Saba Spice Cake is a traditional Saban recipe for a classic rich fruit cake flavoured with Saba spice rum; though served year round, this is particularly popular at Christmas. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Saban version of: Saba Spice Cake.
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Saba Spice is the local spiced rum of Saba and in this recipe it's used as the main flavouring in a spiced fruit cake. The exact blend of spice and botanicals used to flavour the rum varies from family to family and each holds their recipes as closely-guarded secrets, so unless you go to Saba you will not be able to get the original rum. However, you can start with regular spiced dark rum and make a botanical infusion before starting on the cake.
If you don't have Saba spice rum, mix 250ml spiced rum with 1/4 tsp dried thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1 allspice leaf (if available) and 1 cinnamon stick. Set aside to macerate for 2 hours then drain and use in the recipe below.
Ingredients:
For the Fruit:
250ml Saba spice rum
50g dried prunes, chopped
65g sultanas
25g glacé cherries
50g raisins
35g mixed peel
2 cinnamon sticks
finely-grated zest of 1 lemon
For the Cake:
250g butter, diced
225g Dark Brown Sugar
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
3 Eggs, Lightly beaten
250g Self-raising Flour
1 tbsp Mixed Spice
½ tsp ground allspice
4 tbsp Saba spice rum
Method:
Combine the dried fruit, rum, cinnamon and lemon zest in a large covered container and set aside to macerate. Do this at least a week (best several weeks) before you want to prepare the cake.
When ready to bake, pre-heat your oven to 180°C then grease and flour a cake or loaf tin and set aside.
Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time with a tablespoon of flour to prevent splitting, beating thoroughly to combine after each addition.
Sift together the flour and spices into the bowl. Fold the flour into egg mixture then add the macerated fruit (and any liquid), folding to blend through the batter.
Turn the resultant batter into the prepared cake tin, transfer to the centre of your pre-heated oven and bake for about 60-75 minutes until the top is nicely golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake emerges cleanly.
Transfer the cake to a wire rack and allow to cool in the tin then use a skewer to poke holes all over the top of the cake before pouring over the Saba spice rum.
Wrap the cake in foil and allow to mature for a couple of days before slicing and eating.