Dry Fruits Soaking for Plum Cake

Dry Fruits Soaking for Plum Cake | Using Alcohol | with step by step photos and video. A major role in baking a Christmas cake. Super easy to make.

The only effort needed is to shop for the different types of dry fruits and then chop them into fine bits of course. The smaller the pieces, less crumbly your cake with be. Most times you can leave raisins whole unless you get the giant ones which need some chopping. This is why it is recommended to start off with the process of soaking fruits much ahead of time. 

Moreover, the choice of fruits and the proportions in the recipe below are similar for soaking in alcohol or in an non alcoholic liquid.

When to Soak The Fruits for Christmas Fruit Cake?

There are 4 possible broad timelines you can follow to soak fruits for Christmas fruit cake. Of course there are many variations to this, and you can find your own comfort timeline as you get into the regular practice of making the Christmas cake each year.

a. Some people, start right in February or March, and bake the cake in the last week of November, or 5-6 weeks before Christmas, keeping it moist by drip feeding the cake with alcohol every week till Christmas.

b. The most popular method is to soak the fruits 3 months ahead of December, that is, in early September. The cake is then baked in the last week of November, and kept moist by adding a little alcohol every week till Christmas.

c. The short cut method if you need to make the cake without too much time for the soaking? Soak fruits for Christmas fruit cake about a month or 2 or 3 weeks before Christmas.

e. Orange juice or dark tea or other non-alcoholic liquid. Soak the fruits about 15 days before Christmas, and store in a covered air tight container in the fridge till you bake the cake a week before Christmas.

What fruits are best for a Christmas cake?

Dry Fruits Soaking for Plum Cake | Using Alcohol | with step by step photos and video. A Christmas fruit cake is of course all about the fruit, the flour and butter only help to bind the fruits and nuts and hold them into a shape. Select the best quality available, with a mix of fruit of different colours, textures and tastes.

Further, here are the suggestions on what fruits to add when you soak fruits for Christmas cake:

• Black Raisins- dark dried grapes
• Sultanas-Golden color raisins
• Currants -black or red
• Cranberries
• Orange and Lemon peel – candied or plain
• Dried Dates – seedless, soft
• Dried Figs
• Dried Apricots
• Tutti Frutti
• Almonds
• Cashews
• Walnuts
• Any other dried fruit of your choice

Furthermore, kindly check our other cake recipes from our cakes section.

Dry Fruits Soaking for Plum Cake

Course: BakesCuisine: InternationalDifficulty: easy

Servings

1

For Fruit Cake

Prep time

10

minutes

Soaking Time

3

Weeks to 1 year

Dry Fruits Soaking for Plum Cake | Using Alcohol | with step by step photos and video. A major role in baking a christmas cake. Super easy to make.

Ingredients

• 100 gm Dates

• 50 gm Almond

• 50 gm Cashew nut

• 50 gm Walnut

• 50 gm Dried Cranberry

• 50 gm Dried Blueberry

• 50 gm Raisins

• 350 ml Bacardi Oak Heart Spiced Rum or any alcoholic drink of your choice or orange juice

Directions

• Prepare all the dry fruits you are planning to soak. If the dry fruits are larger in size do cut them to small chunks before soaking.
• Then, wash and dry a glass jar.
• Now start adding the ingredients one by one, preferring to add the nuts at the top.
• Add 100 gm Dates, 50 gm Dried Cranberry, 50 gm Dried Blueberry, 50 gm Raisins, 50 gm Almond, 50 gm Cashew nut, and 50 gm Walnuts.
• Now, pour preferable alcoholic drink onto the dry fruits, stir so the liquid settles in. Continue pouring until the liquid covers the top of the fruit. Cover the pot or jar with an air tight lid and store it in a dark place.
• Stir or shake the fruit jar daily or at least once in two days, to help moisten the fruit at the top which starts becoming dry. After a day or two you will find that the soaking liquid is no longer visible at the top level of the fruits, as it has been absorbed by the dry fruits.
• If using non alcoholic soaking liquid, store the container of soaked fruit in the fridge until it is time to bake the cake. Alcohol soaked fruit may be kept at room temperature (unless it is very hot outside) as the alcohol itself acts as a preservative. However store the container in a dark place.
• After 10 days.
• You can store from 1 week to 1 year.

Recipe Video

Notes

• You can prefer any alcoholic drink for soaking dry fruits. If you prefer non-alcoholic you can add orange juice for soaking dry fruits.
• If using non alcoholic soaking liquid, store the container of soaked fruit in the fridge until it is time to bake the cake.