Fruitcakes, which often come out around the holidays, are notorious for lasting a long time. They're packed with nuts, spices, and dried fruit, and while many modern and commercial fruitcakes are alcohol-free, traditionally the cake is also soaked in alcohol. The booze can help boost your cake's flavor, while also keeping it moist and adding a preservative effect that creates that signature long shelf life.
If you want to try making a boozy fruitcake yourself, you'll need to know what type of alcohol works best. The best route to go here is to choose a strong liquor with a high alcohol content and vivid flavor that you enjoy, as the alcohol's tastingnotes are going to come out in the finished cake.
With that being said, there are a couple of other things to know about infusing your fruitcake with booze in order to get the best possible dessert. Plus, it pays to know what to use instead of alcohol if you want a moist and flavorful cake that everyone can enjoy.
What To Know About Infusing A Fruitcake With Booze
When choosing alcohol to use in your fruitcake, you'll want to think about the flavor it's going to impart. For a citrusy feel, you could go with triple sec. This can bring out notes of orange in your cake. Or, you could use a fruity sherry to help play up the natural fruit flavors. 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. Another option is to wrap your dessert in an alcohol-soaked cheesecloth to imbue the whole thing with booze. Beyond adding liquor to the baked cake, some cooks alsosoak the fried fruit in the same spirit before adding it to the cake batter. You're then ready to serve your cake and enjoy the complementary flavors of the alcohol you've chosen.
What About Non-Alcoholic Fruitcakes?
Not all fruitcake recipes have to include alcohol. In order to keep the cake moist and flavorful, infuse it with a different liquid. One good choice is orange juice, which works in a similar manner to triple sec. If you don't have orange juice on hand, you can use apple juice, which pairs well with the spices and dried fruits in the cake, helping to elevate your dessert. Another great choice is togo with brewed tea, whether you use a simple black tea or a flavored variety.
If you want a more low-key cake, you can also skip the soaking step. Just keep in mind that you'll get a different, less complex flavor profile, and your cake could be less moist without the extra soak. Whether you decide to infuse your cake with a strong spirit such as rum or brandy, or you go for a non-alcoholic alternative, a little extra effort will put you on the right track to serving a moist and tasty fruitcake this holiday season.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cognac is probably the best substitute for brandy in fruitcake. That's because cognac is basically fancy brandy. The naming is just a bit of technicality. You see, cognac can only legally be called 'cognac' if the grapes used to make it come from the Cognac region of France.
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.
Fruitcake lasts longer than most other cakes because it is filled with nuts and candied fruit. It will last even longer if you sprinkle it with a spirit like brandy.
For best quality, a fruit cake that is tightly wrapped with aluminum foil or saran warp can be stored for up to 1 month in a cool, dark pantry, 6 months in the refrigerator, and 12 months in a freezer. Check often for signs of spoilage, and if mold or off-odors develop, discard the cake.
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.
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.
Dry Vermouth. Griffin says dry vermouth is the best direct substitute for cooking sherry because it mimics the flavor of sherry better than other options without the need for extra salt. ...
You can use light or dark rum for this recipe. Dark rum tends to be more flavorful than milder light rum, and will add more complexity to the cake. My recommendation: use what you have.
Introduction: My name is Aracelis Kilback, I am a nice, gentle, agreeable, joyous, attractive, combative, gifted person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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