Guyanese Black Cake is a rich, dense and moist cake. It is made with rum soaked fruits and a dark sugar caramel gives it its signature black color. It is traditionally made at Christmas and for weddings.
Recipe by Althea Brown on November 23, 2019
Prep time: PT60M
Cook time: PT90M
Total time: PT150M
Rating
4.98 stars (38 reviews)
Keywords
best caribbean black cake recipe, black cake, black cake Guyana, Black cake recipe, black fruit cake recipe, black rum cake recipe, caribbean black cake recipe, Guyanese Black Cake, guyanese black cake recipe, metemgee black cake recipe
Ingredients
1 lb butter ((2 cups))
1 lb granulated sugar ((2 cups))
9 eggs
4 lbs soaked and blended fruits (8 cups)
12 ounces flour (about 2 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon baking powder (optional)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon orange zest
4 to 6 tablespoons burnt sugar
1/2 cup red wine (e.g. Porto)
3 tablespoon dark rum
Cooking spray
Categories
Dessert
Cuisine
Guyanese
Steps
Cream butter and sifted sugar until most of the sugar crystals dissolve. Then add the eggs to creamed butter and sugar one at a time until all of the eggs are fully incorporated into the mixture.
After the eggs have been added, add fruits to butter, sugar and eggs mixture (one cup at a time) and mix together until all of the fruits have been completely mixed into the batter.
Next add the wine and orange zest to batter. Then add the burnt sugar, one tablespoon at a time until your batter is the desired color.
Sift together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg. Then fold flour into the batter one cup at a time.
Preheat the oven to 300°F and grease the baking pans with cooking spray or rub with butter, then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Divide the batter equally among the baking pans. Wrap the bottom of the baking pan with aluminum foil and place cake on the middle rack in the oven. Bake for 75 to 90 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the black cake comes out smooth.
Once cake is fully cooked, remove from the oven and brush each cake with 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of rum, while cake is still hot. Feel free to add more rum if you like, but not too much or the cake will be soggy.
Cover the cake with a kitchen towel and let cool. Allow cake to cool completely, then remove from baking pans
Store cake in a covered container. Depending on how long you keep the cake for, you may add more rum once or twice a week so that it doesn't dry out
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 489 kcal
Carbohydrates: 80 g
Protein: 6 g
Fat: 18 g
Saturated Fat: 10 g
Trans Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 102 mg
Sodium: 172 mg
Sugar: 57 g
Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
Reviews
June on 2026-01-10 (5 stars): I made this black cake for my daughter’s wedding as a gift to guests 😍 I omitted the cloves, nutmeg & orange rind due to allergies, and it came out beautifully! Everyone enjoyed it & wanted more!! 😋 I promised to bake it again for their Anniversary 💖 Thank U so very much for sharing your love and delicious recipe 🙏😇😘
Rachel on 2025-12-16 (5 stars): I am so glad I tried this recipe made black cake for the first time I wish I could post a picture of how good and beautiful it came out.
Rachel on 2025-12-16 (5 stars): I am so glad I tried this recipe made black cake for the first time I wish I could post a picture of how good and beautiful it came out.
Rachel on 2025-12-16 (5 stars): I am so happy with this recipe thank you first time making black cake
Wendy on 2025-12-16 (5 stars): I have used your recipe for 5 years, and every year it is the BEST. Everyone of my family and friends pays compliments on the authentic taste that brings back memories of there childhood making this with their moms and grandmas. Thank you
Donna on 2025-05-05 (5 stars): Black cake recipe was perfect: loved by many even non-Guyanese
Somaria on 2024-12-27 (5 stars): This recipe is legit and makes perfect black cake! Thank you so much for sharing this with us all!
Edith Rialland on 2024-12-27 (5 stars): Très belle recette, hâte de la faire !
Vanessa Chambers on 2024-12-26 (5 stars): This recipe is so good! I needed a guide for a recipe that was close to what I remember my grandmother making. I made a few small adjustments (based on her volumes for the base cake ingredients - eggs, butter, sugar, flour) and recalculated the rest of the ingredients to match and it is so good! Moist and rich and everyone in my family LOVED it! I make it every year :)
Toni Ann Small on 2024-12-26 (5 stars): Great recipe!
I have struggled to find a recipe that came close to my grandmother’s black cake recipe for years ( we’re Jamaican), but this recipe gave me everything I was looking for. The flavor, the texture, and the smell. Pure nostalgia. Highly recommend
Cindy on 2024-12-26 (5 stars): This is an awesome recipe, follow step by step, word for word and you are guaranteed an impressive cake. Do yourself a favor and do not "tweak" as you go. Never using another recipe again!
Cynica on 2024-12-26 (5 stars): I followed your soaked fruits recipe and I got started on this recipe, 3 weeks later. My black cake was a hit!!! Everyone loved the texture and the taste. I used half of everything to make 1 cake.
