Place the dried and candied fruit you will be adding to the cake batter in a measuring cup or sealable container. Follow your chosen fruitcake recipe to determine the amount of fruit you should use.
Pour dark rum over the fruit. The rum should completely cover the fruit. Cover with plastic wrap or container lid.
Soak the fruit in rum for at least 24 hours at room temperature before baking your fruitcake. 72 hours of soaking is ideal, but check the fruit each day and add more rum if needed so that it doesn't dry out.
Add rum soaked fruit to your cake batter and reserve the soaking liquid.
Bake fruitcake and let cool completely. Leave it in its baking pan.
Brush reserved rum across the top of the fruitcake with a pastry brush.
Place a piece of plastic wrap large enough to cover the entire fruitcake on your work surface.
Dampen a cheesecloth with rum and place it over the plastic wrap.
Unmold the fruitcake onto the cheesecloth. Wrap the cake with the cheesecloth and then brush with some additional rum.
Pull the plastic up and around the cheesecloth covered cake. Make sure you pull it tightly against the cake.
Cover the cake with 2 layers of aluminum foil. Place cake in an airtight container and store at room temperature.
Let the fruitcake cure. Fruitcakes typically take at least a month to cure, which is when the alcohol mellows, but most traditional recipes recommend 3 months.
Baste fruitcake with rum. Unwrap and baste the fruitcake with rum every 1 to 2 weeks if you do not plan to store the cake long. You can sprinkle the rum directly over the cake or brush it onto the cake with a pastry brush. Maintain the moist texture and flavor of your fruitcake during longer curing periods by thoroughly brushing with rum at least every 3 months. Tightly rewrap the cheesecloth, plastic wrap and foil.
Finished.
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