I have made a fruit cake by fermenting fruit with sugar and starter-you start with one kind of fruit (peaches) and sugar and leftover liquid from the last batch, stir each day then add additional fruits (pineapple and marichino cherries) on certain days. You drain the fruit after 30 days or so, reserving at least 2 cups of the liquid, then add cake mix, pudding mix, nuts and other things to make a lighter cake with a hint of alcohol taste-we decided that it would have been better named Christmas cake instead of fruit cake. The starter can be frozen (doesn't actually freeze since it is alcoholic)