How to soak fruits for christmas fruit cake ?

Soaking fruits is  one of the important process of fruit cake. This year , for the first time I soaked fruits in alcohol ie in Rum  for over 3 weeks . The more you soak the fruits , better the outcome . My wish is to soak the fruits  for next Christmas in advance . If you have the desire to bake a traditional Christmas cake  it needs a little effort . For non alcoholic cake you may soak the fruits in orange or grape juice .That takes very short time . I have done a whole lot research in soaking fruits and I chose my Ma’am ‘s recipe and modified accordingly . I feel this is an  important post connected to fruit cake and it suddenly struck me now to make a separate post . I will update more pictures as and  when possible .Until then happy baking !

Recipe inspired from : fondbites.com

Ingredients :

Dark raisins /black currants – 1 cup

Golden raisins – 1 cup

Tutty fruity – 1/2 cup

Glaced cherries – 1/2 cup

Dates – 1 cup

Prunes – 1 cup

Caramel – 1 cup(optional)

Rum /brandy/ whisky – 1 cup

Method :

1. Clean and chop the fruits finely .
2. Chop dates and prunes in the end as it is sticky .
3. Transfer it in a clean bowl .
4. Add caramel and rum .
5. Use clean hands mash the fruits thoroughly .
6. Use a sterilized ,clean and dry bottle and transfer this fruit mixture .
7. I used a glass bottle .
8. Tighten it with the lid .
9. Store it in a cool place .
10. Do not open the lid every now and then .
11. Give it a shake carefully once a week .
12. If you are soaking fruits for a long period keep adding alcohol every month .
13. Do not use your hands to pick up the fruit from the jar.
14. Use a clean ladle to use.
15. This batch makes 3 cups approx of soaked fruits  .
16. For non alcoholic soaking ,soak fruits in orange or grape juice in the refrigerator for a day or two.
17. Do not add nuts while soaking .
18. You may add other dried fruits like dried pineapple , dried kiwi , cranberries etc and make your own combination .