To make a truly delicious Christmas cake, soaking the dried fruits beforehand is essential. Christmas is a special time, and the traditional Christmas cake should be just as special! The key to a proper Christmas cake is using fruits and nuts that have been perfectly soaked in rum. You might wonder why soaking the dry fruits in alcohol needs its own explanation, but trust me, it's incredibly important if you want to bake the perfect, rich fruit cake for Christmas. This fruit mixture is the heart of the cake. Also, the Indian Christmas cake is typically a little different from the Western version.
Jump to:
- Soaking Dry Fruits for Christmas Cake
- Cake Mixing Tips
- Recipe Video- soaking dry fruits for Christmas cake
- FAQ about Soaking Dry Fruits in alcohol
- Preserving the dry fruit mixture for years
- 2021 Dry fruit soaking in alcohol note
- 2014 Dry fruit mixing note
- All you need to make the perfect rum-soaked fruits for Christmas cake
- Soaking Dry Fruits for Christmas Cake- detailed Recipe
- Recipe Card
- Christmas Recipes
- Have you tried the cake-mixing recipe from Debjanir Rannaghar!
- Here are the soaking dry fruits for plum cake Recipe Pins for your Pinterest Board!
Soaking Dry Fruits for Christmas Cake
Ideally, you should start soaking your fruits at least a month before you plan to bake. The longer the fruits soak, the better your plum cake will be. This year, I soaked my fruits for about two months, adding some later as I found them. You can also add candied ginger and orange peel for extra flavor.
Cake Mixing Tips
The key to a delicious, rich fruitcake is simple: the more you soak your fruits and nuts in alcohol, the better it will taste! An old family friend from Kerala, who makes incredible cakes, shared this secret with me. I learned the fruit-soaking process from her. It might seem easy, and it truly is, but those rum-soaked fruits and nuts are what make a Christmas cake truly special.
Recipe Video- soaking dry fruits for Christmas cake
FAQ about Soaking Dry Fruits in alcohol
Not at all! But if you're making the Kolkata version, dark rum is essential. Besides that, feel free to use whisky, bourbon, port wine, and/or brandy. Choose your favorite dark alcohol. I recommend using rum or brandy as your primary alcohol and the others as secondary flavors.
Nope! However, your dried fruit mix should include nuts, raisins or currants, berries, and peels. If you're allergic to something, just leave it out. I like to use a combination of cashews, almonds, raisins and/or currants, cranberries, cherries, candied ginger, candied orange peel, dates, and even tutti frutti. I'll even toss in extra nuts if I have them on hand after the mixture is made.
I've found that about 900ml of alcohol is needed to soak 750g of mixed nuts. After a few days, the nuts will absorb all the alcohol, so I usually add more.
To keep your fruit mixture good for years, just add a bit of alcohol every few months. I even have jars of mixture from 2014 still available! Using an older mixture like that will give you a wonderfully rich and dense plum cake. Besides cake, you can also use the mixture to create delicious puddings, trifles, and even some fun cocktails.
No problem! That's a different recipe altogether. Simply soak your fruits in orange juice instead. However, keep in mind that this non-alcoholic fruit mixture won't keep for as long.
Preserving the dry fruit mixture for years
To create a truly exceptional Christmas cake, like a traditional plum cake or fruitcake, soaking your dry fruits in alcohol is essential. This process should begin at least a month before baking. It's a cherished yearly tradition for me, and I've been making my own fruitcake mixture at home since 2011. In fact, I still have some mixture from as far back as 2014!
Each year, I enjoy experimenting with different variations to my recipe.
2021 Dry fruit soaking in alcohol note
In 2021, I even created a video to share my dry fruit soaking method. This year's mixture included a delightful blend of cashews, raisins, cranberries, almonds, dates, tutti frutti, candied peel, and candied ginger. For the alcohol, I chose a combination of Old Monk dark Rum, Chivas Regal Whisky, Jim Beam Bourbon, and Sula Port wine - the same selection I used in 2020.
If you'd like a closer look at the steps, you can find them in the video.
2016 cake mixing note
This year's mix looks better than previous batches! I've also tweaked the alcohol a bit, and the recipe has been updated to reflect that. Along with the Rum, I've added Brandy and Whiskey to the blend.
2014 Dry fruit mixing note
Back in 2014, the dry fruit mix was pretty straightforward. I soaked the fruits in just Old Monk rum and a splash of brandy. I used cashew nuts, currants, raisins, and almonds. The same ingredients and process were used in 2015.
All you need to make the perfect rum-soaked fruits for Christmas cake
Apart from Rum-soaked Fruits & Nuts for Christmas cake, I love to prepare Candied Orange Peels and Candied Ginger, and also tutti Frutti for making my Christmas cake. Below are the links for reference:
Soaking Dry Fruits for Christmas Cake- detailed Recipe
Recipe Card
Soaking Dry Fruits for Christmas cake!
Soaking Dry Fruits for Christmas cake is a cherished ritual. I am sharing the recipe for 700g dry fruits. You can reduce the dry fruits and alcohol proportionately.
Ingredients
Dry Fruits
- 75 g Cashewnut
- 75 g Raisin
- 75 g Almond
- 100 g Tutti Fruiti
- 50 g Candied Ginger
- 25 g Candied Orange
- 100 g Cherry local; soaked in sugar
- 100 g dried Cranberries or Prune I used cranberries
- 100 g Date normal or dry
Alcohol
- 500 ml Dark Rum
- 90 ml Whisky
- 90 ml Bourbon
- 120 ml Port Wine
Instructions
- Chop all the fruits roughly into medium-sized pieces.
- Take a Sterilized Glass jar and fill it with the chopped dry fruits
- Add Orange-Lemon Peel, Candied Ginger Peel to the fruit mixture.
- Pour the Rum, Whiskey, Bourbon, Port wine, or whatever alcohol you are using over the Fruit mixture.
- I use rum as the main alcohol and others as secondary.
- You can replace Whiskey and Brandy with the same amount of Rum.
- Mix it well and cover the jar properly and then place it in a dark place.
- Shake the jar every 2-3 days.
- After one month of soaking add spice mix and brown sugar to the mixture. (This is a mandatory step)
- You can store this mixture in a dry place for more than a year.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Christmas Recipes
Have you tried the cake-mixing recipe from Debjanir Rannaghar!
Please inform me of your experience, and feel free to send a photo to [email protected]. Additionally, you can find me on various social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, Google News, X, and Thread. Don't forget to use the hashtag #debjanirrannaghar when sharing your attempts at my recipes or if you have any questions or recipe requests.
Here are the soaking dry fruits for plum cake Recipe Pins for your Pinterest Board!
About Debjani Chatterjee Alam
I am Debjani Chatterjee Alam. A CSR specialist by profession and a food writer, food blogger, and food photographer as well. I live in Kolkata along with my Husband Mehebub who is an architect by profession, my daughter Pasta, and also my dog daughters Coffee and Luchi.
remya sean says
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Debjani Chatterjee (Alam) says
Thanks Remya.... Just checking your blog... it's really good
Rickta Dutta says
Nice...
Debjani Chatterjee (Alam) says
Thanks Rickta 🙂
Sunaina says
Hi please tell me what is ginger and orange lemon peel? Is it normal peel
or the candid peel (sugar coated peel) ?
Sunaina says
I need to bake this tomorrow. Please help.
Debjani says
Hey sorry, I was not able to check the blog and ended on replying you late. You can use both candied orange peel and the normal one