FRUITCAKE ANYONE?

FRUITCAKE

 

 

"Fruitcake" is a holiday essential loved by many & unfortunately hated by a few minions.

 

 

Many cannot wait until the holidays so that they can devore there favorite recipe & savor its epic flavors - that at least come once a year.

 

What is your take on "Fruitcake"?

 

 

Here is a little social history on its origin & perhaps it may sway your decision. Its really been around for a long time all over the world & in many Grandma's favorite recipes.

 

Excuse me now, I need my daily intake of "Fruitcake"& oh yes, with a hot cup of java on the side ...

 

 

Origin of Fruitcake: (partial excerpt from Wiki)

 

The earliest recipe from ancient Rome lists pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, & raisins that were mixed into barley mash.

Crusaders and hunters were reported to have carried this type of Fruitcake to sustain themselves over long periods of time away from home.

In the Middle Ages, honey, spices, & preserved fruits were added.

Fruitcakes soon proliferated all over Europe. Recipes varied greatly in different countries throughout the ages, depending on the available ingredients as well as (in some instances) church regulations forbidding the use of butter, regarding the observance of fast.

Pope Innocent VIII (1432–1492) finally granted the use of butter, in a written permission known as the 'Butter Letter' or Butterbrief in 1490, giving permission to Saxony to use milk and butter in the North German Stollen Fruitcakes.

Starting in the 16th century, sugar from the American Colonies (and the discovery that high concentrations of sugar could preserve fruits) created an excess of candied fruit, thus making Fruitcakes more affordable & popular.

 

 

Fruitcakes are usually heavy in fruit content & do require special recipes to achieve the best results.

 

 

Reported:

1400s - The British began the love affair with Fruitcake when dried fruits from the Mediterranean first started showing up.

1700s - A ceremonial type of Fruitcake in Europe was baked at the end of the nut harvest & saved to be eaten the next year to once again celebrate the start of another harvest. Thus hoping it would bring them another successful harvest. After the harvest, the nuts were mixed & made into a Fruitcake that would be saved until the next year - making the whole tradition come full circle.

18th Century - Fruitcakes, then called Plum Cakes - were outlawed in Europe because they were too "sinfully rich". By the end of the 18th Century there were actual laws restricting the use of Plum Cake.

Between 1837 - 1901 the Fruitcake was popular & used in Victorian Tea time. Queen Victoria is said to have waited a year to eat a Fruitcake she received for her birthday because she felt it showed restraint, moderation, & good taste.

 

 

 

Here's to you & here's to the next bite of Fruitcake!

May you each enjoy your holiday season!

 

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