Christmas came early at the Emmanuels!

Sorrel Drink and Fruit Cake! Oh how I love those! In the Caribbean, particularly St. Lucia, these are traditionally Christmas delicacies. There are still some months left before Christmas (2013) but the wonderful smell of fruit cake is already coming from our kitchen!

There's a lot of preparation that goes into a fruit cake. Months beforehand, sometimes even a year before Christmas, the fruits would be prepared and soaked in alcohol. AAH, this process leaves a great smell in the kitchen! Some would bake their cake by September so that the cake can be 'aged' in time for the holidays. This is done by applying alcohol to the cake over time. This is how I age my fruitcake:

1. After my fruitcake cools, I pour some alcohol (most commonly used are spiced rum, white rum or bourbon). The cake will soak up the alcohol.
2. The alcohol soaked cake is then wrapped in an alcohol soaked cheesecloth. Since the cheesecloth has alcohol, this eliminates the need to 'feed' the cake too often. The word 'feed' here refers to applying additional alcohol to the cake during the time that it is being aged or stored. Also, the cheesecloth allows the cake to 'breathe' so as not to cause the cake to get mushy. Yes, I know, it's a lot of alcohol. It is important to note that the alcohol preserves the cake.
3. The cake is then wrapped in foil and stored away in a safe and clean area for instance a cake tin or a cake carrier.

If you plan to bake a fruit cake this year, I would recommend this recipe. Please remember that you should prepare the fruits in advance, check out the method here. The longer you soak the fruits the better the taste.

Although we wrapped up our cake, I don't think that it will see the light of Christmas day because we've been carving away at it. Like I said, I love my fruit cake and sorrel drink! I guess I may have to bake another close to the holidays! Check out this sorrel drink recipe and let me know if you plan to bake soon!