Bake with Cheryl Rajkumar

Kitchen Kemistry’s Bake Pod -
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Yippee!!! It's 100 days to Christmas!!
Winter begins in November/ December. Wind chills. Frosty mornings. Frigid temperatures. Naked plants and trees. Heavy clothes. Dampness and darkness. Large gas bills. These are some of the not so pleasant things.

Mulled wine and warm cider. Soups and breads. Baking fruit cakes and Christmas pudding. Christmas tree and nativity decoration. Ornaments and icicle lights. Buche de Noel and candy canes. Hymns and carols. Santa and the fire place. Poinsettias and pine trees. A brand new year and few carried over un-kept resolutions. These are some of the pleasant things.

Personally, I love Christmas. I love cooking and baking that is filled with tradition. Stir up Sunday to bake the flaming Christmas pudding, Buche de Noel/ Yule log for the Christmas eve dinner, Peppermint in candy canes that also serve as a remedy for winter colds, Egg nog/ Egg milk punch to toast on one’s good health, Gateau des Rois/ King’s cake in honor of the three wise men for Epiphany and lots more.

Few more weeks to Christmas! It’s time to soak the dried fried fruits to bake mystically melting fruit cakes. I’ve been baking fruit cakes since 2011. Not too long though! But I’ve baked hundreds of pounds. It's the quintessential Christmas favorite of my family and friends. I’ve experimented quite a bit with different types of fruit mix, different alcohol and liqueurs, non-alcoholic substitutes, different versions with jeweled fruits, subtle fruits, bold fruits et al. I must say, it’s labor intensive, time consuming and a pricey project. The process takes muscle as well as makes a big hole in the wallet. I tend to lose few pounds when I bake large quantities of fruit cake. One needs to plan ahead of time – choosing the type of dried fruits and nuts, soaking liquid (alcohol or non-alcoholic), appropriate packaging, long term storage etc. Despite the elbow grease spent, I enjoy whole process. I love the aroma of warm spices wafting in my home. To bake a fruit cake that is dense yet moist, bursting with deep and rich flavors, pleasantly spicy and without overpowering booze, you need to soak the dried fruits.

So, what’s the hype about soaking dried fruits? What dried fruits do I soak? What alcohol do I use? What if I do not prefer alcohol, is there a substitute? That’s what this post is about. I do not claim that my suggestions are traditional and right, but these are tried and tested over months to know the results. Do try out if you’re convinced. Traditionally dried fruits are soaked three months to six weeks before Christmas. The longer you soak the fruits the better. The cake is baked a week or two before Christmas and fed/basted with alcohol. These two weeks help the fruits mellow and mingle with alcohol, flavors mature and the cake ripens.

For information on what fruits to soak, how long to soak, what alcohol to use, how to make candied citrus peel, candied ginger, spice mix, treacle/ molasses substitute, Black jack, nut mix, Non-alcoholic substitute, Rum extract/ essence, Trouble shooting, Check this - https://kitchenkemistry.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/christmas-fruit-cakes-tips-and-more/

Here’s the first boiled fruit cake recipe I tried in 2011 - https://kitchenkemistry.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/christmas-2011-and-delectable-delights/

Fruit cakes are a labor of love. Take care of those precious babies and they will taste divine.

A bunch of healthy smoothies!