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.
When cooled, remove cakes from pans and remove parchment paper. 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.
Just like wine, preserved fruit also has tannins that are released into the cake, adding complexity. The alcohol also counteracts the sweetness of the candied fruit.
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.
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.
The most common duration to properly age a fruitcake is about three months. Any quicker will limit the development of complex flavors attributed to the maturing process. You can certainly age your cake for much longer than several months if you'd like, but we know how busy everyday life can be.
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.
The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake's moisture level. If there's simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there's too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet. Finding the right balance between wet and dry ingredients is key.
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.
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. ...
A neutral alcohol like vodka is your safest bet when it comes to DIY infused booze because there are no flavors inherent to the spirit that will clash with your fruit.
Introduction: My name is Tyson Zemlak, I am a excited, light, sparkling, super, open, fair, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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