Do you know that it’s only three steps to learn how to make black cake for wedding? This easy black cake recipe is perfect for couples who want to make their own wedding cake but prefer something unique than a traditional white wedding cake.
We will also provide examples of black cakes suitable for the wedding. But for those who want the classic wedding cake, read how to ice a wedding cake with buttercream.
Easiest Dark Wedding Cake Recipe: How To Make Black Cake For Wedding
To make this black wedding cake, prepare a pound each of prunes, raisins, cherries, and currants. You will also need around 4 ounces of dried citrus peel, dark rum, cherry brandy, or grape wine, half a cup of boiling water, a pound of brown sugar, two and a half cups of granulated sugar, and a pound of unsalted butter.
As for the other ingredients, have two cups of flour, ten eggs, four teaspoons of baking powder, some cinnamon, nutmeg, aromatic bitters, zested limes, almond essence, and vanilla essence. One to two teaspoons of these flavorings should suffice for this black wedding cake.
Step 1. Prepare the fruits for the black wedding cake
- Combine all the fruits and the citrus peel in a lidded and secured container with three cups of dark rum and cherry brandy, then set it aside for three days
- Put the fruits in a food processor when you bake the black wedding cake until you form paste with still some fruit chunks and set aside
Step 2. Prepare the sugar and pans
- Melt granulated sugar over high heat in a deep pot until it’s black
- Carefully stir in the boiling water and lower the heat to avoid splatter when making this sugar browning for the black cake for the wedding
- Prepare the shallow pans for the black wedding cakes with butter and parchment paper
- Preheat the oven to 250°F and prepare the cake batter
- Cream butter and brown sugar and mix in the eggs one at a time
- Add the flavors and transfer the resulting mixture to a large bowl
- Mix the remaining dry ingredients into another bowl and fold this mixture into the batter
- Stir in the fruits you made before and ¼ cup of the sugar you melted earlier until the wedding cake batter turns dark brown
Step 3. Bake the dark wedding cakes
- Pour your cake batter on the pans and bake for an hour
- Reduce the oven temperature to 225°F and continue baking for 3 hours
- Allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes
- Brush rum over the cakes every 30 minutes to finish
How Do You Make Dark Black Icing?
If you don’t want to make a dark cake like the Caribbean rum fruit cake above but prefer a black wedding cake, why not make black icing instead? This recipe is perfect for wedding cupcakes or simple cakes that would be tasty with chocolate.
- The recipe for this black icing is a tub of chocolate frosting, a tube of black food coloring, and ¼ cup of cocoa powder
- Combine the chocolate frosting, ¼ cup of unsweetened cocoa powder, and a tablespoon of the black gel food coloring in a large bowl
- Add more food coloring as needed until you achieve the color you want for your black wedding cake
- You can also use vanilla icing, but putting too much black food coloring will affect the taste; therefore, use cocoa powder to change its color instead
And for those who want to know how to prepare their own traditional layered wedding cake, try this guide on how to make a two-tiered wedding cake.
Does A Wedding Cake Have To Be White?
There are no rules that your wedding cake should be white. However, you can also make a black cake for your big day if it fits the theme better or if the flavor of some dark cakes like rum cakes is what you prefer.
The only reason wedding cakes are usually white is that this color is related to purity, as seen in other traditional wedding elements. However, some people also find white and light colors more palatable-looking.
But for non-traditional couples who want a black wedding cake, try these ideas:
- Classic vanilla wedding cake covered in black fondant or black buttercream icing
- Black wedding cake frosting painted with other colors or white sugar flowers as decors
- Red velvet or carrot cake with chocolate frosting
- Black fondant wedding cake with metallic decors
- Black wedding cake with appliques or patterns
- Black icing on wedding cake decorated with fresh flowers
How Do You Dye Cake Batter Black?
If you don’t want a rum cake as your black cake for the wedding, can you dye any cake batter black instead? You can use food coloring, but the cake can look faded after baking, or too much coloring can affect the taste of the cake.
Therefore, it’s better to use black food color on chocolate cake, so you don’t need too much food coloring.
Conclusion
And that’s it! You just learned how to make black cake for wedding in three steps.
This is a recipe for a Caribbean rum fruit cake, so soak the fruits in liquor for three days first. Then, the cake itself is self-explanatory as it’s similar to baking other cake batters.
You can also make a chocolate cake for the wedding or color your fondant or frosting black to cover any cake.