There is no other cake possessing as much swirling controversary than a fruitcake. Admittedly an argument could be made for the rarified category of wedding cakes, which are heavy with implications and consequences. But in my not so humble opinion, fruitcakes take the cake. Okay that was a lame pun, but live with it because is segues neatly into fruitcake jokes starting with ways to use fruitcakes.
Use slices to balance wobbly kitchen tables.
Save for next summer’s garage sale.
Use as speed bumps to foil neighborhood drag racers.
Johnny Carson quipped that fruitcakes were the worst Christmas gift ever. That actually there was only one fruitcake in the entire world and people kept sending it to each other.
Fruitcake endures in yet another arena. I’m sure we have all used the phrase, nutty as a fruitcake, and it wasn’t a compliment. Did you know that term was first recorded in 1935? Amazing. It has it’s own day too, December 27th. I wonder if the date was chosen because people were attempting to offload their Christmas fruitcakes on their guests? One might be wary about accepting a party invitation on that day..
The first recipes found were from Rome. Their cakes consisted of pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and raisins mixed in a barley mash. It doesn’t sound Italian to me. I’m glad they switched gears to pizza and spaghetti. During the middle ages recipes were augmented with honey, spices and preserved fruit. Refreshments for witch burnings? Many countries developed their own specialized variety depending on what fruits and nuts were available. Obviously fruited cakes have a cross cultural appeal.
Despite the fact as a kid I detested fruitcake, when I was an adult I attempted to make them. I tended my aging liquor soaked fruitcakes like a newborn baby. The outcome—–look back up the page at the uses for fruitcake. Yep, mine fell into that category.
Many years later I continued dating a man whom I wasn’t really that attracted to, but I was impressed and astounded by his ability to make a tasty fruitcake. So maybe it’s one of those situations where you have to have The Touch. I know this applies to making truly outstanding pie crust. Same ingredients, but hugely different outcomes depending on the cook.
My absolute favorite cakes are ones which are laden with fruit, just not preserved fruit. So the following are some amazingly delicious renditions of my kind of fruit cake.
https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/caramelized-apricot-upside-down-cake-recipe/
http://www.kitchenriffs.com/search?q=christmas+stollen
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/plum_walnut_skillet_cake/
https://www.jocooks.com/baking/cakes/blueberry-dump-cake/
John / Kitchen Riffs says
I actually like fruit cake. In moderation. Moderate moderation. 🙂 Fun post and thanks for including one of my recipes!
Carol says
Actually I like quite a few types of more traditional fruitcakes, especially if they are soaked in liquor.
Abbe@This is How I Cook says
These all look good. I do like fruitcake but not with the candied fruit. Give me a dried fruitcake any day!
Carol says
I like various fruitcakes too. It’s the type and amount of the candied fruit that makes the difference.
I do way way like dried fruit cakes better, the more nuts the better and the more liquor soaked spikes my
liking too.