Fruit Cake - The Most Hated Holiday Dessert

The most hated dessert you’ll ever love. Fruitcake began its life as the world’s first energy bar, sustaining Roman troops as they traveled. Later in the 15th century, it was considered so decadent and indulgent that parts of Europe restricted it to special occasions like Christmas and weddings only. And what’s not to love about it? Sweet candied fruit, crunchy nuts, tender cake, and liquor? Works for me! And a naturally preservable cake that only gets tastier with age? Sounds perfect.

So what happened? Why did this adorable, practical, and delicious dessert get a reputation for being something you’d gift to your worst frenemy? Of course, the same thing that ruins so many delicious should-have-stayed-made-at-home treats - mass production.

FRUITCAKE FALL FROM GRACE

See, fruitcakes were a victim of their own success - they were so perfectly preservable and generally tasty, that department stores, banks, and hundreds of other businesses in midcentury America started using fruitcakes as holiday incentive giveaways to their best customers, and commercial bakeries around the country began cutting corners and sacrificing quality for the sake of profits, cranking out over-sweet, hard as a brick loaves of sticky mess. And consumers were quickly fell out of love with this once-treasured holiday treat.

They were relegated to sit at the back of pantries across America to waste away all year until the next holiday when they were regifted to someone you forgot to buy a gift for. The butt of jokes, and a regular at white elephant gift exchanges, they lost all respect and fell out of favor entirely.

THE REDEMPTION ARC

But, not everyone forgot about them. Each holiday season, a handful of home bakers lovingly recreated old family recipes, passing the art of a delicious fruitcake to future generations. And a few very excellent bakeries maintained high quality standards over the decades, keeping the tradition alive.

I’m happy to say, fruitcake is now experiencing a well-deserved comeback, with artisans and home cooks alike revisiting this classic holiday treat, modernizing it with gourmet ingredients and spices. So, this year, I’m doing the same, using a classic vintage recipe from one of my favorite vintage spiral bound community cookbooks, sticking as close as I can to the original, while making a few tweaks that more modern palettes will appreciate.