Charmaine Wilkerson’s Black Cake Is Now a Hulu Series—Here’s When to Tune In
For her novel Black Cake, a story that blends food and family history, author Charmaine Wilkerson found inspiration in her own family recipes. Specifically the one for black cake, a traditional Caribbean rum-soaked fruitcake, which her mother hand-wrote on notebook paper so it could be passed on for generations.
“When a younger relative texted me to ask for the recipe, it started me thinking about inheritance and how we choose to keep some things closer to our hearts than others—especially in a multicultural family like mine,” she wrote in an essay for ELLE last year.
The result is a drama surrounding estranged brother and sister Byron and Benny who, upon the death of their mother, find that she left them a curious inheritance: a black cake (to share “when the time is right”) and a voice memo. In the latter, she reveals the secrets of her mysterious past and their family’s roots.
More From ELLE
The New York Times bestseller, which was published in February 2022, is now a series executive produced by Oprah Winfrey with Marissa Jo Cerar (Women of the Movement, 13 Reasons Why) serving as showrunner. Mia Isaac (Not Okay), Adrienne Warren (The Woman King), Chipo Chung (Sunshine), and Ashley Thomas (Them) are in the cast; and the story sweeps across the globe from Jamaica, Italy, Scotland, and England to Southern California. Here’s how to follow the series.
When do new episodes come out?
Black Cake will stream exclusively on Hulu, with the first three episodes premiering on November 1. All new episodes arrive on Wednesdays at 12 A.M. ET.
- Episode 1, “Covey”: streaming November 1 Watch Now
- Episode 2, “Coventina”: streaming November 1 Watch Now
- Episode 3, “Eleanor”: streaming November 1 Watch Now
- Episode 4, “Mrs. Bennett”: streaming November 8
- Episode 5, “Mother”: streaming November 15
- Episode 6: streaming November 22
- Episode 7: streaming November 29
- Episode 8: streaming December 6
Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she’s listening to Lorde right now.