A friend in Florida just called me asking if I had a recipe for Jamaican black cake. She had misplaced hers and is desperate to find it. People count on her to make it every year. I told her that I didn't have the recipe but I knew someone who could help. The cake contains dried fruit and wine and is like a fruit cake. Thank you, Marge, my friend is counting on you.

Now is the time to start thinking about baking fruitcakes if you want to serve them in December.

I know, there are many of you who are saying "bleh" to fruitcake but there are just as many of you who enjoy the rich taste of a good homemade fruitcake.

This one has an interesting twist in that it uses Port wine and rum -- a definite carry-over from colonial times in the Caribbean. If you were to visit Jamaica over the holidays, you might be turned off because this is also called black cake. It gets that name from the dark color imparted from the Port. I will refer to it as Jamaican Christmas Cake.

Jamaican Christmas Cake

4 cups mixed dried fruits (raisins, currants, prunes, citron, cherries, dates) coarsly chopped.

3 cups Port wine

3 cups whie rum

1/2 lb. butter

1 cup granulated sugar or brown sugar (brown sugar is traditional)

6 eggs

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. nutmeg, ground

1 tsp. ground allspice

2 tsp. lemon juice

Prepare the fruit for baking : Soak the fruits in 2 cups Port wine and 2 cups rum for at least 4 weeks before baking.

To bake the cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease a 10-inch cake pan or springform pan with butter. Line the bottom of the pan with waxed paper or parchment paper.

3. Mix together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Add eggs, one at a time, and continue beating until mixture is smooth.

5. Add flour and baking powder and continue to mix.

6. Blend in vanilla, almond, nutmeg, allspice and lemon juice.

7. In a blender or food processor, grind fruits and add to mixture.

8. Add 1 cup rum and 1 cup Port wine and mix well.

9. Spoon into prepared pan and place in oven.

Cake is baked when a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Check cake after one hour.

This will make approximately 4 pounds of cake. If you are baking it weeks or months in advance, continue basting it periodically with wine.

Looking for a favorite recipe? E-mail Marge Biancke at a2mailbox@comcast.net.