Trinidad Black Cake | Saveur

Ingredients

• 2 ³⁄₄ cups cherry brandy
• 2 ³⁄₄ cups dark rum
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cups dried currants
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cups seedless raisins
• 1 ¹⁄₄ cups pitted prunes
• 1 cup candied pitted cherries
• ¹⁄₄ cup chopped mixed candied citrus peel
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 1 Tbsp. plus 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¹⁄₄ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• ¹⁄₈ tsp. ground allspice
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 6 eggs
• ¹⁄₂ tsp. mixed essence
• ¹⁄₂ tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. burnt sugar syrup
• 6 Tbsp. sherry
• 1 (2") piece vanilla bean, seeds scraped out and pod discarded