Gone are the days when housewives had only raisins and nuts to diversify their baked goods. Among the many dried fruits, marzipans and nuts, candied fruits occupy a special place.
Baking with them becomes not only tastier, but also brighter. But do you need to soak them?
Here you need to understand what the filling is used for - as a decorative element or as a filling in cupcakes or pies.
Some things depend on the quality of the candied fruit itself, the nature of the baking and taste preferences.
To soak candied fruits or not
If the task is to emphasize the pieces of dried fruit in baking, it is better to leave everything as is. In this case, the candied fruits will remain moderately hard, unless, of course, they have dried out during storage.
Dried candied fruits need to be softened, and this is a must. But in this case, it is useless to even pour boiling water over them. For the full effect, dried pieces of candied fruit are boiled in sugar syrup for at least 10 minutes and over low heat. Periodically, the candied fruits are tasted.
What to soak in
If the recipe requires it, you can simply soak the filling in warm boiled water.
Sugar syrup and fruit juice are also used, but a unique effect can be achieved by soaking candied fruit in alcohol.
It is best to use cognac, brandy or regular vodka for this. To do this, pour the alcohol over the fruit pieces, then close the container with a lid and leave for up to 12 hours. This filling is used to prepare traditional Christmas stollen.
