quick (cheat's) fruitcake

Tondella

My friend wants to bake a fruitcake for her boyfriend's birthday. However, as she only has a week's notice she needs to get as rich a flavour as possible in as quick a time as possible. I have heard that pre-soaking the fruit for a week or so, and then baking the cake the day before it is needed, is a cheat's method for a quick fruit cake. Does anyone have a recipe for this or know how to adapt an existing recipe (say Delia's recipe) for this purpose?

black-saturn

Soak the fruit in tea with a dash of rum or whisky in it.

thriftlady_2

Don't have a specific recipe,but I'm sure if you soak the fruit required in your Delia recipe for as many days as poss in alcohol it will taste fab.Brandy or rum sound good to me;)

Tondella

Thanks for the speedy replies guys

How much alcohol or tea should she use? enough to cover all the fruit? enough to make a little puddle in the bottom of the bowl, or just a few tablespoons full? I know that when i have made the deliah recipe the amount of brandy she specifies is only enough to make the fruit glisten, but then I have fed it for about three months afterwards.

thriftlady_2

I reckon for a thorough soaking she should pour in enough to cover the fruit.Then when she comes to use it drain off the excess (and drink;) )otherwise the batter might be too wet-or she could pour the excess back onto the cooked cake for extra richness.

Bargain_Rzl

I posted a similar question recently and used a recipe by twink, which I can't yet vouch for as I'll be icing it this evening but that involved soaking the fruit overnight in 3 tablespoons of brandy plus the juice and rind of one orange and one lemon.

thriftmonster

Or you can add a jar of mincemeat to a sponge cake recipe - if you want I can find the recipe - it's a Lionel Blue one

twink

all in one fruitcake

4oz soft marg
4oz sugar
2 eggs
1/4pt milk less 2tbsps
12oz mixed fruit
8oz sr flour
1 level tsp mixed spice
mix all, 2lb lined tin, smooth top, 325deg f, 11/4-13/4hrs
cool in tin 10mins

Tondella

Bargain_Rzl wrote:

I posted a similar question recently and used a recipe by twink, which I can't yet vouch for as I'll be icing it this evening but that involved soaking the fruit overnight in 3 tablespoons of brandy plus the juice and rind of one orange and one lemon.

This is the one i use and then feed for three months - yikes, might be some tipsy aunties at my wedding!