Christmas is no doubt my favourite time of the year. It’s the joy, the smells and overall spirit felt in the air. As a true Jamaican, fruitcake, sorrel and ham are non-negotiable items of the season.

I grew up with the aroma of fruitcake filling the house on Christmas Eve. Just the smell of it brings back so many memories!

I started baking with my mom at the age of 14. I always loved being around the kitchen watching both my mom and my aunt Bev work their magic. It was in this kitchen that I learned just how to choose the right mix of butter and how to cream the batter just right. I can remember them tasting and adjusting as they went along. “Do not add too much browning, Latoya,” they would say, “it makes the batter bitter.”

Baking is as much a science as it is a feeling. Using the recipe and measuring your ingredients properly but also trusting your gut in tweaking just a bit to make it just yours.

The foundation of my Jamaican fruitcake journey started in that kitchen with those two wonderful ladies in my life. I built on that as I grew older and added a little bit of my touch to make the recipe mine.

I hope this Christmas you, too, will take some tradition and add a little spice of you.