Do you "doctor up" your store-bought fruitcakes?
I've heard from several people who use their own ingenuity (and their own booze)to spike up a cake that they like but feel could use a little lagniappe. Right on, to those of you who do. I'm a bit too lazy to even do that, but I bet that would really punch up the flavor on your cake.
This came up recently with the College of the Ozarks cake. Its cake-to-fruit ratio is such that it could definitely handle a shot or two without damage. As my reader Al-in-chgo recently wrote me, "Perhaps this has occurred to you, but the Southern fruitcakes with their teetotaling tradition make excellent vehicles for a buck-up with booze. Some people recommend injecting the spirits via eyedropper; I just say pour some on and when it all soaks in, it's sterile enough to stay in the fridge another six months. "
Well-said, Al!
So, I ask you: do you dose your cake? Discuss!
Do you doctor up your store-bought fruitcakes? Add a comment!
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4 comments:
This was my Mom's trick, getting the cake early and giving it a little tune-up right there in the tin. I believe she poured in on and then wrapped it in cheescloth and put it back in the tin.
She also like to boost frozen mincemeat pies with a little bourbon. This was a desparate move after she gave up making her own mincement.
I have never bought fruitcake. That said, I make fruitcake annually, just like my Nana always did and it's got quite a bit of bourbon in it. Everyone comments on how moist and delicious my fruitcake is and how surprised they are at how good it is.
So what makes a fruitcake taste best? I've tried them with bourbon, rum, brandy, sherry wine, etc. When I was a child, lots of women would wrap their homemades in cheese cloth and mellow them in rum or wine. But seems to me that bourbon has the most "presence" in the cakes I have bought.
@Anonymous, bourbon seems to be the standard or classic, but I've seen them doused with all of the boozes you've mentioned as well as including red wine in the mix. I'm sure it depends on just what you like.
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