Oh, Kate! How awful! First, though...is there any chance you're losing your taste/smell due to Covid? I've had tasteless dry fruit before, so I do believe you. Is the gravel sweet? If so, you could chop it, soak it in wine or liqueur and add spices, and use it in bread pudding, or even a cake. You could.... But should you? Or even just soak them in wine, dribbling more on them daily. But would you want to? Sometimes, you just have to cut your losses.

Have a Happy Hanukah, and a piece of chocolate tonight, and return the unused tasteless fruit to the store. Here's a big holiday hug for you: ((((((((((Kate))))))))))

It's horibbly disapointed when something you put time and effort and money into doesn't live up to your expectations. Maybe fruit cake truffles? https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/dessert/pudding/fruit-cake-truffles.html

Kate, I can’t help much other than offering this recipe for comparison, although I’ve never made them. Your post just made me think of it. Ugh, I hear you when it comes to disappointment after the time and cost!🥴

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/fruitcake-cookies-recipe-1944300

Thank you all for your ideas. You have my brain working. I wonder if adding simple syrup, some lemon zest, and maybe some sort of liquour. Then putting it all in a jellyroll pan and baking like a bar cookie. What do you think of these ideas?

Interesting notion. Do you think it would need more butter and flour? But...if the fruit has no flavor, maybe kirsch and pineapple juice?

I had some Lemon juice in simple syrup in the fridge meant for a future Lemon Drop Martini, but was used here instead. And, I had lemon zest in the freezer and used that too.

The dough seemed better and I made a couple of sample cookies that turned out edible, so I am baking more.

The cookies are lemony and not at all fruitcake, but they’ll do. I mentally questioned the lack of anything liquid in the recipe, but made it anyway. Apparently I was right; it needed moisture.

Here is the end product right out of the oven, teaspoon for to compare for size.

My thanks to you all for getting my brain working again. Happy Holidays!

“The cookies are lemony and not at all fruitcake…”

Sounds good to this lemon lover!

Morning report: the citron flavor has come forward and the lemon lessened. theyre good enough to give away

hiwever, i will toss that recipe

That's always my main beef with fruitcake, since it is mostly dried or glacéd fruit, a lot of it doesn't taste good, depending on the source. It does have a certain shelf life, and if you're not going to re-hydrate it by soaking it in something, then you may be out of luck. I have some candied citron in my pantry that may be suffering the same fate if I don't get cracking and make something with it. I eat so few sweets it has never gotten to the front burner . . . I have a recipe for Bara Brith that I could use it for, but I have banana date bread and Frisian spice cookies ahead of it in the queue. Also have marzipan for the whenever day stollen rises to the top of the priority list . . .

Nice save, Kate. I don't know that I would have had that much patience to try to continue with it...or the imagination either.

I just wanted to add that I'd bought mixed nuts not long after the beginning of pandemic. A company that sold lots to airlines were offering their mixes - with few people flying their orders had greatly decreased. One we both particularly liked had dried pineapple in it. We loved that pineapple.

I bought dried pineapple from about 3 different sources and never did find one we like nearly as much. I still don't know what the difference was.

I haven't had any trouble with raisins, golden raisins, or currants. Trader Joe's does have packages of those tiny E coast dried blueberries and they are wonderful. I bought them for tossing into green salads and found them too sweet for our favorite salad dressings so use them for muffins and quick breads. They would be good in cookies.

Pink, soak the fruitcake in rum or whiskey.

My mother made a killer fruitcake every year. Made the cake a month before Christmas and gave it a dribble of whiskey every day, keep it wrapped.

Everyone loved Mom's fruitcake!

Jane