Starter For Friendship Fruitcake

Total Time: 720 hrs Preparation Time: 720 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 5
• 3/4 cup canned peach slices in heavy syrup
• 3/4 cup canned pineapple chunks in syrup
• 4 ounces red maraschino cherries, drained, halved
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast

Recipe

• 1 in a 1-gallon glass jar with a wide mouth and lid, combine the peaches, pineapple, maraschino cherries, sugar and yeast (make sure the yeast is well mixed with syrup).
• 2 stir mixture two times the first day.
• 3 stir once a day afterward.
• 4 do not refrigerate this mixture.
• 5 keep loosely covered.
• 6 two weeks after starting the starter, add 1/2 cup peaches and 1/2 cup pineapple with syrup.
• 7 wait for several days, stirring daily, and drain 2 cups of mixed fruit and use to make cake as directed in the cake recipe.
• 8 reserve 1 1/2 cups starter juice and leave in glass gallon jar.
• 9 count this as day one, and start the process for renewing the starter and making the cake.
• 10 day 1: to reserved 1 1/2 cups starter juice (or to starter juice given you by a friend), add 2 1/2 cups sugar and a 2-lb can of peaches with syrup.
• 11 stir daily.
• 12 keep loosely covered.
• 13 do not refrigerate.
• 14 day 10: add 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, a 2 pound can pineapple chunks with juice.
• 15 stir daily.
• 16 keep loosely covered.
• 17 do not refrigerate.
• 18 day 20: add 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar and 8 to 10 oz drained and halved maraschino cherries.
• 19 stir daily.
• 20 keep loosely covered.
• 21 do not refrigerate.
• 22 day 30: drain fruit, reserving 1 1/2 cups juice for renewing starter.
• 23 use drained fruit to make 3 cakes (see recipe), give excess starter juice to friends, and start a new batch of fruit (repeat aforementioned process).
• 24 at the end of 30 days, you will have enough excess starter juice to give to about four friends.
• 25 be sure to keep enough juice (1 1/2 cups) for your own starter.
• 26 at the end of 30 days, there will be enough fruit to use 1 3/4 cups fruit in each cake, which makes the cake better and doesn't waste the fruit.
• 27 the cakes can be frozen.
• 28 it is not necessary to bake all three cakes the same day, but stir the remaining fruit mixture every day until it is used (this fruit mixture can be refrigerated until used).
• 29 the drained fruit can be frozen until you are ready to bake the cakes.