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.

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.

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.

Brush cakes generously with sweet sherry, brandy, rum, port, liqueur or fruit juice; do not use wine. Using fruit juice can increase the chances of your fruitcake going mouldy. Wrap each cake in several layers of cheesecloth and then in plastic wrap.

There's no hard and fast rule about when to ice your cake, but it's best to do it between 24 hours and a week ahead of the big day.

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.

What can you use instead of brandy in fruit cake? ›

Yes, you can make a fruit cake without brandy. 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.

I upturn the tin, it helps to squash down any stickyup bits of fruit and keep the moisture in. Because of their density fruit cakes take a long time to cool down, especially the size you're making so best leave it to completely cool for a few days.

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.

But anecdotally we know that they can last for decades; some of the oldest have been preserved for more than a century.

And you can use other alternatives such as sweet sherry, Grand Marnier or Amaretto. It is possible to use orange juice instead of alcohol to soak the fruits but we would not use it to feed the cake with after baking as fruit juice spoils more easily than alcohol.

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. Take pie dough for example, adding a splash of vodka produces a super flakey dough and develops less gluten in the dough than water.