I've been trying to do just a little bit of holiday work every day. When I'm upstairs, I grab a handful of Christmas decorations from the holiday trunk and bring them downstairs to put out. Today, I baked a couple of loaves of almond and fruit bread for Christmas morning, which I'll store in the freezer until the 25th.
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| dried out fruitcake fruit |
I didn't buy fruitcake fruit this year or last, but have continued to use up some that I bought 3 Christmas's ago. If refrigerated, fruitcake fruit doesn't spoil. And since it's so heavily candied, it also doesn't develop mold. The only evidence of its aging is that it gets dried out. That syrupy coating dries to crystals, and the fruit itself becomes tough and a bit leathery.
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| after 30 minutes |
To fix my fruitcake fruit, I rehydrated the portion that I needed for my recipe in a bowl, with a tablespoon of boiling water added, and covered for an hour. I stirred the fruit from time to time, to make sure all of it came in contact with the water.
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| left: dried out, right: rehydrated 1 hour |
After about an hour, the fruit was mostly rehydrated, at least enough for baking purposes. The fruit soaked up the liquid, leaving just a trace of moisture at the bottom of the bowl.
This works with rock-hard raisins, dried cranberries, or other dried fruit that is no longer palatable due to their texture -- tooth-breakers I call 'em. For about 1/2 to 1 cup of dried fruit, steam with about 1 to 2 tablespoons of boiling water, covered for about an hour, stirring occasionally. This should bring the fruit back to a "normal" dried fruit texture, useful for baking.
