Learn how to soak fruits for Christmas Cake recipe with detailed step by step pictures. Soaking dry fruits for rich fruit cake and plum cake, a simple recipe that’s quite handy with substitutions and variations!
In a clean dry sterilized airtight glass container add 100grams each of chopped (if needed) cherries, dried plums, dried cranberries, golden raisins and black raisins a.ong with 4 tablespoon finely chopped candied orange peels. Next add 50grams of chopped cashews, almonds and walnuts. Mix it well around.
Add good quality rum into the glass container, I roughly used about 500ml.
The liquor should be enough to cover the dry fruits and nuts. Mix it together and keep it tightly closed. Leave it at room temperature in a cool dry place. Mix the fruits every two days and add more rum if all the liquid is soaked up.
Store for a minimum of a week or two and it is best to soak fruits for 4-6 weeks before baking the cake. For longer shelf-life, store the airtight glass jar in fridge for upto a year. This quantity is enough to make two 9” fruit/plum cakes.
Notes
It is optional to use every fruit and nut in the list of ingredients, it is alright to skip one or two.
For non-alcoholic version, use orange juice but soak the fruits no more than a week in advance.
I used Captain Morgan rum for soaking the fruits (not-sponsored/paid-for)