Fruit cake, preparing fruit?

I'm making a dark fruit cake using my late Grandma's recipe, but there's a step I don't understand. The recipe calls to cut and prepare the fruit, which is currants, rainsins, dates, citron and walnuts. I know I have to cut the dates, but how do I prepare them? Shouldn't I soak the fruit except the nuts?

Fruit cake, preparing fruit?
Soak the dried fruits in quarter cup rum(substitute orange juice) for a minimum of 24 hours.Stir in the fruit/ rum mixture and nuts into the batter according to your recipe.
Reply:You shouldn't have to soak the fruit. When I use dried fruits I take a bit of the flour used in the recipe and shake the fruits in it...this keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the cake. The directions probably just mean to cut or chop the fruit and nuts to a semi-uniform size and add according to recipe directions.
Reply:My mom usually puts the fruit in the blender for a few seconds, she doesn't soak them in anything.
Reply:When I make my fruitcake depending on who your making it for and the time your going to soak it, I used apple juice and a liquor of some kind, but it is not a nessessary ingredient, don't soak the nuts, just raisins,currants, glazed fruit, peels and pinea pple or cherries. I do mine in the frig, over night or a period of 2 days, then make the base, applesauce is good to help keep the cake moist, my batter is simple, the fat is best to be vegetable shortening or butter, eggs, AP flour, you can add some whole wheat flour to add nuttiness, spices like cinnimon, Nutmeg or mace and then your nuts (I Like pecans but walnuts or almonds are good too). I find slow cooking is best your Grandmothers recipe might state a temp, but the slower you cook it the moister it will be.





After cooling and removing it from the pan, wrap it twice, once in waxed paper or saran wrap, and then aluminum foil, I also brush mine with a syrup if left in pans to give as gifts, I make a simple sugar syrup, and if you like add a touch of brandy or rum, that is up to you.





When working as a chef I would make fruitcakes, Guinness Plum Pudding, Scottish shortbreads, Black Bun ( a West Indian style cake) and Spitz cookies at Xmas time for the place I was running.

augmon