Friendship Fruit Cake {plus Starter Recipe} (2024)

FAQs

How to make a fruit starter? ›

In a large glass jar, combine drained pineapple chunks, drained apricot slices, drained sliced peaches, drained maraschino cherries, brandy and sugar. Stir gently with wooden spoon. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 3 weeks, stirring at least twice a week.

Evenly pour 1.5 - 2 ounces of your favorite bourbon, rum, brandy, or cognac, over the fruitcake. For a quick way to measure, use a standard-sized shot glass. Take care to pour slowly, allowing the liquor to absorb into the cake with minimal runoff.

There are a lot of benefits to feeding a fruitcake. It will help keep your cake moist (especially if you are storing it for a while) as well as give it extra flavour – and, if you're a little heavy-handed, it will also develop that characteristic boozy kick.

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.

Fresh fruit is so plentiful – and delicious – in the summertime. Watermelon, peaches, pineapple, and strawberries are the perfect addition to any meal, dessert, or appetizer. In fact, fruit makes some of the best appetizers around. They're the perfect combination of sweet and savory.

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.

However, traditional Christmas fruitcake or pudding is made with fruit that has been soaked in spirit (usually brandy and 50 ml will be sufficient for a cake to serve 20). Rum or whisky are possible alternatives. The alcohol evaporates in the cooking process but the flavour remains.

Wrap each cake in several layers of cheesecloth and then in plastic wrap. Store the cakes in airtight containers in a cool dry place, but not in the refrigerator or freezer. Check carefully at least once a week, as rich, moist cakes mould very easily.

The most common duration to properly age a fruitcake is about three months. Any quicker will limit the development of complex flavors attributed to the maturing process. You can certainly age your cake for much longer than several months if you'd like, but we know how busy everyday life can be.

Why is my fruitcake dry and crumbly? ›

Cakes crumble because they've dried out too much. From years of baking, I know that dry cakes happen for one of two reasons; using too much of your dry ingredients or over-baking your cake.

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.

Other good choices of booze include brandy, rum, or whiskey. Feel free to use one or a mix of these to best complement your fruitcake. Once you've chosen the liquor, bake the cake, poke holes throughout the whole thing, and pour a few tablespoons of the alcohol over it. Or, you can brush the cake with the alcohol.

The Best Way to Ferment Fruit

Mix 1 cup (200 g) of sugar, 2 cups (473 ml) of water, and 1 packet of yeast in a jar. Let the jar sit for 3 to 4 days at room temperature in a dark spot.

Make Ahead Instructions - Fresh fruit tray arrangements should be made the day of if possible. However, you can cut up a pineapple or melon and store in an air tight container in the fridge up to two days in advance. This will make it easy to quickly assemble the fruit tray the day you plan to serve it.

Cut melons into slices, grapes into clusters, and citrus into supremes. Leave whole fruit that will brown under oxidation, like stone fruit, apples, and bananas. Arrange the fruit on a platter. Keep your fruit platter fresh by wrapping with plastic and store it in the fridge until serving time.