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Hi

I made a fruit cake a few weeks ago and it looks a bit burnt, I should have made another one at the time but talked myself into thinking it would be OK. However I am now thinking of making a new one tomorrow. The thing is the cake is needed for 7th July. I’m concerned that it will be too fresh to cut. But I read on the Internet if you boil the alcohol soaked fruit for 10mins the night before baking it will make the cake taste matured once baked. But it didn’t say it would be easy to cut. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Xx

Hi bellscake

Boiled fruit cake will be fine by the time you need it. Boiling breaks the fruit down so the cake doesn’t need long term maturing. The fruit can be broken down even more quickly if you add a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to the boiling mixture. I can’t set a link for you at this time, just search for boiled fruit cake with bicarbonate of soda to see relevant recipes. ?

Hi madeitwithlove

As ever thanks very much indeed for the very helpful information. I had no idea that boiling the fruit/adding bicarbonate of soda pretty much does the job of maturing, in a nutshell. That’s really interesting and I won’t hesitate to make a last minute fruit cake again in the future.

Thanks again and have a good weekend. xx

I hope you managed to find the recipes online. I’m sorry I couldn’t set a link for you, I don’t know how to do it from my phone. I’ve done several boiled fruit cakes in the past, one was for a wedding top tier. It went in the blink of an eye and left guests asking for more. The bride plonked a last minute order on me a week before the wedding. Amazing how fruit cake has made such a big come back.

Have a great weekend xx