December 2009


 -~

- 000 -


CARIBBEAN TODAY


frOOD


 ~ LO~/
-o ~ CDL -


Eww .caibeatoa.s om I


'Tis the season for a Christmas/wedding cake.. .Caribbean style


hristmas comes this
 month and Caribbean
 people are often in the
baking mood during that season.
 Here's one version of a
Christmas/wedding cake
obtained from the online site
Caribbean Recipes:

Ingredients
* 12 eggs
* 1 pound of butter
* 2 cups of currants
* 1 teaspoon of salt
* 2 1/4 cups of sugar
* 1 cup of strawberry jam
* 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon of allspice
* 2 cups of seeded raisins
* 2 cups of seedless raisins
* 2 1/2 cups of chopped dates
* 4 cups of all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
* 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking
 soda
* 1 3/4 cups of slivered almonds
* 1/2 cup of brandy or pineap-
 ple juice
* 1 (10 ounce) can of crushed
 pineapple
* 1 (12 ounces) bottle maraschi-
 no cherries
* 2 cups of citrus peels or
 mixed glace fruit
* 2 cups of sugar (additional
 sugar listed below)
Method
Day 1
 In a large size bowl, meas-


ure the raisins, nuts, currants
along with the citron peel.
Drain the cherries and reserve
the juice.
 Chop cherries. They should
measure about one and a quar-
ter cups. Then add to the fruit
mixture. Stir in the brandy and
soak it overnight
 Note: You can also do this a
few weeks in advance and let it
sit in the refrigerator and let the
fruit soak right in the brandy for
more flavor if you like.
 If you decide to do it the
day before baking, cover it with
the plastic wrap and then leave
on top of the counter at room
temperature.
 In a large size sauce pan or
a heavy dutch oven, simmer the
entire contents of can of
pineapple with two cups of
sugar and cook it uncovered for
at least 30 minutes until it
thickened.
 Frequently stir and make
sure the heat is not too high.
When cooled off, stir juice from
the jar of marachino cherries.
Note: It should not be more
than a half-cup and the straw-
berry jam.
 This mixture doesn't have to
be done the day before baking,
but it does have to be cool
before you add it to the cake.
Note: It is recommend that you
do this step on the day of baking.


 Now prepare the cake pans
by greasing and lining with wax
double thickness of heavy brown
paper. Brown shopping bags do
well or use aluminum foil with
dull side out. Grease paper or
aluminum foil well. Use any size
pans you wish, but leave an inch
space at the top of pan. The total
weight is 11. 5 pounds.
 Preheat the oven to 275
degrees Farenheit.
Sift or stir the flour with the
spices, salt and soda until its
well mixed.
 Use a cup of flour mixture
and sprinkle over fruits and
nuts then toss it until they are
well coated with the flour. Set
the remaining three cups of
flour aside.
 In a large measuring bowl,
cream two and a quarter cups
of sugar with the butter. Beat in
eggs one at a time. Stir in dry
ingredients, alternating with
pineapple mixture.
 You must make about
three dry and two liquid addi-
tions, combining lightly after
each addition.
 Pour over flour-coated
fruits and nuts and mix until
well combined. Turn into the
prepared pans, fill them to
about an inch from the top.
 Bake in a preheated oven
for about three to three and a
half hours depending on pan


 File photograph
A beautifully decorated Christmas cake
can add cheer to the holidays.

size. Place in a shallow pan of
water on the lower rack for
added moisture if you'd like.
 The cake should be fairly
firm in the center and a skewer
inserted right in the center
should come out clean.
 Remove from the oven and
allow to cool in pan for five
minutes. Remove from pan
then peel off paper and then let
it cool on a rack.
 When cooled off, wrap it in
tllcccL< .]tll that has been
soaked in the brandy, rum, black
wine along with liquor, or either
fruit juice. Then wrap the cake
in tin foil (leaving the cheese-
cloth on the cake). Freeze if not
being used right away.
 Note: you can soak fruits
around the end of October for a
couple of weeks in the refriger-


ator, then in mid-November,
bake the cake and freeze it.
Every couple of weeks, take the
fruit out and re-soak the
liccctl til in the liquor and
wrap it back up and re-freeze.

OPTIONS
 By the time Christmas
comes back around youwill
have a moist cake. Note: You
can use fruit juice if you do not
want any alcohol.
 You can also decorate the
cake with almond paste or your
favorite icing or just serve it
plain.
 Note: You can substitute
strawberry jam with marmalade
or any flavor jam. You can use
alcohol to flavor it or not.
 You can also serve it as a
Christmas fruit cake or use it to
make a wedding cake.
 This recipe makes enough
cake to fill a set of three gradu-
ated wedding cake pans (7.5
inches, 5.5 inches, and a four-
inch pan).
 The cakes are about two
inches high and the total weight
is about 11.5 pounds.
 If you were to cut the cake
up for a wedding, it would
serve at least 100 to 150 people,
depending on how small you
want pieces to be.
0


From our Aisle to your Isle, Merry Christmas