Trinidad Christmas fruitcake
This cake is a must in our country at Christmas time. It is also used as a base in most of our
wedding cakes.
1lb prunes
1 lb raisins
1 lb currants
1 lb sultanas
1 bottle rum
1 bottle cherry brandy
Clean and wash the first four items. Mince and add rum and cherry brandy to fruits. Place in glass
jars and leave to cure for at least 1 weekI normally mince 1/2 of the fruits and leave the rest as is.This
mixture can remain for months. The longer it cures, the better it tastes!
1 lb 4 ozs flour
1lb sugar
1lb butter/margarine
12 eggs
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 lb maraschino cherries, cut in quarters
1/2 lb almonds, chopped
1/4 lb mixed peel
1 to 1 1/2 cups browning
2 tsp spice
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp clove
1 tsp mixed essence
1 tsp vanillla essence
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs,one at a time. Add essence and browning.
Mix in friuts, cherries,almonds, mixed peel.
Combine sifted flour, baking powder,spice, nutmeg and clove.Fold into fruit mixture. Do not overmix.
Pour into 2 10-inch greased and lined cake pans(3 inches high)
Bake for approximately 1 hour or until done. Cool completely before removing from pan. Leave for 1
week before eating. For a moister cake, pour a little rum on top of cake.
For wedding cakes
Decrease butter to 3/4 pound
Use 3/4 bottle of rum and cherry brandy each
To make browning
Place 1lb of brown sugar in a largecast iron pot over meduim heat. Keep turning until sugar turns
dark brown.VERY CAREFULLY, add 1 cup of hot water and mix. Cool and bottle.
Hassrah's light fruitcake
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 pound butter/margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tsp spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp clove
1 tsp mixed essence
2-3 potspoonful of friuts(soaked)
Bake using same method as above in a 9-inch cake pan. This recipe can be doubled or tripled.
Basic rolled sugarpaste
2 lbs icing sugar, sifted
1tbsp gelatine
4 tbsp water
1/2 cup liquid glucose
1 tbsp glycerine
flavourings
Mix gelatine and water together. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place 1/2 of the sugar in a mixing
bowl.Make a well in middle of sugar. Microwave gelatine mixture for 25 seconds. Add glucose and
glycerine to it. pour this mixture into well and mix with a spoon. Add remaining sugar and
flavourings and knead until pliable.
The quantity of water and glucose can be adjusted depending on weather conditions .
Tips for kneading sugarpaste-
After you remove the gelatine from the microwave, you need to work fast otherwise it will begin to
gel and make it very difficult to work with.
When you pour mixture into well, mix from the center out. If you mix all at once ,the texture changes.
Add a little bit of sugar at a time to keep it nice and pliable. All at once will make it stiff and rubbery
and difficult to work with.
When you knead sugarpaste, do it without distractions. Once you start kneading dont leave it to do
anything else.
Chocolate rolled sugarpaste
1 tbsp gelatine
4 tbsp water
2 lbs icing sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup liquid glucose
1 tbsp glycerine
vanilla essence
Sift sugar and cocoa together. Follow same method as above.
Orange rolled sugarpaste
1/2 cup orange juice. strained, fresh & ripe
1 1/2 tbsp gelatine
2 tbsp glucose or light corn syrup
1 tbsp glycerine
2 tbsp Crisco or butter
1 tsp white vanilla extract
1/4 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup cream(like Nestle)
3 1/2 lbs powdered sugar(approx)
Method
Dissolve gelatine in orange juice. Add the glucose, glycerine and shortening. Place over medium
heat, exercising great care not to oveheat. Or microwave for 30 seconds.Add gelatine to half of the
sugar.Mix together. Add the cream and the milk.Add the remaining sugar in small amounts and
knead until pliable. This is sufficient to cover a 14 inch cake.
Marshmallow sugarpaste
16 oz white marshmallows
2 tbsp water
2 lbs icing sugar
Melt marshmallows and water in a double boiler or microwave.Heat until melted. Place half of the
sugar in a bowl. Make a well in the middle. Pour melted marshmallow in and mix. Add remaining
sugar and continue as for basic sugarpaste
Rolled buttercream
1 cup shortening
1 cup corn syrup
2 lbs icing sugar
pinch of salt
flavourings
Knead together to form a firm dough. Add more sugar if necessary.
I have found that marshmallow fondant and rolled buttercream gives a shiny finish which might not
be appropriate for wedding cakes. However, if you mix 2 batches of fondant to 1 batch of rolled
buttercream it tastes more delicious than plain sugarpaste.