Fruit cake

[Yuesang]

Hi Panini

You could be right because most fruit cake recipes do not need to separate the eggs.

yuesang

[felixe the dog]

Originally Posted by Yuesang

I wash all the fruits before drying them in the open (not direct sunlight) but dry enough as not to leave any water on my fingers, before I put in the rum etc.

Just remember this, the purpose of washing fruit is to:
remove grit and dirt.
Increase the moisture content in the fruit so it does not draw moisture from the cake - leading to early staling.
Increases the yield of the fruit and therefore the yield of the cake.
Water is (still so far) cheap and washing fruit gives plump moist fruit and a moist cake. Don't wash and then dry the fruit again.
Also, increase the rate of inverted sugar, whether it be invert sugar, fruitcose, honey or glycerine. All of these have moisture retaining properties and help to slow down staling.
You should also add a small % of fruitcose/glycerine to your fruit to aid in moisture retention after washing.
But, too much leads to excessive sweetness and quicker browning of the cake.
I hope this helps.
Finally - always check and test any recipe out of a magazine - you can never completely trust the source.

[foodpump]

I like to "massage" my dried fruit: All the fruit other than the cherries go into a mixing bowl, orange juice, (water? water tastes like water) fresh citrus zest, and booze, if required, are added, then stick in the dough hook and "massage" for about 5 minutes on low speed. This will speed up the process of the fruit soaking up liquids, and ensure that the fruit is properly hydrated.