Say “rum cake” to a Jamaican around Christmas and you might get corrected: “You mean black cake?” The two get mixed up all the time, and it's easy to see why. Both use rum, both are Caribbean favorites, and both show up when there's something to celebrate. But cut into them and you'll find two completely different cakes.
Black cake: made months in advance
Black cake is Jamaica's Christmas cake, and it's also the traditional cake at Jamaican weddings. What sets it apart is the fruit. Dried fruits like raisins, prunes, currants, and cherries are chopped or ground and soaked in rum and sweet red wine for weeks. Some families keep a jar soaking all year.
The cake gets its deep, almost black color from “browning,” a burnt sugar syrup, along with the dark soaked fruit. After baking, it's often brushed with more rum and wine. The result is dense, moist, and rich, closer to a fruit pudding than a sponge cake. That makes sense, because black cake grew out of the British plum pudding that came to the Caribbean during colonial times.
Rum cake: a butter cake with a rum soak
Rum cake is a lighter, golden butter cake, often baked in a ring-shaped Bundt pan. The rum comes in after baking. While the cake is still warm, it gets soaked with a buttery rum syrup that seeps all the way through. There's no long fruit soak and no browning, so it's much quicker to make.
The texture is soft and moist with a sweet, buttery rum flavor. You'll find versions all over the Caribbean, and it's popular year-round, not just at Christmas.
Black cake starts months before baking. Rum cake gets its rum after it leaves the oven.
Side by side
| Black cake | Rum cake | |
|---|---|---|
| Color | Deep brown to nearly black | Golden |
| Texture | Dense, moist, pudding-like | Soft, light, syrup-soaked |
| Where the rum goes | Into the fruit for weeks before baking, then brushed on after | Into a syrup poured over the cake after baking |
| Key ingredients | Soaked dried fruit, rum, red wine, browning, spices | Butter, sugar, eggs, flour, rum syrup |
| When it shows up | Christmas and weddings | Any time of year |
| Prep time | Weeks to months | An afternoon |
Which one should you try?
If you love fruitcake, spice, and rich desserts, black cake is worth tracking down during the holidays. If you want something sweet and easy to enjoy with a cup of coffee, rum cake is the place to start.
Why we carry rum cake
Anyone who has had black cake knows how much time goes into it, and why most Jamaican families only make it once a year. Rum cake is different. It's the cake you can enjoy any day of the week, and that's exactly why we keep it at Tru Jamaica.
We started carrying rum cake because guests kept asking for something sweet to finish off their meal, and nothing closes out a plate of oxtail or jerk chicken quite like it. Now plenty of people grab a slice on the way out “for later,” and we suspect a good number of those slices don't make it past the parking lot.
Next time you stop by, ask for a slice. And if you're planning a holiday party or a family gathering, ask us about picking up a whole cake.
Order a black cake
We bake our Jamaican black cake fresh each year starting the week of Thanksgiving — and we're taking orders now. Tell us what you need and we'll confirm the details and pickup.