Dried fruit - What do you use?

kerash

Hey I'm making my Christmas cake and Pudding soon and I'm deciding what fruit to use. Just wondering what brands you guys use? I wondering if Aldi's raisins and sultanas are good quality, as they seem to the cheapest, or what about Tescos offerings or should I go with good old Shamrock?! Glace cherries - is there any difference between aldi/lidl/tesco/shamrock. And then we have the jumbo sultanas, luxury mixed fruit, Californian.....
Halp!:pac:

Ps. Dark brown sugar or muscavado - what the difference?

Dizzyblonde

Moved to Cake & Pie

sdp

As the fruit is steeped in brandy first for cake, and stout and rum for pudding, I use any of the cheaper brands, and never had a problem with them, I just keep an eye out for tails on the sultanas, and pick them off, rinse and dry glace cherries before using, never used the luxury fruit mix, always seem to be on a budget and have always used dark brown sugar, good luck with it, here's a link if its any help to you

http://www.chow.com/food-news/54067/whats-the-difference-between-brown-sugars/

phormium

Totally agree, cheapest is fine, there is so much spices, alcohol, lemon rind, orange etc in fruit cakes that I think any subtle differences in more expensive fruit is not obvious.

Years ago when Darina Allen was our only baking show I followed her advice one year and went and bought the most expensive top quality fruit I could find, bought wholes pieces of peel and spent ages chopping them up, (with a scissors is the easiest way), skinned the almonds etc etc. After all that work and money I can honestly say while the cake was nice it was no nicer than any other one I had made with bog standard ingredients.

The only thing I have discovered having bought some last week is that while Aldi cherries are the cheapest out there they are in bits, very few whole cherries in the pack and I like to place the whole cherries in a layer mid way through putting the mix in the tin rather than mix them in with the fruit, just like them to be evenly placed. So for the cherries if you want them whole I would go with Tesco own brand. Just noticed this morning the Lidl ones are same as Aldi price but are lovely cherries.

Shopgirl123

Second Tesco own brand! I usually soak the fruit in a bit if orange juice it really plumps them up and then I soak them in brandy. It works really well with even the value fruit, which are really dried up

vic20

Used all kinds over the years and regardless of cost the finished product tastes more or less the same.
Watch out for the twigs.

kerash

I've most everything in Aldi! I have to say they're great value and I shall be soaking them. I did notice the cherries are in bits but that's fine cos I'd be chopping them anyway. I made Christmas cake and pudding last year and it was lovely but I have no recollection of what fruit I used! I must keep note from year to year of what I use.