Starter for Friendship Fruitcake Recipe

Directions:

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.