Soaking dry fruits for Christmas cake, is a mandatory process to follow to make a perfect rich fruit cake. Christmas is special and so the typical traditional Christmas cake is! To bake a proper Christmas cake one thing is a must which is nothing but properly seasoned Rum Soaked Fruits and Nuts! You may ask why I at all need a separate post for Rum-soaked (and also other alcohol) Dry Fruits for Christmas cake! Believe me or not, this is extremely important if you wish to make the perfect rich fruit cake for Christmas. This mixture is the heart of the Typical Indian Christmas cake is a bit different than the Western version of the same.
Jump to:
- Soaking Dry Fruits for Christmas Cake
- Cake Mixing Tricks
- 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 Video- soaking dry fruits for Christmas cake
- 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 do the cake-mixing process for at least one month before making the cake. The more time you give to the soaking dry fruits for the Christmas cake process, the chances are higher to getting the perfect plum cake. This year I have soaked my fruits for around 2 months and added some of the fruits later on based on the availability. I have started with almonds, Raisins, Dates, Cashew Nut, Cherries, and also Cranberries, Tutti Frutti, Candied ginger, and candied orange as well.
Cake Mixing Tricks
More soaking fruits and also the nuts in alcohol, the more flavourful will be the cake; this is the mantra for making rich fruit cake. One of my friend's granny told me this once. They are from Kerala and that old lady makes amazing cakes. She makes amazing cakes. I learned the process of soaking fruits from her. This may look easy and actually, it is easy but those Rum-soaked fruits and nuts are the heart of Christmas cake.
FAQ about Soaking Dry Fruits in alcohol
Absolutely no. However, if you consider the Kolkata version of the cake, Dark Rum is a must. Along with that, we use whisky, bourbon, port wine, and/ or brandy. Use whatever dark alcohol you prefer. I suggest using Rum/ Brandy as the main alcohol and others as secondary.
Again no! However, a mixture of nuts, raisins/ current. berries and peels are needed to make the dry fruit mixture. If you are allergic to any item, just skip that. I prefer to use a mixture of Cashew nuts, Almonds, Raisins, and/ or Current, Cranberries, Cherries, Candied Ginger, Candied orange, Date, and also Tutti Frutti. I add nuts even after making the mixture whenever I have those available. 
I have seen 750g of a mixture of nuts need around 900ml alcohol to soak those. After a few days, the nuts soak the entire alcohol. I add more after that.
You can preserve the mixture for years by adding little alcohol every 2-3 months. I have separate jars of 2014 available with me. You will get a dense plum cake if you use the older mixture.
In addition, you can make other desserts such as pudding, trifle, and even cocktails using this mixture.
That calls for another recipe! Simple! You can soak fruits in orange juice to make a mixture of non-alcoholic cake however, you cannot preserve that mixture for long.
Preserving the dry fruit mixture for years
To make a perfect Christmas cake ( traditional plum cake or Fruitcake with alcohol); you need to soak the dry fruits in alcohol at least for one month before making the cake. This is one of my favorite yearly rituals and I do this cake mixing at home every year. I am doing this at my place since 2011 and I have the mixture available from 2014.
Every year I use different variations to make the mixture.
2021 Dry fruit soaking in alcohol note
This year I finally made the recipe video for dry fruit soaking. The mixture this year contains cashew nuts, raisins, cranberry, almond, date, tutti frutti, candied peel, and also candied ginger. In terms of Alcohol, I used Old Monk dark Rum, Chivas Regal Whisky, Jim Beam Bourbon, and also Sula Port wine. I used the same types in 2020 as well.
Here's the video in case you wish to check the steps more minutely.
2016 cake mixing note
There indeed is no harm in updating an old work and as I have prepared it this year as well and clicked a few pictures as well, I decided to update the post with the new pictures which I found better looking than the older ones. Apart from that, I have changed the liquor types a bit and that is updated in the recipe. I have added Brandy and Whiskey also along with the Rum to the mixture this year.
2014 Dry fruit mixing note
The mixture was quite simple in 2014. I used only Old Monk rum and a little brandy to soak the dry fruits. In terms of dry fruits, I used Cashew nuts, current, raisins, and also almonds. It was the same in 2015 as well.
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
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Soaking Dry Fruits for Christmas cake!
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 1.5 kg 1x
Description
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
- 75g Cashewnut
- 75g Raisin
- 75g Almond
- 100g Tutti Fruiti
- 50g Candied Ginger
- 25g Candied Orange
- 100g Cherry (local; soaked in sugar)
- 100g dried Cranberries or Prune (I used cranberries)
- 100g Date (normal or dry)
Alcohol
- 500ml Dark Rum
- 90ml Whisky
- 90ml Bourbon
- 120ml 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.
Notes
This mixture can be stored for about a year and older the mixture tastier the cake! Try to make it at least before one month of preparing the cake for a richer taste....If you are as lethargic as me( not this year!) then can soak your fruits before one day at least.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 15min
- Category: Spice
- Method: mixing
- Cuisine: Indian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 275g
- Calories: 555
- Sugar: 23.8g
- Sodium: 6mg
- Fat: 12.8g
- Saturated Fat: 1.7g
- Carbohydrates: 38.2g
- Fiber: 4.8g
- Protein: 6.1g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
Recipe Video- soaking dry fruits for Christmas cake
Have you tried the cake-mixing recipe from Debjanir Rannaghar!
I would love to see a picture if you are making it following my recipe. You can share here at dolonchttrj@gmail.com. You can use my hashtag #debjanirrannaghar and share it through Instagram as well. and in addition, you can tag me at @foodofdebjani.
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
useful post:)
plz visit my space too
http://www.remyasean.blogspot.in
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