Geeths Dawath Food Blog
Soaking fruits is one of the important process of fruit cake. This year , for the first time I soaked fruits in alcohol ie in Rum for over 3 weeks . The more you soak the fruits , better the outcome . My wish is to soak the fruits for next Christmas in advance . If you have the desire to bake a traditional Christmas cake it needs a little effort . For non alcoholic cake you may soak the fruits in orange or grape juice .That takes very short time . I have done a whole lot research in soaking fruits and I chose my Ma’am ‘s recipe and modified accordingly . I feel this is an important post connected to fruit cake and it suddenly struck me now to make a separate post . I will update more pictures as and when possible .Until then happy baking !
Recipe inspired from : fondbites.com
Ingredients :
Dark raisins /black currants – 1 cup
Golden raisins – 1 cup
Tutty fruity – 1/2 cup
Glaced cherries – 1/2 cup
Dates – 1 cup
Prunes – 1 cup
Caramel – 1 cup(optional)
Rum /brandy/ whisky – 1 cup
Method :
- Clean and chop the fruits finely .
- Chop dates and prunes in the end as it is sticky .
- Transfer it in a clean bowl .
- Add caramel and rum .
- Use clean hands mash the fruits thoroughly .
- Use a sterilized ,clean and dry bottle and transfer this fruit mixture .
- I used a glass bottle .
- Tighten it with the lid .
- Store it in a cool place .
- Do not open the lid every now and then .
- Give it a shake carefully once a week .
- If you are soaking fruits for a long period keep adding alcohol every month .
- Do not use your hands to pick up the fruit from the jar.
- Use a clean ladle to use.
- This batch makes 3 cups approx of soaked fruits .
- For non alcoholic soaking ,soak fruits in orange or grape juice in the refrigerator for a day or two.
- Do not add nuts while soaking .
- You may add other dried fruits like dried pineapple , dried kiwi , cranberries etc and make your own combination .
