Christmas Cake - soaked fruit in too much liquid

ellejay

Hi

I'm making a Christmas fruit cake, similar to Delia's recipe, but I added a whole can of Guinness to soak the fruit, in addition to the whiskey.

Could I strain the fruit when ready to bake?

Thanks in advance for any advice

Faith

Whiskey and... Guinness? I can't imagine how that would taste, but I'm not conjuring up pleasant ideas. Have you tried that before, OP?

Combination aside, you could drain it. You'd lose some flavour but it's better than just adding it. If it was just a spirit, I'd say use it to feed the cake, but not with Guinness added.

ellejay

Thanks Faith.
No I haven't tried that before
I haven't even made a Christmas cake before.
I honestly don't know why I soaked the fruit in Guinness.

Faith

I can't imagine how it would taste, and it's not very traditional, but that's not to say it won't be lovely. Google has thrown up a few recipes that use Guinness, so it might turn out just fine! I'd just make sure to follow one of those recipes exactly though, rather than making [say] Delia's cake that may not suit the Guinness.

E.g. http://goodfood.uktv.co.uk/recipe/last-minute-christmas-cake/

If you were using that recipe, strain the current liquid (or add more, if needed!) until you have ~300ml of alcohol, then make the recipe as it says.

ellejay

Thanks for that, I will change recipe.

Qualitymark

You could strain off the fruity Guinness and add it to a beef stew.

Marcusm

My grandmother always made an uniced "porter cake" at Christmas in addition to the traditional cake. Your fruit will be much juicer and will retain moisture. I would not include the loose Guinness in the recipe but I wouldn't start all over if I was you. Cooking is all about moving forward and adapting to pass obstacles. Make do and mend as they say.

ceemgee

ellejay wrote: »

Hi

I'm making a Christmas fruit cake, similar to Delia's recipe, but I added a whole can of Guinness to soak the fruit, in addition to the whiskey.
Could I strain the fruit when ready to bake?

The plumped up fruit should be fine, without any of the excess liquid. Many tea brack recipes require that the fruit is first soaked in tea, so it is a bit like that. I've used stout in many recipes, and to be honest, you never can taste it.
It should help to make the cake dark, if nothing else.

ellejay

Quick update incase anyone's interested, cake is delicious!
I couldn't resist a taste so I cut a slice off the side.

I strained the fruit and continued on with the recipe.
I added about 1 tablespoon of the liquid and I'm feeding with whiskey.

I'm definitely going to do same next year!!

ellejay

ellejay wrote: »

Quick update incase anyone's interested, cake is delicious!
I couldn't resist a taste so I cut a slice off the side.

I strained the fruit and continued on with the recipe.
I added about 1 tablespoon of the liquid and I'm feeding with whiskey.

I'm definitely going to do same next year!!

Wow. That's great. I thought that you'd mixed up recipes and used the Plum Pudding one. Just putting almond paste on mine this morning.

ellejay

First time making one and I think I had researched it too much.
My head was melted.

I was even dreaming about making the cake!!!

I'm so relieved it turned out nice.

I did notice the plum pudding ingredients are very similar, might try that next year. But for this year the cake is enough for me to try.

Qualitymark

My father used to make the cake in October, and then put a slosh of whiskey in it every day till Christmas. The smell of alcohol fumes still makes me feel Christmassy and festive!

spottybananas

I love a nice fruit cake but I hate when they are drenched with raw alcohol with the "feeding" thing. It's not necessary when you've used a recipe where the fruit has been soaked and plumped before baking.

ellejay

I think the idea of the alcohol is to preserve the cake.

The ingredients are so expensive and such a long time to cook, you wouldn't want it going off after a couple of weeks.
Well I wouldn't for sure.

It's not a problem though in this house, the cake will be devoured!!

Qualitymark

spottybananas wrote: »

I love a nice fruit cake but I hate when they are drenched with raw alcohol with the "feeding" thing. It's not necessary when you've used a recipe where the fruit has been soaked and plumped before baking.

We got a *lot* of visitors around Christmas! But then the da was a superb cook generally. The alcoholic cakes were verra nice, though!

spottybananas

ellejay wrote: »

I think the idea of the alcohol is to preserve the cake.

The ingredients are so expensive and such a long time to cook, you wouldn't want it going off after a couple of weeks.
Well I wouldn't for sure.

It's not a problem though in this house, the cake will be devoured!!

That's not true, it's the sugar that preserves it, not the alcohol. Fruit cake doesn't go off for years if stored correctly.