fruit mixture can be minced or chopped according to liking.
- Make sure that the rum covers all of the fruits. Add more as necessary.
- Refrigerate or store in a cool place, lightly covered for four weeks or more.
For Cake:
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- Sift flour with baking powder, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and salt; set aside.
- Cream butter. Add sugar and beat a few minutes. Scrape bowl occasionally with wooden spatula during beating.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating at medium speed. Make sure that eggs are thoroughly mixed and incorporated into mixture. Increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy - about three minutes. You may add a small piece of lime or lemon peel while mixing to eliminate rawness of eggs. Remove peel from mixture when thoroughly mixed.
- Re-sift half the flour mixture and add to the butter mixture and blend thoroughly, using lowest speed of mixer.
- Now add mixture to soaked fruits while adding the additional flour. Stir with wooden spoon to blend thoroughly.
- Butter two 9-inch loaf pans and line with buttered parchment paper. Spoon batter into pans.
- Place a small pan half-full of water on bottom rack of oven for first hour of baking to keep cake moist. Bake at 300 degrees F for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool in pans, then invert on baking rack. Remove paper. Sprinkle with rum to moisten, then let cake dry and cool.
- Store in airtight container. This cake can last for months if moistened occasionally.