Its kind of traditional to bake fruit cakes during the holiday season and some people even wind up giving them as gifts to loved ones. They can be very tasty, but its also possible that your fruit cake might have turned out a bit too dry.
Having to eat a fruit cake that is much drier than you would like for it to be isnt going to be all that pleasant. This is why many people have been curious about methods that will allow them to moisten dry fruit cakes.
Continue reading for crucial information on how to moisten dry fruit cake. There will actually be quite a few ideas for you to go over and youll be able to determine which one will be the best fit for your situation.
After learning how to solve your dry fruit cake problem, itll be easier to just enjoy your cakes. These ideas arent too hard to use and just about anyone should come out of this feeling much more confident that they can fix things.
Contents
- 1 – Use a Towel
- 2 – Brushing with Milk or Water
- 3 – Using Wine
- Final Thoughts
- FAQs
- What do you soak fruit cake in?
- Why are my fruit cakes dry?
- How do you make fruit cake moist again?
- How do you moisturize a dry fruit cake?
- What alcohol is good for soaking fruit cake?
- How do you moisten a cake without simple syrup?
- How do you keep Christmas cake fruit moist?
- How do you moisten a dry fruit cake without alcohol?
- How do you soak a cake?
- How do you add moisture to dried fruit?
1 – Use a Towel
Using a towel to try to fix a dry fruit cake that has just come out of the oven is a very good idea. Sometimes you will notice that a fruit cake has turned out quite dry as soon as it comes out of the oven and this idea gives you a chance to remedy that.
Essentially, you just need to grab a towel and fold it so that it will cover the top of the cake neatly. Of course, you’ll be doing this while the cake is still in the pan.
With the towel placed over the top of the cake, youre going to place the cake on a wire rack so that it can cool down. The steam that is coming off of the fruit cake should not be able to escape because of the towel that you placed on top of it.
The reason why this works is that it forces the steam to go back into the cake. This provides the fruit cake with a lot more moisture than it had originally and the cake should be significantly moister as a result.
Its also worth noting that this can soften the cake up a little bit as well. Dry fruit cakes are often going to be a bit too hard and catching it when the cake has just come out of the oven gives you a chance to fix things fast.
2 – Brushing with Milk or Water
Another interesting idea is to utilize milk or water to fix your dry fruit cake problem. This will involve using a pastry brush to apply a certain amount of milk or water to the top of the cake.
Whether you want to use milk or water is up to you, but some feel that milk can add a bit more to a cake that has become dry or stale. After making your choice, you just need to brush some milk or water onto the top of the fruit cake.
After this has been done, you will be able to bake the cake for about fifteen minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This is just enough time to allow it to crisp and your fruit cake should come out quite a bit moister than it was when it went in.
Just keep an eye on your oven and try not to bake the cake in there for too long. It might take up to twenty minutes to get the results that you are looking for but you wont want to go longer than that.
Your results might wind up depending on factors such as overall fruit cake size as well as how thick the fruit cake is. So long as you know this, you should find this idea to be a very good one.
After taking the cake out of the oven, its going to need to cool on a wire rack for a while. Just check on it after it has cooledto see if the cake has turned out how you would like it to.
3 – Using Wine
Wine is another option that you can consider when trying to solve dry fruit cake issues. This is a bit different than the ideas above because its more about making a dry cake better to eat than anything else.
Some people pour dessert wine over the top of fruit cakes before serving slices of the cake. This is known as a trifle and it can actually be quite tasty.
Assuming that youre using one of your favorite sweet wines or dessert wines, you should have an overall good experience with this idea. You just pour a generous amount of wine on the cake so that it will taste moist when you go to eat it.
Some people also put something else that is sweet on top of the pieces of fruit cake. For example, it would not be uncommon to see people putting whipped cream on top of pieces of fruit cake.
When you use an idea such as this to save a fruit cake that has become too dry, its going to make it easy to enjoy it. The practicality of this idea might depend on how much you like the taste of various dessert wines, though.
Depending on your sensibilities, you might prefer one of the earlier methods to trying to make the fruit cake taste better with wine. Just do whatever it is that you think is best so that you can get the most enjoyment out of your fruit cake.
Final Thoughts
You now know more methods for fixing dry fruit cake issues and it shouldnt be as hard to figure out what to do. If you catch that a fruit cake is a bit too dry when it comes out of the oven, then this is actually going to be a simple problem to fix.
Its also fairly easy to fix issues that have occurred due to a fruit cake being in storage and this means that you dont have to give up on a dry fruit cake. Now that you know what options are available to you, its going to be your call to make.
FAQs
What do you soak fruit cake in?
Fruitcake Aging
You can either soak cheesecloth in brandy, bourbon, whiskey, rum or other liquor and then wrap it around the cooked, cooled fruitcake before wrapping in plastic wrap and storing, or simply brush the cake with an alcohol of your choice and wrap tightly.
Why are my fruit cakes dry?
The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake’s moisture level. If there’s simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there’s too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet.
How do you make fruit cake moist again?
If the cakes have not moistened and become uniformly heavy in two weeks, apply more liquor or fruit juice, wrap in clean cheesecloth and plastic wrap and put back into your airtight container. Repeat this until they are moist and heavy.
How do you moisturize a dry fruit cake?
Brush on a simple syrup: If you find your cake is a little dry, an easy fix is to brush syrup over the top of the cake. Simple syrup adds moisture and sweetness to any dry cake. You can also add a touch of flavor to this syrup with extracts or a squeeze of juice.
What alcohol is good for soaking fruit cake?
What alcohol should you use? Strong, flavourful spirits with a high ABV are ideal for feeding fruitcakes. You can use rum, brandy or whisky for spice, or if you like citrus flavours, try an orange liqueur. Cherry brandy and amaretto will also work well if you prefer these.
How do you moisten a cake without simple syrup?
By changing up the liquid—try cream, milk, coconut milk, apple cider, brewed tea or coffee, lime or grapefruit juice, root beer—and adding spices, extracts, herbs, and liqueurs, you can enhance the taste of a plain cake.
How do you keep Christmas cake fruit moist?
If you’re baking an alcohol-free Christmas cake you can use a few tablespoons of orange, cherry, cranberry or apple juice; something sweet to keep the moisture in the cake. You can also soak the fruit in tea if you prefer a less sweet flavour.
How do you moisten a dry fruit cake without alcohol?
If you do not want to use alcohol then fresh orange juice is an alternative, though you should leave the fruits in orange juice to soak overnight in the fridge once they have cooled.
How do you soak a cake?
The most common cake soak is simple syrup, equal parts sugar and water cooked until the sugar is dissolved. This added bit of liquid and sweetness help make the cake more moist, and stay moist longer. Professional bakers also use a milk soak, which is milk or cream dabbed onto the cake.
How do you add moisture to dried fruit?
Put your dried fruit in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let it steep for 10 to 15 minutes, and then strain the fruit and discard the water. The fruit will be plumper, juicier, and softer. To give your fruit some extra flavor, swap the water for fruit juice or a liquor, like rum, bourbon, or brandy.