Caribbean people are passionate about our desserts! We love our cakes, our pastries, and our buns. Yes, we love bun! Everyone has their favourite desserts, that one that they will go to the ends of the earth to get a slice of, that they will malice themselves for.
With the advent of thanksgiving, many people are planning their thanksgiving menus. Also, with the timing of Thanksgiving approximately a month before Christmas, it serves as the test bake run before the critical Christmas baking season.
Below are the top 5 submitted thanksgiving desserts served at Caribbean families’ Thanksgiving dinners.
Black Cake/Rum Cake/Fruit Cake: This is the holy grail of Caribbean desserts, especially in Jamaican homes. My Aunt Carol has set an unmatched standard for black cake in my life. I have never tasted another cake that comes anywhere close to hers in texture, moistness, taste, colour, or decadence. Although Haley’s vegan Christmas cake holds its own in the vegan category. (If you’re in Jamaica and need a link for the absolute best vegan or regular Christmas cake, use the contact form, and I’ll send you a number) Moral of the story: everyone has someone who’s cake they swear by.
Pudding/Puddn: Pudding is a close second to the holy cake. There are different varieties of pudding and the favourites vary from island to island and from person to person. This is one of the most widely contested desserts ever. There are passionately different schools of thought on everything from subtle variations in the ingredients to the finish. Some crave the moist gooey topped pudding, while others like myself love the firm caramelized finish. Whether baked in a modern oven or with hell a top and hell a bottom, puddings are near and dear to our hearts. My personal favourites are cassava and sweet potato.
Plantain Tarts: This was a surprising vote. But, apparently there is a dedicated legion of plantain tart lovers out there, either that or one of them successfully adopted multiple personalities and spammed the voting process. Tarts like puddings come in variations, but the plantain variety is the undisputed favourite.
Grater Cake: I have never personally seen grater cakes at any Thanksgiving dinner that I’ve attended. Though now, I wish I had. This dessert, though often thought of as a snack seems like a worthy addition to the main table.
Misc. Cakes: Again, cakes are the central theme. There can never be too many cakes offered at any gathering. It is hard to find anyone who doesn’t love cake. And even among the people who do not like cake, there is some type of cake they like. A variety of cakes were submitted and so we have the miscellaneous cakes category. Whatever your favourite, I raise my slice in salute. For the purposes of this post, I will make an executive decision and use one of my favourites, Junior’s raspberry almond layer cake.
