This post is a detailed guide on How To Soak Fruits for Christmas Fruit Cake. The choice of fruits and the proportions in the recipe below are similar for soaking in alcohol or in an non alcoholic liquid, and I have given the steps for both types (the timelines for a non-alcoholic liquid are given at the end of this write up). The timelines do differ, as well as how to preserve the fruits for the cake till it is baked. My responses to comments below the post may answer any questions you have, but if not, feel free to ask. I will be happy to help.
If you do not want to soak the fruits ahead of time, I have given a short-cut method in the recipe for baking a Christmas Fruit cake.
Christmas Plum cakes are my favourite eats. A trip to Kerala is not complete if I don’t stock up on the rich cakes available at the numerous bakeries, after first checking out from locals as to which one is the ‘best’.  I had been wanting to make the traditional cake at home, but what with one thing and another could finally start the project just recently. The first thing I had to learn was the best way to soak fruits for Christmas Fruit Cake.
If this is done right, half the battle is won. I did some online research, looked up old and reliable cookery books, talked to people who had been making a Christmas Cake for years. My ‘learnings’ are here in this post! And my Christmas Fruit cake was absolutely delicious, soft, moist, bursting with flavours! And, best of all, it did not crumble as I sliced it!
When to Soak The Fruits for Christmas Fruit Cake?
There are 4 possible broad timelines you can follow to soak fruits for Christmas fruit cake. Of course there are many variations to this, and you can find your own comfort timeline as you get into the regular practice of making the Christmas cake each year.
a. Some people, start right in February or March, and bake the cake in the last week of November, or 5-6 weeks before Christmas, keeping it moist by drip feeding the cake with alcohol every week till Christmas.
b. The most popular method is to soak the fruits 3 months ahead of December, that is, in early September. The cake is then baked in the last week of November, and kept moist by adding a little alcohol every week till Christmas.
c. In the third of the popular time lines, the fruits are soaked about 5-6 weeks before Christmas, ie in the last fortnight of November, and baked a week before Christmas. This cake needs alcohol to be added just once, mid week before Christmas Day.
d. The short cut method if you need to make the cake without too much time for the soaking? Soak fruits for Christmas fruit cake about a month before Christmas – in the last week of November, but this time the soaking is just overnight. The next day, bake the cake, and touch up with alcohol once a week. Some people prefer this method, as the fruits are soaked but not overwhelmingly so.
e. Orange juice or dark tea or other non-alcoholic liquid? Soak the fruits about 15 days before Christmas, and store in a covered air tight container in the fridge till you bake the cake a week before Christmas.
So why do we need to soak the fruits at all? And why  feed the cake after it is baked?
The traditional Christmas fruit cake is rich, dark, moist. When the dry fruits are soaked, they absorb the liquid and become plump. When baked, some of the liquid oozes out into the cake batter, resulting in a moist cake. When you soak fruits for Christmas fruit cake, you get a better cake, moist and with the flavours infused within.
The plum cake or fruit cake also tastes better as it matures after baking. Adding a little liquid (generally through narrow holes drilled at the top) about once a week after baking, helps the cake remain moist.
What fruits are best for a Christmas cake?
A Christmas fruit cake is of course all about the fruit, the flour and butter only help to bind the fruits and nuts and hold them into a shape. Select the best quality available, with a mix of fruit of different colours, textures and tastes. Aim for preservative free dry fruits.
Here are my suggestions on what fruits to add when you soak fruits for Christmas cake:
- Black Raisins and sultanas – raisins are the dark dried grapes, while sultanas are the golden ones.
- Currants -black or red
- Cranberries
- Orange and Lemon peel – candied or plain (see kitchen hints, below)
- Dried Dates – seedless, soft
- Dried Figs
- Dried Apricots
- Other dried fruits – Prunes, Glazed cherries, Mango, Papaya, Apple, Pineapple , Blueberries, Plum etc.
Can fresh fruits/ berries be used for a Christmas Fruit Cake?
You need to use dry fruits when you soak fruits for the traditional Christmas cake. Fresh fruits may turn the cake soggy and can change the character/ texture of the cake. Dry fruits absorb alcohol or other soaking liquid better than fresh fruits would.
