FABULOUS FRUITCAKE

 

By Mary Davis

It’s almost here! December 27 is National Fruitcake Day! And December is National Fruitcake Month!

Seriously? A special day and a WHOLE month for fruitcake?

Yep. Who knew the controversial dessert was so popular? Anything but a passing fad, it has a long history dating back to Ancient Rome all the way up to the annual Great Fruitcake Toss in Manitou Springs, Colorado.

Roman soldiers took a fruitcake-type food into battle, or at least to the battlefield, because the treat was easy to carry and lasted so long. In Shakespearean times, fruitcake also included meat. But because of all the sugar, fruitcake was thought to be too good and considered sinful, and therefore outlawed on much of the European continent in the 18th century.

In 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins took a fruitcake to the moon on the Apollo 11 space mission. However, they didn’t eat it. That fruitcake is on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Of all the things that could be taken into space, why fruitcake?

Someone born after 1913, who didn’t want to bake their own fruitcake, was fortunate to live in the modern age of mail-order. That’s when fruitcakes began zipping through the US mail.

Manitou Springs, Colorado, has hosted the Great Fruitcake Toss in early January since 1995. “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.” If you don't have a fruitcake, you can “rent” one to toss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUudRdFC7E

There are a whole host of countries who have had fruitcake in some form dating back centuries. The ingredients have changed down through the ages and from continent to continent. Fruitcake varies in color from very pale to almost black.

In the US, fruitcake is associated with Christmas, but around the world and throughout history it has been not only for Christmas, but as a traditional wedding cake, for Easter, Halloween, New Years, as well as a year ‘round treat. Did I just call fruitcake a treat?

Some countries call it fruitcake, others simply call it cake, plum cake, or a sweet bread. Many nations have their own special name for them; Pan de Pascua, Stollen, Brambrack, Panforte, Bolo Rei, and Cozonac to name a few.

I found this at World Market in November

The method of preserving fruit by soaking it in successively greater concentrations of heated sugar has been know to cultures such as Ancient China and Ancient Mesopotamia. By the early 19th century, the typical fruitcake recipe was heavy with candied fruit such as citrus peel, pineapples, plums, dates, pears, and cherries.

To lengthen the shelf life of a fruitcake, one need only to wrap the cake in an alcohol soaked linen before storing. A family in Tecumseh, Michigan has done just this. Their heirloom fruitcake was baked in 1878. Fruitcake was often made to be eaten the following year. That’s one way to get a jump-start on holiday baking. Some claim that “aged” fruitcake tastes better. Hmm. In 2003, Jay Leno sampled the 125-year-old Michigan fruitcake on The Tonight Show. I don’t think I would be that brave.

In 2017, the Antarctic Heritage Trust discovered a 106-year-old fruitcake, described as being in “excellent condition” and “almost” edible. I wonder what the qualifications are for condition and edibility. Did someone taste it to figure out it was safe to eat? Some would likely say that fresh-out-of-the-oven fruitcakes aren’t edible.

What kind of heirlooms have been passed down in your family? Any fruitcakes in your family’s treasures?

***COMING FEBRUARY 2022!***

MRS. WITHERSPOON GOES TO WAR (Heroines of WWII series)

A WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) flies a secret mission to rescue three soldiers held captive in Cuba.

Margaret “Peggy” Witherspoon is a thirty-four-year-old widow, mother of two daughters, an excellent pilot, and very patriotic. She joins the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots). As she performs various tasks like ferry aircraft, transporting cargo, and being an airplane mechanic, she meets and develops feelings for her supervisor Army Air Corp Major Howie Berg. When Peggy learns of U.S. soldiers being held captive in Cuba, she, Major Berg, and two fellow WASPs devise an unsanctioned mission to rescue them. With Cuba being an ally in the war, they must be careful not to ignite an international incident.

Pre-order HERE!

