Friendship Fruit Cake {plus Starter Recipe} (2024)

FAQs

What alcohol is best in fruitcake? ›

Evenly pour 1.5 - 2 ounces of your favorite bourbon, rum, brandy, or cognac, over the fruitcake.

Most recipes call for dried fruit to be soaked overnight. I take a speedy approach: just microwave the dried fruit with juice and/or brandy, then stand for 1 hour to soak up the liquid. So much faster – and just as effective! Other than that, there's nothing unusual about how this fruit cake is made.

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.

I love the flavor of spiced rum in my Christmas cake, so that's what I use to soak my fruit. The dried fruits get rehydrated in the rum and soaks it all up, making it super juicy and flavorful. If you can't find spiced rum, you can also use dark rum, cognac, brandy or sherry to soak your fruits.

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.

Sugar and alcohol create a hostile environment for microorganisms. One ingredient that bolsters fruitcake's longevity is alcohol, says Bryan Quoc Le, a food scientist and faculty research fellow at Pacific Lutheran University.

Fruitcake with alcohol can last years, and in some rare cases, it can last decades. For those looking to prepare fruitcakes with alcohol for storage, you'll want to make sure to brush the fruitcake with alcohol fairly consistently across its time in storage.

Fruitcake aficionados will tell you that the best fruit cakes are matured – or “seasoned” in fruitcake lingo – for at least three months before they are cut. Seasoning not only improves the flavor of the fruitcake, but it makes it easier to slice.

Instead of brandy, you can use alternative liquids like apple juice, orange juice, or even tea to soak the dried fruits and add moisture and flavor to the cake.

100 years. Conservators working in Cape Adare, Antarctica, recently found a tin containing a fruitcake that is thought to date back to the Terra Nova expedition of 1910–13. The cake is Huntley & Palmer's brand, which is known to have been taken by Scott on his expeditions.

Can I use whisky instead of rum in fruit cake? ›

Soak all your dried fruits in your spirit of choice – whisky or brandy would be the most traditional options, though other aged spirits like rum also work, and sweeter additions like sherry, Cointreau or amaretto will add their own character.

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.

Yes, it is absolutely possible to make fruit cake without alcohol. You can replace the alcohol with fruit juice, such as orange juice or apple juice, to soak the dried fruits, adding flavor and moisture to the cake.

Baking with booze—such as bourbon, rum, port and vodka—can add additional flavor, texture and even change the consistency of many baked goods.

Your best bet is going to be another dry fortified wine such as dry (white) vermouth. Dry versions of Madeira and marsala are also acceptable. You can also substitute a dry white wine like sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, pinot blanc, or sémillon.