Black Cake also recipe St. Vincent

The woman who's been doing this for 11 years says many people believe it has lots of chocolate in it--it has that kind of deep complexity of flavor. That said, I must admit I've never done it a second time--last year I did a honey bourbon fruitcake for mom, and this year I'm going to try the light (as in weight and color, not, alas, calories) from King Arthur. But I'm glad I did this one once, if only to be able to say it did.

Laurie Colwin's Black Cake

(with parenthetical comments by somebody who has been making the thing for eleven years.)

Caution: Note that Laurie, after praising and extolling the cake in the article, notes, almost as an afterthought " I confess I have never made my black cake…."


1 LB raisins, minced
1 LB pitted prunes, minced
1 LB dried currants, minced
1 LB glaceed cherries, minced (I have substituted dried cherries with good result)
6 oz glaceed lemon peel, minced
6 oz glaceed orange peel, minced.

(This is clearly a heck of a lot of mincing. I use my food processor, only be careful not to do too much at once or the whole thing becomes a gloppy, sugary mass. Of course, that happens anyway, but at least with small batches, it's a controlled mass.)

1 bottle dark rum
1 bottle (750 ml) Manischewitz Concord Grape Wine. (I know, I know. Every year when I get this from my wine merchant, he looks at me squiggle-eyed. I am, after all, the one who harasses him about not having enough Lungarotti Rubesco Riserva).

Combine the fruits, wine and rum in a large non-reactive container, cover tightly, and allow to soak for at least two weeks. (I give it a month)

2 LB dark brown sugar

Combine one pound of the brown sugar with one cup of water in a heavy skillet and boil over moderate heat, washing crystals down from the
side, until the mixture is reduced to about 1-3/4 cups, and has begun to turn black. Let it cool and reserve it.

VITAL NOTE: This syrup is intended to give the cake it's color. As described, it won't work, because it won't get black. You'll have perfectly good brown cake, but not black cake. To get a black cake, you've got to go to a West Indian grocery and in among the Jerk Seasonings and such, find a bottle of Burnt Sugar Caramel Syrup - very cheap, about a buck. Not molasses, not dark corn syrup. Burnt Sugar Caramel. It's sold primarily as a cake colorant. [Gil's note: I'm pretty sure that King Arthur carries this now]

4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp. double-acting baking powder
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (the freshly grated is important)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 sticks (2 cups, one pound) unsalted butter, softened
10 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups almond paste

Into a bowl, sift together the flour, the baking powder, the nutmeg and the cinnamon. In the large bowl of a mixer, cream the butter, and the remaining pound of brown sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, the flour mixture and 1 1/2 cups of the cooled sugar syrup, reserving the remaining syrup for another use ( Like what?). (NOTE: this is where you substitute 1 1/2 cups of the Burnt Sugar Caramel. It is also where the cake turns black, if you've used the right stuff.) In another large bowl (the largest you have, by now you will be dealing with serious volume) combine the
flour mixture and the fruit mixture, and combine well. Divide between two 10 inch springform pans (I have used 1 10-inch and a couple of 8-inch ones for gift purposes.) and bake in a preheated 350° oven for 1 hour and 50 minutes to 2 hours or until the cakes are set and a tester inserted into the center comes out with some crumbs adhering to it. (The centers of the cakes will be quite moist.) Let the cakes cool in the pans on a rack, then remove the bottom and sides and wrap in foil or plastic wrap. Let stand for at least a week. (Again, I think longer is better. I've kept them, tightly wrapped and unfrozen, for a year.)

Finishing the cake.

Black cake must be iced. Colwin used a fairly standard Imperial Frosting (confectioner's sugar, egg whites, and lemon juice, beaten until thick). To finish the cake, roll enough almond paste out to make a circle as big as the cake and about 1/8-inch thick. Carefully fit the layer over the cake, and trim as necessary to fit. (I've
put a layer of almond paste in the middle, and one year went crazy and enrobed the whole thing in almond paste. Frost the cake with the icing, and decorate with silver dragees.