Is it too late to make fruitcake?

[AnyDream]

Why do people make their fruitcake (or puddings for that matter) so early? Is it so the alcohol macerated through better? Is it too late to make a decent fruitcake now? Or am I better off sticking with a different kind of fruitcake (I was thinking of a choc cherry kind of thing).

[Rouge]

It's the alcohol. There are plenty of fruit cakes that can be made now. They just won't have the extended shelf life.

[anney]

An old fashioned boiled fruit cake with some alcohol in it will be great on Christmas day.

[Bloom]

I only made mine yesterday. I didn't want it soaked in alcohol as kids will eat it, so I figure it doesn't matter when I make it.

[~Kim~]

I make Nigella's Chocolate Fruitcake. It doesn't use the traditional liquors or the amounts but it's fruity and it tastes good. I'm not really interested in the longevity and since no-one eats it but me (well DDs I discovered yesterday when my portion disappeared), I make what I like and can eat. Plus it's freezable.

[Olive]

I make my puddings in early November

[AnyDream]

It's the alcohol.

Yes. It's always the alcohol.

[Astrolady]

Mum makes me fruitcake all year around, but there is no alcohol in it.

[BellyBelly]

Christmas Pudding - Last Minute Christmas Pudding

[AnyDream]

Some feedback - in the end I made a boiled-style cherry fruitcake. It turned out beautifully and I used drambuie in it, which had a nice mellow flavour which didn't need to settle like a stronger flavoured spirit would. It was ridiculously easy and I was very happy with how it turned out, although DH will not be drawn on whether it was as good as, better, or worse than the fruitcake his mother makes .