 

MARY DAVIS, bestselling, award-winning novelist, has over thirty titles in both historical and contemporary themes. Her latest release is THE DÉBUTANTE'S SECRET (Quilting Circle 4) THE DAMSEL’S INTENT (Quilting Circle 3) is a Selah Award Winner. Some of her other recent titles include; The Widow’s Plight, The Daughter's Predicament, “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in The MISSAdventure Brides Collection , Prodigal Daughters Amish series, "Holly and Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection, and "Bygones" in Thimbles and Threads. She's an ACFW member and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of thirty-seven years and one cat. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren.

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Fruitcake: Ancient Creation, Polarizing Confection

a footnote from history by stephanie grace whitson (www.stephaniewhitson.com)

I decided to make a fruit cake. 
I know not why.
It seemed a good idea at the time.
I gathered up the recipe, ingredients and such,
And borrowed just the kind of pan
In which to bake the beast. 
Reviews were varied when I shared the culinary plan.
And now I'm blogging all about it ....
With a bad attempt at a poem. 

Do you like fruitcake or hate it? There doesn't seem to be a middle-of-the-road response to this ancient confection. I discovered some interesting things in my adventure which began with the beautiful candied fruit at left and ended with a cake that weighed four pounds. 

Fruitcake is ancient. The earliest known recipe is from ancient Rome and calls for pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, raisins, and barley mash.

Fruitcake in the Middle Ages contained honey, spices, and preserved fruit (dried fruits began to arrive in Britain in the 13th century). A luxury reserved for special occasions, fruitcake was prepared long before it was to be served, and alcohol provided both flavor and preservation. 

Making a fruitcake in the 18th century was labor intensive. Fruit had to be washed, de-pitted, and dried. Sugar was cut from a loaf and had to be pounded and sieved. Butter ... well. They started with a cow, right? Milk, churn, wash--one source I read mentioned washing butter in rosewater, the latter which I assume began with roses. Eggs had to be beaten by hand, and some instructions recommended beating for half an hour. It makes my arms hurt just thinking about it. And then, once the concoction was assembled, one had the issue of managing the temperature in wood-fired ovens. 

Compared to baking in "the good old days," my quest to make the perfect fruitcake was easy (albeit expensive). It was also a failure. We eventually ate it, but we didn't love it.

Housekeeping in Old Virginia, published in 1879, includes two recipes for "White Fruit Cake," one of them with the note (superior, tried recipe) and seven other recipes for Fruit Cake. Here's one:

Rich Fruit Cake

1 quart sifted flour.

1 pound fresh butter, but up in 1 pound powdered sugar

12 eggs

3 pounds bloom raisins

1 1/2 pound of Zante currants

3/4 pound of sliced citron

1 tablespoonful each of mace and cinnamon

2 nutmegs

1 large windeglassful Madeira wine  

1 large windglassful French brandy mixed with the spices.

Beat the butter and sugar together--eggs separately. Flour the fruits well, and add the flour and other ingredients, putting the fruit in last. Bake in a straight side mold, as it turns out easier. One pound of blanched almonds will improve this recipe. Bake until thoroughly done, then ice while warm.

And here (at left) is a recipe for White Fruit Cake from Household Discoveries and Mrs. Curtis's Cook Book first published in 1908.

How about you? Have you ever made fruit cake? To you have a favorite recipe? Here in Nebraska, we have a company in Beatrice that still follows a 1917 recipe introduced in St. Louis by immigrants from Germany.

One millions pounds of fruitcake go out across the country from Beatrice, Nebraska, every holiday. http://www.nebraskalife.com/Going-Nuts-for-Fruitcake-in-Beatrice/. 

How did your holiday baking go? Is there something that's labor intensive and/or expensive that's part of your holiday tradition? 

- - - - - - -- - - - - - - - 

In Messenger by Moonlight, Annie Paxton is confident

she can handle being the only cook at a remote Pony Express station and stage stop in Nebraska Territory. She's in for a surprise!

Learn more here:

https://www.amazon.com/Messenger-Moonlight-Stephanie-Grace-Whitson/dp/1455529087/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1547072226&sr=8-1

I'd love to have you join the conversation about history and writing and quilts ... with the occasional comment about my perfect grandchildren LOL ... here: www.Facebook.com/stephaniegracewhitsonofficial/