Flavors From Soaking

• Soaking the fruits for black cake gives them stronger and deeper flavors, with the flavors intensifying the longer you soak. Depending on what you soak them in, the fruits might exude the flavors of the soaking liquid, such as cherry brandy and rum, and also gain the flavors from ingredients you soak with the fruits, such as anise, cinnamon sticks, orange zest and the seeds from a vanilla bean.

The Texture of the Cake

• Laurie Colwin, author of "Home Cooking," described the texture of black cake as "complicated -- dense and light at the same time." Unlike American fruitcake, where the fruits remain distinct in the cake, black cake recipes call for grinding the dried fruits into a paste after they have soaked. If you don't soak the fruit, the fruit will absorb more liquid from the batter itself and change the texture of the cake.

How-Tos

• Soaking dried fruit for a black cake can be as easy as placing the fruit and spirits in an airtight glass jar and letting it sit in a cool spot for at least three weeks. The high alcohol content of brandy and rum kills bacteria, so leaving the mix out isn't a problem.

Quick-Soaking Methods

• Dried fruits soak up liquid more quickly if you heat the fruit and the liquid together in a saucepan on the stovetop. Let the mixture come to a boil and then remove the pot from the stove and let it sit for at least one hour or, preferably, for two hours or overnight. If you cut the fruit into smaller pieces, it will also absorb the liquid even more quickly.