Assuming your problem is with the ugliness of the structure, and complexity of data entry, YAML may help.

Here is code that reverses what your code does:

use strict;
use warnings;
use YAML;
use Data::Dumper;

my $stuff = <<YAML;
---
Baked Goods:
  - Cookies:
      - Chocolate Chip
      - Oreo

Fruits:
  - Apples:
      - Fuji
      - Granny Smith
  - Oranges:
      - Tangerine
      - Navel
YAML

my $perl_structure = Load $stuff;

print Dumper \$perl_structure;
[download]

this prints:

$VAR1 = \{
            'Baked Goods' => [
                               {
                                 'Cookies' => [
                                                'Chocolate Chip',
                                                'Oreo'
                                              ]
                               }
                             ],
            'Fruits' => [
                          {
                            'Apples' => [
                                          'Fuji',
                                          'Granny Smith'
                                        ]
                          },
                          {
                            'Oranges' => [
                                           'Tangerine',
                                           'Navel'
                                         ]
                          }
                        ]
          };
[download]

Update: You can use recursive printing to step through the structure, such as the code below:

printit ($perl_structure);

sub printit{
  my $this = shift;
  if (ref $this eq ""){
     print " $this ";
     return;
  }
  for my $k (keys %$this){
     print "$k\t:";
     printit($_) for @{$this->{$k}};
     print "\n";
  }
  print "\n";
}
[download]