Preparing the Fruits For A Christmas Cake:
i. The fruits should be sliced small, about 1cm or so. The dates could be a little larger and chunkier as they soften and break up during baking. All the other fruits should best be sliced to an even size. Slicing the fruits means there is more fruit in the cake and its tastier when you bite into small pieces of fruit rather than a few large chunks.
ii. Larger proportion of light coloured dry fruits such as apricots, mango and papaya would make for a lighter cake. More of figs, dates and prunes would give a richer, heavier one.
iii. The overall quantity of dried fruits and nuts should be according to the recipe you plan to use, and within this quantity you could mix and match to your preference.Don’t overload on the citrus peel though, they are just meant to enhance the flavours of the other fruits and should not overpower them and make the cake bitter to taste.
The Soaking liquid – using Alcohol
For Alcoholic soaks, I have opted for dark rum. If you feel rum is maybe too sweet, whisky or sherry could be other options. Wine could be used instead of rum, though I have not tried it with wine.
I have suggested 2 cups of rum in the recipe below. When soaking the fruits however, add only as much liquid as is required to cover the top of the fruits. Generally you would need about half of the volume of fruit. The rest of the alcohol is for topping up, as in the instructions below.
Soaking Fruits for a Christmas Cake without alcohol
I made a little plum cake, for my grand daughter Natasha. Using the principles above on type of fruits and the quantities in the recipe below, I used freshly squeezed orange juice mixed with a tablespoon of honey, for the soaking liquid. I also reduced the zest and citrus peels as I did not want the cake to be too tart.
I soaked the fruits for Natasha’s fruit cake in the 2nd week of December, and kept the soaked fruits in the fridge till I baked the cake.
A combination of orange and cranberry juice or apple juice would be good too. Black tea such as a Darjeeling tea, pre-soaked in cup of very hot water, could make an effective non alcoholic substitute.
Links to Recipes for Christmas Cakes, on this Blog:
How to bake the Rich Christmas Fruit Cake
Recipe to Bake an Eggless Christmas Cake with no added sugar
Soak Fruits for Christmas Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup Black currants - dried
- 1 cup Raisins and Sultanas
- 2 cups Other dried fruit
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/2 tablespoon Orange zest
- 2 cups soaking liquid - alcohol (rum, cognac,brandy or wine) or dark tea or fresh orange juice
Instructions
- Sort out the dried fruit, removing stalks and checking that the fruits are clean and dry. Slice the fruits to the size of black currants or to about 1 cm, keeping the slices uniform as much as possible. Slice the dates a little larger.
- Place the sliced fruit in a non reactive food grade jar or pot with a closely fitting lid. Plastic may react with the soaking liquid. Glass or ceramic would be best. Metal containers are also to be avoided.
- Pour half a cup of liquid onto the dry fruits, stir so the liquid settles in. Continue pouring until the liquid covers the top of the fruit. Cover the pot or jar with an air tight lid and store it in a dark place.
- Stir the fruit daily or at least once in two days, to help moisten the fruit at the top which starts becoming dry. After a day or two you will find that the soaking liquid is no longer visible at the top level of the fruits, as it has been absorbed by the dry fruits.
- When the soaking liquid is no longer visible on the top of the fruits, top it up with the same alcohol that you used for soaking (e.g. Rum) or other soaking liquid, one tablespoon at a time, every few days till you bake the cake. The top level should be moist and not dry, so add as much liquid as you need to just cover the top. Gently stir once a week and keep topping with the same liquid.
- If using non alcoholic soaking liquid, store the container of soaked fruit in the fridge until its time to bake the cake. Alcohol soaked fruit may be kept at room temperature (unless its very hot outside) as the alcohol itself acts as a preservative. However store the container in a dark place.
Hello.. how can you replace and substitute for eggs in a fruit cake recipe?
Hi Thanks for visiting my blog. The link to my recipe for an eggless Christmas cake is given in the post for How to Soak Fruits. Also given on my blogs homepage and here below for quick reference. https://www.pepperonpizza.com/eggless-christmas-fruit-cake-no-sugar-added/
Hii,can I use grape juice instead of orange?
I find that orange, apple and cranberry, a combination of these,or else tea decoction, is best for soaking fruits. Sorry, I’m not sure about grape juice as I have not tried it. The tartness of the orange and cranberry add to the flavours.
Hi, thanks for the detailed writing on soaking fruits! I wish to make one without alcohol, am considering either orange juice or Darjeeling tea, is the soaking procedure exactly the same with using alcohol? For Darjeeling tea, will the cake turn out bitter?
Thanks!
