So its time to get to the truth about fruitcake. It has been under constant attack from enemies for decades now. Agents of hate have ridiculed, sneered and belittled that holiday favorite mercilessly, driving people like me into isolation. But we are the silent majority and it is time for all of us to come out from hiding and stand firm beside this yule time sweet. https://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Cakes/Fruitcake.htm The oldest reference that can be found regarding a fruitcake dates back to Roman times. The recipe included pomegranate seeds. Pine nuts, and raisins that were mixed into barley mash. Honey, spices, and preserved fruits were added during the Middle Ages. Crusaders and hunters were reported to have carried this type of cake to sustain themselves over long periods of time away from home. 1400s – The British began their love affair with fruitcake when dried fruits from the Mediterranean first arrived. 1700s – In Europe, a ceremonial type of fruitcake was baked at the end of the nut harvest and saved and eaten the next year to celebrate the beginning of the next harvest, hoping it will bring them another successful harvest. After the harvest, nuts were mixed and made into a fruitcake that was saved until the following year. At that time, previous year’s fruitcakes were consumed in the hope that its symbolism would bring the blessing of another successful harvest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruitcake In the United States, the fruitcake has become a ridiculed dessert, in part due to the mass-produced inexpensive cakes of questionable age. Some attribute the beginning of this trend with The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson.[3] He would joke that there really is only one fruitcake in the world, passed from family to family. After Carson's death, the tradition continued with "The Fruitcake Lady" (Marie Rudisill), who made appearances on the show and offered her "fruitcake" opinions. In fact, the fruitcake had been a butt of jokes on television programs such as Father Knows Best and The Donna Reed Show years before The Tonight Show debuted and appears to have first become a vilified confection in the early 20th century, as evidenced by Warner Brothers cartoons. Since 1995, Manitou Springs, Colorado, has hosted the Great Fruitcake Toss on the first Saturday of every January. "We encourage the use of recycled fruitcakes," says Leslie Lewis of the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce. The all-time Great Fruitcake Toss record is 1,420 feet, set in January 2007 by a group of eight Boeing engineers who built the "Omega 380," a mock artillery piece fueled by compressed air pumped by an exercise bike.[11]
I can't stand fruit cake... it's disgusting...bleh ps. I would have voted but you put loathe and hope my neighbours dog die in one option and I actually like my neighbours dog
I LOVE fruitcake. I don't eat much of it because the preservatives in it are absolutely terrible for you. Thats why it never goes bad. But if I could find a preservative-free version, I would be very happy and it would not have a chance to go bad
Fruitcake: The Christmas gift, that survives longer than the ugly sweater Very cute opening question for the thread. It made me laugh.
You can make your own - preservative free. I have never tasted a store bought version, growing up with the light fruitcake, filled with nuts and fruits. It was always big enough that it lasted - in the freezer - throughout the year.
I love traditional Christmas cake. I also like this one. https://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/stained-glass-window-cake
My mother, bless her soul, who has departed this earth, would make fruit cakes every year. We never ate the new ones but would break out the ones she had in the closet from the year before. She made two types, one soaked in brandy and one soaked in rum. I liked the ones soaked in rum. She would wrap each one in cheese cloth and soak them down and wrap in aluminum foil. All during the year she would check on them and re-soak them. I never did get the recipe unfortunately. The only Fruit cake I buy now is one called a Claxton Fruit Cake.
Big differences in fruit cakes. Some are delicious, others are disgusting. The posted recipes look interesting and delicious. I am going to try and talk Mrs Bob into trying one of them.