Rum cake made with plums and raisins soaked in rum, as well as brown sugar and a bittersweet caramel called "browning". Rum cake A rum cake is a type of dessert cake which contains rum. In most of the Caribbean, rum cakes are a traditional holiday season dessert, descended from the holiday puddings (such as figgy pudding). Traditionally, dried fruit is soaked in rum for months and then added to dough prepared with sugar which has been caramelized by boiling in water. The result, also known as "black cake", is similar to a fruitcake, with a lighter texture. In Trinidad and Tobago,
Rum 1655, when the British fleet captured the island of Jamaica. With the availability of domestically produced rum, the British changed the daily ration of liquor given to seamen from French brandy to rum. Navy Rum was originally a blended rum mixed from rums locally produced in the West Indies. It varies in strength from 95.5 Proof (47.75% ABV) to 114 Proof (57% ABV). While the ration was originally given neat, or mixed with lime juice, the practice of watering down the rum began around 1740. To help minimize the effect of the alcohol on his sailors, Admiral Edward Vernon had