Thanks for visiting my blog. If you want to use juice, I suggest adding Apple or cranberry to orange instead of only orange, for a sweeter and less bitter aftertaste. Soak for a few days and keep the fruits in the fridge till you bake the cake. If using tea, soak just overnight the day before you bake, or drain and soak for max 2 days, or else it will become bitter!
Thanks! Will try this.
Hi, in what kknd of container should the fruit in alcohol be soaked? Metal, glass, glazed ceramic or plastic?
Thanks for visiting my site. As to your query on the kind of container to be used, I recommend ceramic or glass. As I have said in the instructions to the post on soaking fruits for a Christmas cake, “Place the sliced fruit in a non reactive food grade jar or pot with a closely fitting lid. Plastic may react with the soaking liquid. Glass or ceramic would be best. Metal containers are also to be avoided.”
Hi do you need to pat dry fruit before putting on cake? Don’t want all fruit to sink to bottom.
Hi! I’ve not so far faced that problem of fruits sinking to the bottom while Baking the Christmas Cake, but you could, as a precaution dust the fruits lightly with flour before folding them to the cake mixture.
Im excited to try my first fruit cake, is it too soon to start soaking my alcohol? Its Aug 1 st lol. (Im a bit eager lol)
Hi! You can go right ahead! Gives the fruits a good 4 months at least of soaking! Don’t forget to check on them and top up with rum if they are getting dry on the top
Hi Sujata,
I had soaked my dried fruit in Spiced rum over 2 years ago. the fruit was kept in the refrigerator . it tastes fine and has a lacey structure. is the fruit ok to make the christmas cake . thanks .
I have not kept fruit soaked for such a long time. However many people do soak their fruit for long periods, periodically adding more fruit and more liquor do not even refrigerate it. If it looks ok (no fungal formation) and does not taste rotten, you could stir it well and use. Check that the top of the fruit was covered with liquor as the rum is the preservative here – the fridge temperature alone may not have preserved the fruit for 2 years. If the top was not covered by liquid, you may want to remove the fruit above the rum level and discard it, before stirring. All the best and do let me know how the cake turns out.
Will do. Thanks.
Great!
Thank you so much! I am going to soak mine tonight itself. Looking forward.
That’s lovely! Please keep posting your experience, any changes you made, any gaps in my post, and pl post an image of the soaked fruits!
Sujata – you mentioned “Stir the fruit daily or at least once in two days, to help moisten the fruit at the top which starts becoming dry. After a day or two you will find that the soaking liquid is no longer visible at the top level of the fruits, as it has been absorbed by the dry fruits.”
At this stage what to do? add more alcohol?
Hi you are right and thanks for pointing this out. There was a whole para about the next step and it’s missing! Maybe I deleted it sometime while editing and I will rectify it shortly.
When the soaking liquid is no longer visible on the top of the fruits, top it up with the same alcohol (e.g. Rum) or other soaking liquid, one tablespoon at a time, every few days till you bake the cake. The top level should be moist and not dry, so add as much liquid as you need to just cover the top.
One more thing, the links (for if you soak the fruits or if you dont), open to the same recipe. Is the recipe the same? or did you share the same link by error?
Today I will go through the post, check the links, fill in the blanks, etc. Will check this aspect and revert
The recipe for baking the Christmas cake is the same either way. If you do not soak the fruits, a short cut for the first steps in baking it are given in the Christmas Cake post. If you soak the fruits, you would then follow the same recipe without that step.
thank you for clarifying.
Both should open to the recipe on how to make a christmas fruit cake
Gently stir the fruit once a week and again top them with soaking liquid if they are becoming dry.
Which alcohol is best to soak the fruitz? Do u keep adding alcohol when it soaks in.?
Hi. I’ve explained both these in detail in the post write up which comes before the recipe. Could you check and if you have further doubts please do ask. I would be glad to help.
1. You may use rum or cognac or other brandy, or even wine.
2. When the soaking liquid is no longer visible on the top of the fruits, top it up with the same alcohol that you used for soaking (e.g. Rum) or other soaking liquid, one tablespoon at a time, every few days till you bake the cake. The top level should be moist and not dry, so add as much liquid as you need to just cover the top. Stir once a week and keep topping with the same liquid.
Amazing! I have soaked the fruits as per your blog. Waiting for the plum cake recipe now !! 🙂
Will post it shortly, Sunanda. How long are you planing to soak the fruits, and when will you be baking the cake.
Hi Sunanda, the recipe for Baking the cake is now posted on the blog, please check
So meticulously written in a easy to follow style. Thank you for the wonderful tips.
Thank you so much, Sundari!