Christmas Cake and Pudding step by step. Part 2 - Chopping the Dried Fruit

Previously, we  posted about " Preparing the Dried Fruit for use in Christmas cakes and Puddings ". 

The fruit has bathed in the rum for a couple of months and it is now about 10 weeks before Christmas.

So, it is time to chop up your soaked Christmas fruit ready for baking later on. 

Be sure to play Neil Diamond's "A Very Cherry Christmas" CD whilst working through this preparation stage. I can guarantee no-one will come near to disturb your singing and dancing time. Aah! Lovely.

This is the easiest part and helps you feel prepared for the baking stage.
There is not a lot of chopping needed. The aim of this stage is to roughly chop your fruit so it is evenly sized for even cooking, but still identifiable as dried fruit.  Please do not over-process. Because of the liquid, it will soften very quickly and you want it to just start to adhere together a little. 

But, If you decide you want to use some fruit to make a fruit pate`  or some fruit-mince then it can be chopped finer.

Method

There are a couple of options for chopping the steeped fruit.

First option.

Use a bench food processor with a strong motor and large bowl with a sharp blade attachment. 
Be sure all parts have been thoroughly cleaned.
Tip all the soaked fruit and any remaining liquids into the processor bowl.
Pulse for a few seconds at a time - this will be very quick. So stay with the processor.
If necessary, carefully use a scraper to loosen the fruit from the blade and do another quick pulse to ensure all the fruit has been chopped.
Empty back into the bottle, re-seal and clean thoroughly around the bottle to remove any stickiness.
Repeat for each reserved bottle.

Second Option.

Leave the fruit mixture in the bottle. Place the bottle on a damp towel on a solid surface to help stop it moving about.
Remove the lid and using very clean kitchen scissors, snap the scissors through the fruit to chop evenly (as per previous suggestion).
If unable to cut in the bottle, use a clean bowl and snip through the fruit, then return fruit to the bottle.
Empty back into the bottle, re-seal and clean thoroughly around the bottle to remove any stickiness.

Repeat for each reserved bottle.

Then

Once you have ensured bottles have been properly re-sealed and clean, pop them back into a dark corner of a cool cupboard until ready to cook those cakes and puddings.

                                                              Enjoy!  Colleen