Thursday, October 2, 2025

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Macbeth Theme and Sour Cherry Fruit Cake


 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date! Cathy is kindly hosting today. Rain is back and will be hosting the Art and Dinner Date again starting Oct 9th!


 The theme is Macbeth.  I did a 'Bloody Crown' ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") in acrylic on cardstock.

For the Dinner Date, I made a sour cherry fruit cake based on a Jamaican black cake recipe. The process of making this cake is rather involved but I thought I would document it here anyway. These cakes require fruit to be pre-soaked for weeks or months in alcohol such as rum and wine. I used the fruit from my sour cherry liqueur.  It was delicious!  The cake should be darker but I ended up making my own browning and I didn't brown the sugar enough.




Here is my recipe:
9" round or square pan
1/3 c butter
3/4 c brown sugar
2 tbs vanilla
6 eggs
5 tbs browning (browned sugar)
2 tbs molasses
1 tbs ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2c soaked fruit  plus 1/4 c cherry liqueur for puree
1/4c cherry liqueur
juice of 1/2 lime (or lemon)
zest of 1/2 lime (or lemon)
1/2c port wine to pour on top of cake as soon as it comes out of oven

Browning recipe (can also be bought in a bottle)
1/3c dark sugar
1/3c boiling water
In saucepans on med heat melt sugar 4-5 min, then 2-3 more min till dark, mix in boiling water

300F oven

Grease and flour your pan
You will need a  pan of water for steaming
Blend the fruit and 1/4c of liqueur.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar in a mixer for 5 mins.
add eggs to another large bowl. whisk 3-5mins till foamy.  add vanilla, browning, molasses, lime juice
mix on low speed for 30 seconds. add cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, baking powder, salt, lime zest. mix 30 seconds on low speed 
Pour egg mix into butter mix, fold in fruit puree then flour plus 1/4 c liqueur. pour into prepared pan.
bake in preheated 300F oven for 2 hours with a cake pan underneath to steam.
The cake is ready when a knife comes out clean.
Pour wine on top of the cake as soon as cake comes out of oven. enjoy.



26 comments:

Granny Annie said...

Love the crown card! Want the brownie!

MELODY JACOB said...

I can almost smell the spices and the rich fruit soaking in liqueur. I love how you paired it with a Macbeth theme.

Iris Flavia said...

Love your bloody crown!

Carol said...

The card is so interesting and the cake sounds amazing.

Angie's Recipes said...

The cake reminds me of holiday fruit cake.

jabblog said...

The cake looks delicious and the crown is suitably bloody.

The Happy Whisk said...

Very nice bake! Love that you did the time with the cherries.

Gillena Cox said...

Kuvvyour take on the prompt.
Mine is HERE

Much♡love

Martha Jane Orlando said...

That recipe sounds delicious, Christine, and I love the bloody crown for Macbeth. I still remember teaching that play to middle school kids. They actually loved it!

LoveT. said...


You did a great job with the bloody crown.

Lisabella Russo said...

Wonderful art and the cake looks delish!

Anne Hagman-Niilola said...

Awesome art.

CAAC said...

I love your art for this week's theme! And, your cake sounds yummy. I bet your house smelled so good while it was baking, too. :p

Anonymous said...

Your cake sounds dellicious

Adam said...

Nice art 👑 🎨

Mary Kirkland said...

When fruitcake is done right, it comes out really good.

Linda's Relaxing Lair said...

Lovely card! I love brownies. :) Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada.

Nasreen said...

Thanks for sharing the recipe. Looks great!

roentare said...

Your Bloody Crown sounds wonderfully evocative of Macbeth, and that sour cherry fruit cake must have been a true labour of love

J.P. Alexander said...

El pastel se ve muy rico. Lindo dibujo. Te mando un beso.

DeniseinVA said...

Your crown card is great and thanks for the recipe too :)

Lowcarb team member said...

I like the bloody crown for Macbeth.
Thank you for sharing details of the recipe.

All the best Jan

CheerfulMonk said...

I. love the card and wish I could taste the cake. :)

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Not familiar with any Shakespeare, but love your crown. I have made something similar in the past. In my recipe, I also had to add more rum once a week and turn the cake over. Never again, but yours looks delicious.

Elkes Lebensglück said...

You baked a delicious cake and your crown is beautifully painted!!!
Hugs Elke

Ananka said...

Good art. And tasty cake :-D