Richard or other Fruit Cake Mavens: Do I need to constantly baste my fruitcakes with booze?

M

marilynfl

Moderator
I made two batches: one in June and another in July; baptized them in a blend of brandy and B&B, then wrapped in Saran, then sealed in Tupperware.

I'm actually not that fond of boozy tastes so I'd "prefer" not to keep dousing it. But I also don't want to ruin a delicious and not inexpensive dessert by having it go moldy if I don't add more alcohol when I'm supposed to.

Advise is needed!

PS: This is assuming I still have a house left to go back to.

 
I sprinkle mine with some booze

every couple of months, just to keep the cheesecloth moist.

I'm not sure what would happen if you used something like apple juice once in a while, just to cut down on the boozy factor. The alcohol probably helps keep it preserved from spoilage, where fruit juice might do the opposite.

Richard, or Cathy... thoughts?

 
I bought one of the venerable Collin Street Bakery's fruitcakes

some months ago. After cutting a slice, I couldn't mamage taking it out of the tin & paper, so took cheesecloth & placed over the top of the cake & in the center hole, then poured on the brandy. I went overboard and ended up with sticky booze oozing out of the bottom seam of the tin.

 
Yes, you do need to keep applying the booze...

This is how some of us fruitcake nuts get cakes to go 7-12-20 years.

The alcohol is the preservative and it also mellows it out. Choose the booze you like. You can use any. Whisky, Scotch, Bourbon, Cognac, etc. You're just sprinkling it on to keep the cheesecloth moist and not dousing the cake with it. While the aroma of the booze is there, it's not really a tipsy cake that you would get a buzz on.

 
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