This story was first published on Dec. 17, 2018.
Turns out Kathy Ann Paul 鈥� aka Sweet Hand Kathy 鈥� is as capable a DJ as she is a baker.
Right now, when you walk into her Miami Gardens restaurant 鈥� called, of course, 鈥� you鈥檙e likely to be regaled with 鈥減arang,鈥� a festive blend of music like Trinidadian calypso and Venezuelan gaita. That鈥檚 because parang season means Christmas season in Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean island country where Paul grew up.
鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely paranging these days,鈥� Paul tells me. 鈥淚t鈥檚 traditional. Very important. Christmas Eve night we have a big event here. We鈥檒l have a DJ playing outside in the parking lot.鈥�
But right now Paul is inside her bakery kitchen making something else very important 鈥� more important, actually 鈥� to a Trinidadian Christmas. It鈥檚 the heavenly, rum-soaked fruit confection called black cake, which is arguably the most important food fixture of any Caribbean Christmas celebration.
鈥淚n January, everybody starts soaking the fruits for the black cake,鈥� Paul says.
You read that right. It鈥檚 so important that folks start preparing the black cake a full year before Christmas.
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鈥淭here are so many different kinds of fruits 鈥� like tutti frutti, which is made out of orange peels and citrus fruits,鈥� Paul notes. 鈥淲e have the cherry; they put the walnuts, the currants, raisins, and then you have the prunes. You have to soak it in wine and you have to soak it in rum.鈥�
Especially rum. (Did I mention for a whole year?) But black cake is more than just rum cake. And it鈥檚 more than the fruit cake Americans know. In fact, Paul鈥檚 disappointment after tasting American fruit cake here helped convince her to start a bakery.
And to make a lot of black cakes at Christmas.
鈥淢y grandmother inspired me to do black cake, right?鈥� Paul recalls. 鈥淎nd my grandmother would bake, and then everybody in the village always got a cake. So that鈥檚 the reason why I am so used to cooking in large amounts.鈥�
Here, we take that first bite of black cake in December and we're happy. I mean, you're back to your childhood Caribbean Christmas just like that! 鈥揔athy Ann Paul
And in her own style. To turn that marinated fruit mixture into the dark, caramelized delight known as black cake, Paul uses her grandmother鈥檚 ingredients 鈥� 鈥渃innamon, nutmeg, vanilla, rosewater, cola essence鈥� 鈥� but also her own 鈥渟ecret ingredients," including:
鈥淕ranulated bay leaf,鈥� Paul tells me. 鈥淲hen I first used that it was a hit. Gave it my own twist 鈥� a bolt of flavor. I wish my grandmother was alive today to really taste my cake and she would have been really, really, really proud."
"Here, we take that first bite of black cake in December and we're happy. I mean, you're back to your childhood Christmas just like that!鈥�
Not just Trinidadians but the entire Caribbean take pride in black cake. Or at least the English-speaking islands. And that鈥檚 the point. The islanders consider their Christmas black cake an exquisite refinement of the Christmas plum pudding their former British colonial overlords introduced to the West Indies.
Recipe exchange
Every island鈥檚 recipe 鈥� from Barbados to the Bahamas, Grenada to Guyana 鈥� is a little different. And that鈥檚 created some fun, intra-Caribbean rivalry.
鈥淚 know everybody who makes it, from any country, they will say that their cake is the best,鈥� says Maurice Chang, co-owner of , a popular Jamaican eatery in Kendall.
When Chang lost his job in Miami during the last recession, he decided to reconnect with Jamaica, his birth island. So he and his Jamaican wife Marcia opened Jamrock, and each December he bakes his family鈥檚 black cake recipe 鈥� created in Coleyville, Jamaica.
鈥淚t does have a lot of meaning to me,鈥� says Chang. 鈥淲e try to be perfect with it.鈥�
Perfect, Chang adds, because he feels it鈥檚 a key part of preserving Jamaican and Caribbean culture here in South Florida 鈥� a culture he fears may be waning.
鈥淲e are getting a little bit more Americanized,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd although we are not losing our identity, our culture 鈥� well, we are sort of in survival mode.鈥�
That renewed urgency to promote black cake has another interesting benefit. Bakers in South Florida鈥檚 various Caribbean communities are borrowing from each other鈥檚 recipes.
Don鈥檛 tell the Trinidadian rummakers鈥� association, for example, but Paul now uses Jamaican overproof rum to soak her black cake.
鈥淚 like it for my black cake,鈥� she admits to me in her kitchen. 鈥淢ore citrus smell.鈥�
So I bought one of Paul鈥檚 Trinidadian black cakes and one of Chang鈥檚 Jamaican black cakes and brought them back to the SA国际传谋 studios for our staff to try.
They were blown away by the swirl of rich and elegant flavors, as piquant and varied as Caribbean cultures themselves.
And the winner was鈥ell, you don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e really that foolish, do you?
They were both superb 鈥� and a taste of the South Florida holidays too long overlooked by the rest of us.
Some places in South Florida to find Caribbean Christmas black cake:
Sweet Hand Kathy (Trinidadian), 20316 NW Second Ave, Miami Gardens
Jamrock (Jamaican), 12560 Kendall Dr., Miami (in Kendall)
Sybil's Bakery (Guyanese), 4944 N University Dr, Lauderhill
Jamaica Kitchen, 8736 SW 72nd St, Miami
