Jamaican Black Cake -- Christmas all year round

Posted by Dr. Tom Hanchett, staff historian on February 8 2010

I'd passed the little strip shopping center where Central Avenue meets Albemarle Road hundreds of times before I noticed the small sign "Island Grocery." Walking in, I immediately felt transported to Jamaica.

Close-packed shelves overflow with Caribbean delicacies - ginger beer and other soft drinks, canned vegetables, coconut milk, hot sauces including the delightfully named Pickapeppa. Freezers hold ox tail, plantain snacks, guava jelly and dozens of ingredients for Caribbean cooking. I'm not much of a cook myself, but the possibilities sent me home to look up Caribbean recipes on the internet.

No sense in Googling on an empty stomach, though. The grocery offers take-out portions of hot codfish fritters, meat pies, plus curry dishes accompanied by thin roti bread. I was craving something sweet, however. That's when I saw the black cake. 

Black cake is the Jamaican version of the English plum pudding. In England, plums and raisin and other fruits are marinated in brandy and brown sugar, then combined into a cake-like loaf.Jamaica, part of the British empire until 1935, put its own twist on the tradition, adding island-made rum and molasses, and also finely chopping the fruit. The result looks deceptively like chocolate cake. But taste is way different - imagine a rich, dense spice cake with lots of fruity raisin bits.

"Come Christmas, this is what everyone in the islands loves. It's tradition," says Velma Baker behind the counter. Black cake is a favorite in the New York - New Jersey area as well, which is where Island Grocery's Jamaican-born owners Williford and Carolina Coke lived before moving to North Carolina.

Here in Charlotte, black cake has proved so popular that is now available year round.

I still haven't cooked up any Caribbean recipes. But I keep going back to Island Grocery for more of that Google-helping black cake.

Island Grocery and Caribbean Restaurant
5861 Albemarle Road
Charlotte, NC 28212
(704) 532 - 0322

HOURS:
Monday - Friday 10am - 8pm
Saturday 9am - 8pm
Closed Sunday.