substitute alcohol in fruitcake

hannahsmamma

i want to make a rich fruitcake for a friend who cannot have alcohol, the recipe i normally use has quite a bit and the dried fruit is soaked overnight, does it evaporate during cooking just leaving the brandy flavour or does the cake still have alcohol in it ? silly question i know but don't want to spoil things for friend, thinking of using cold tea, like orange pekoe, or apple juice/pineapple juice any suggestions please?

Seakay

The alcohol will evaporate but to be in the safe side I would use cold tea to soak the fruit (just as traditional and won't remind them of what they cannot have)

meritaten

use cold tea or a fruit juice hun. I doubt the oven would get hot enough to 'burn' off the alcohol!

Rikki

Another vote for cold tea or apple juice.

msb5262

Yup, I'd use tea - something perfumed like orange pekoe or strong Earl Grey - but start with it warm as that will help the flavour to develop more. Remember you can add extra citrus zest to give it some oomph.

HTH

MsB

esmf73

Have used cold tea when I ran out of Brandy when I was making Christmas cakes once. End result - a beautifully moist cake - yummy. Lucky friend!

caitybabes

I'd use tea as well, though doesn't have to be stone cold as the fruit will soak it up more when hot. Can then leave to cool down with the fruit in.

sparrer

Like your friend I don't have alcohol, and can confirm all the above. I make a cup of hot, strong tea and allow the fruit to soak overnight, or for at least 6 hours.

Imo I now prefer the taste of food, rather than cooked alcohol, on the plate, which I think gives the meal a peculiar flavour, but it's very noticable that some people become more interested if there's something with alcohol in it on a menu.

I'm enjoying finding alternatives, which, again imo, make meals taste nicer.

I'm sure the cake will be delicious

aussiemum

my OH doesn't drink so when I make fruit mince @ xmas I use fruit juice instead of alcohol

dannie

Do you have a store that sells small bottles of food flavourings? You could look at their range for suitability. Sometimes there are rum and brandy flavours but I cannot say how you would use it for your particular recipe.