Friendship Fruit Cake {plus Starter Recipe} (2024)

FAQs

What is the best liquor to soak fruitcake in? ›

What alcohol should you use? Strong, flavourful spirits with a high ABV are ideal for feeding fruitcakes. You can use rum, brandy or whisky for spice, or if you like citrus flavours, try an orange liqueur. Cherry brandy and amaretto will also work well if you prefer these.

For a swift and sultry maturation, consider a steamy affair with your fruitcake. Place the cake in a covered container and steam it for a short duration. The steam helps open the cake's pores, allowing it to absorb flavors rapidly. This method is perfect for those who crave a moist and mature fruitcake in record time.

To avoid cracking the icing, tiers should be stacked while the icing is freshly done. Alternatively, you can wait for at least 2 days after icing the tiers before stacking. The only time full dowelling is not necessary for a stacked construction is if the lower tiers are a firm fruit cake or carrot cake.

Put the flour, grated nutmeg, mixed spice, butter, sugar, eggs, chopped almonds, black treacle and the citrus zest into a large bowl and beat well to mix thoroughly. Fold in the soaked fruits. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and spread out evenly with the back of a spoon.

You can soak the fruit for days (or weeks) by adding alcohol and mixing as you go, allowing the dried fruit to soak up all the liquid. We do this by adding alcohol (or fruit juice or even a mix) bit by bit until the fruit is plump, or you can just soak overnight and add the rest of the alcohol after the cake is baked.

Whiskey serves as a great substitute for brandy in a fruitcake. Although whiskey comes from fermented grain mash while brandy is made from fermented grape mash, the process is so similar, that the flavor will be similar as well.

That said, even though a decades-old fruitcake might taste like a leather shoe, eating it probably won't make you dangerously sick.

The trifecta of sugar, low moisture ingredients and some high-proof spirits make fruitcakes some of the longest-lasting foods in the world.

To make sure your fruitcake doesn't dry out, unwrap it every few days and brush it with rum, brandy, or a simple sugar syrup.

In an oven that's too hot, the outside of the cake cooks at a much faster rate than the inside. A crust forms early on, but as the inside of the cake continues to cook and rise, this crack crusts. You might experience the same problem if the cake recipe has too much leavener or if you've used a pan that's too small.

Can you overcook a fruit cake? ›

The top can overcook before the middle even gets started. * The cake pan could be overfull. A full cake pan takes a lot longer to cook, and you can very easily end up with a cake that is both under, and over cooked.

You might not have baked long enough, at too low of a temperature or in too small of a pan. Your best bet is to just bake it longer and test the cake before you remove it from the oven. To test a cake stick a toothpick into the center of the cake, at least half way in and pull it out.

Dense, moist, fruit-studded cakes are sandwiched between layers of light, fluffy, delicately sweetened frosting for a combination that's as impressive to view as it is to eat.

Grease and line pans with brown paper, waxed paper, or parchment. Grease again. Cut paper about 1 inch taller than pans. Fill pans a little over half full with batter.

The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake's moisture level. If there's simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there's too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet. Finding the right balance between wet and dry ingredients is key.

As for what alcohol, rum or brandy is pretty traditional for soaking fruitcake, but almost anything will work.

Wrap it in several layers of cheesecloth and saturate the cheesecloth with rum or brandy. Place in a sealed container or zip bag. If the cloth starts to dry out, add more booze. Your fruitcake should be ready to eat in 7–10 days but it will keep for many weeks when properly aged in alcohol.

Soaking fruits in alcohol is a common practice when making fruitcakes for several reasons: 1. Flavor Enhancement: Soaking fruits in alcohol imparts a rich, deep flavor to the fruits. The alcohol helps to infuse the fruits with its unique taste, creating a distinctive flavor profile in the fruitcake.