A delightful vintage fruit sauce

A really good recipe will be passed around the neighborhood or the office and this one made the rounds in 1984. It's a recipe that takes weeks to make, but it's well worth it.
This vintage fruit sauce makes a delightful Christmas gift.
To make this sauce, you need a starter. The recipe makes plenty, so most cooks share it with a friend.
The fruit starter is combined with more fruits to make delicious cakes, toppings for meats and dressings for salads. It takes two weeks to ferment; then the sauce can be made. The fruit sauce needs to ferment for a week, then it is ready to be used.
For best fermentation, the sauce should be made in two small batches rather than one large one. Fruit and sugar should be added to the sauce every two weeks to keep the fermentation process going.

Fruit starter
3/4 cup canned peaches in heavy syrup, drained and cut into pieces
3/4 cup canned pineapple chunks in heavy syrup, drained
6 maraschino cherries, cut in half
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 package instant-blend dry yeast or quick-rise yeast
Place all ingredients in a glass jar with a loose cover - an apothecary jar is perfect. Set in a fairly warm place. Stir several times the first day, then stir once a day. At the end of two weeks the starter has fermented enough to make sauce. This mixture makes 2 cups of sauce.
One cup of starter is enough to make the sauce, so the other cup may be given to a friend or used to start a second batch of sauce. Do not double the sauce recipe.

Fruit sauce
1 cup fermented fruit
1/2 cup canned peaches in heavy syrup, drained and cut into pieces
1/2 cup canned pineapple chunks in heavy syrup, drained
6 maraschino cherries, cut in half
1 cup sugar
Combine all ingredients in a glass jar with a loose cover; stir well. Set in fairly warm place. Continue to stir once a day. Sauce can be served after one week. Fruit and sugar must be repeated every two weeks. No need to refrigerate. Sauce will keep many months if directions are carefully followed.

Here are some ideas for using the sauce once you have it made.
• Spoon it over angel food or pound cake, ice cream or sherbet, pudding or cheesecake.
• Combine vintage fruit sauce with whipped cream, sweetened whipped cream cheese, macaroon cookie crumbs or granola cereal.
• The sauce is excellent spooned over a ham slice or Canadian bacon.
• Add it to rice stuffing for poultry or game.
• For breakfast, spoon the sauce over pancakes or French toast.
• It's delicious in salads. Try spooning it over cottage cheese, fold it into your favorite gelatin or spoon into lettuce cups and top with sunflower nuts or cashews.

The food researchers at Red Star created a new vintage cranberry sauce that's fully interchangeable with the traditional vintage fruit sauce.
Here's the new version:

Vintage cranberry sauce
Fruit starter:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 cup chopped raisins
1 package instant blend or quick-rise dry yeast
Fruit sauce:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup fermented fruit
2 cups cranberries
1 cup chopped raisins
To make the starter: Combine sugar and water; stir to dissolve sugar. Bring mixture to a boil. Add cranberries and raisins; cook about 7 minutes. Cool. Place cooled mixture in lightly covered jar and add yeast. Mix well. Set in a fairly warm place. Stir several times the first day, then stir once a day. At the end of two weeks the starter has fermented enough to make a sauce.
To make the sauce: Combine sugar and water; stir to dissolve sugar. Bring mixture to a boil. Add cranberries and raisins; cook about 7 minutes. Cool. Add fermented fruit; stir well. Set in a fairly warm place. Continue to stir once a day. Sauce can be served after one week.
Cooked fruit-and-sugar combination must be repeated every two weeks. No need to refrigerate. Sauce will keep many months if directions are carefully followed.

Friendship cake
1 box yellow cake mix
1 box (3 ounces) vanilla instant pudding
1 cup chopped pecans
4 eggs
 2/3 cup oil
1 1/2 cups fruit sauce
In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix by hand. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake in a 325-degree oven for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Top with favorite cream cheese icing.