“You should have started months ago. You remember. This is a cake that requires your attention, your respect and, most importantly, your time.” These were my mother’s parting words to me when I told ...

"Christmas in Jamaica isn't Christmas without fruitcake," says Gloria Jenkins, a retired nurse living in Bogota, Bergen County. She should know -- she was born in Montego Bay and grew up in Kingston.

Kathy Ann Paul shows off one of her first Christmas black cakes of the season at her Trinidadian restaurant-bakery Sweet Hand Kathy in Miami Gardens. This story was first published on Dec. 17, 2018.

Apple cakes abound in the fall and I am usually the first one to jump on that bake, but this year I was inspired by two ingredients to make something a little different—pears and a new spiced rum.

“You should have started months ago. You remember. This is a cake that requires your attention, your respect and, most importantly, your time.” These were my mother’s parting words to me when I told ...