How to Properly Store a Christmas Fruitcake
December 14, 2012
•Emily Murray
•Chicago
• 0 Comments
How to Properly Store a Christmas Fruitcake
The Christmas Fruitcake is probably the most famous dessert for the holiday season. For a lot of people it can be a holiday joke gift that you get every year from a distant relative. For many, it’s a holiday tradition. So what’s the best way to preserve it so that you don’t have to enter it in the annual neighborhood Fruitcake toss?
Like a Fine Wine – The Fruitcake Gets Better with Age
There are several traditions that surround the fruitcake, one is that you keep one in your freezer for the entire year and eat on the next Christmas. The other is get a fruitcake one month prior to Christmas and let it sit and eat at Christmas. Either way, expert baker’s say Fruitcake is better with age.
Let Your Fruitcake Soak – Adults only
The traditional way to preserve a fruitcake is to soak it in alcohol. Take several towels and soak them in brandy, spiced rum, or another favorite alcohol. Wrap the towels around the cake and let it soak the alcohol then soak the actual cake in more of the alcohol. Use clean towels to wrap it and let it sit for a few months, periodically soaking it in more alcohol.
Family Friendly – Cover With Sugar
If alcohol is not an option for one reason or another, covering your fruitcake with sugar is a good option. The best type of sugar for preserving is Marzipan. Simply, cover your entire cake with a good thick layer of Marzipan. After the cake is covered with Marzipan, use a towel or foil and wrap it and let it sit for several months.
Preserve Your Cake for Years, Bury it
For ultimate preservation you’ll need two items, alcohol and powder sugar. Soak your cake in your favorite alcohol, spiced rum or brandy. Then fill a pan or container half full of powder sugar, take your alcohol soaked fruitcake and place it in the powder sugar. Once the cake is covered, proceed to bury it with more powder sugar. Fill your container to the top with sugar and tightly seal. By doing this your Christmas fruitcake could last for up to twenty five years.
That Christmas fruitcake is more than decoration for your freezer, it’s a classic holiday tradition and now you know exactly how to properly store it, so you can avoid the famous fruitcake competitions.
This article is presented by Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Chicago. Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Chicago offers culinary arts and pâtisserie and baking training programs. To learn more about the class offerings, please visit Chefs.edu/Chicago for more information.
Find disclosures on graduation rates, student financial obligations and more at www.chefs.edu/disclosures. Le Cordon Bleu® and the Le Cordon Bleu logo are registered trademarks of Career Education Corporation. Le Cordon Bleu cannot guarantee employment or salary. Credits earned are unlikely to transfer.