Torta negra from Colombia or Venezuela is the equivalent to German stollen, it is made a few weeks in advance. The cake can also be served fresh, however, it will develop more flavor over time. In Colombia and Venezuela the dried fruit soak in rum or wine for a year! Apparently it is common to use the preparation that was made a year before and immediately make a new batch, which is then going to be used in a year. Crazy, right? I didn’t do that, I soaked the dried fruit for a week and it was just as delicious. Torta negra has similarties with the British fruit cake. It is a heavy batter with dried fruits. However, unlike fruit cake from Britain, this one contains burnt sugar (quemado or dulce de panela), which has a slightly bitter caramel flavor. The dried fruits are local, so you may find mango, pineapple, and papaya. In addition, chopped nuts are a must. But just like British fruit cake, it is also soaked in alcohol, traditionally rum or wine, but you may also find wine. It is often served for weddings or birthdays. My husband’s grandfather, who was the baker of a Colombian village, made this cake often a month in advance for weddings.
Torta negra, so black cake, gets its darker color from whole cane sugar (in is called panela in Colombia) and burnt sugar syrup. Unfortunately, it seems to be common to either add food coloring or cocoa powder in order to make it look darker. I didn’t like that too much and decided to leave it as is. My hubby was so excited about my version, he said he had never eaten such a good one as mine. I wish I had filmed him when he was trying the first bite, he got really excited. I still stand by not coloring the cake, what for, it really is perfect as is. I realized that it does get darker with time, so if you serve it after several weeks, it will look dark. You may also decorate shortly before serving, I burshed cranberries and rosemary twigs with egg white and then dusted in sugar. This is optional and mainly for the looks.
Torta negra from Colombia and Venezuela is a heavy fruit cake that contains dry fruit soaked in rum. It can be made long in advance as it is regularly soaked in rum and can easily be shipped. It will develop more flavor over time. For the dried fruits cut them in nice small bites and combine with alcohol and spices in a sealed container. Keep in the fridge for at least 24hr or longer. Stir occasionally. For the burnt sugar syrup take a high pot and place the sugar inside, melt on medium-low heat until the sugar is completely disolved and has a dark amber color. At some point it will start to smoke. Take off heat and very carefully add the boiling hot water, it will foam a lot, you may need oven mittens. Stir and wait until you have an even liquid. Return to heat on medium heat and let simmer for two minutes, then transfer to a sterilized bottle. If chilled, the syrup will keep for a few weeks. For the batter oil a regular bundt cake form of 2.4 liters, heat oven to 150 degrees. Chop the nuts. Then beat the butter with the sugar for at least 5-10 minutes or until super pale in color and fluffy. Add each egg separately and mix well until combined. Mix in remaining ingredients, lastly fold in chopped nuts and dried fruit. Spread in the prepared bundt form evenly, then bake on the lower rack covered (e.g. aluminium foil) for 1 hour. Take covering away and bake for another 40-50 minutes, an inserted toothpick should come out clean. Once out the oven, wrap a damp towel around it and wait for ten minutes. Release the edges, then try to invert. If not possible yet, do this again for ten minutes. Hopefully it will work, let cool completely. Then place bake in the bundt form and pour a bit of rum/wine over it. You can serve fresh or wait, it will develop its flavor over a week. If letting sit longer, pour rum/wine over cake every few days. I kept mine inside the bundt cake form and covered it with a big plate. Surprisingly, it does not taste like rum, the alcohol seems to disappear. This cake is perfect for shipping and can also be frozen. If desired, you can make a glaze shortly before serving. Mix icing sugar with a bit of egg white or other liquid until desired consistency. Pour over cake. You can decorate with cranberries and rosemary twigs that were first brushed with a bit of egg white and then sugared, but this is optional.Torta negra from Colombia
Ingredients
Instructions
2 Comments
FEL!X
Friday November 28th, 2025 at 07:54 AMSehr interessant!
Hier in Thailand verwende ich auch anstelle von Orangeat und Zitronat getrocknete Mango, Papaya, Ananas, Kürbis…
Es muss ja nicht immer die DresdnerStollen-Version sein!
Jenny
Friday November 28th, 2025 at 07:59 AMGenau, finde dadurch schmeckt es viel besser und nicht nach Chemie!