A History of Christmas Fruitcakes

Have you seen the Christmas commercial where the fruitcake gets passed as a recycled gift from house to house, because no one really likes it? Finally it's given to the mailman, who gives it back to its original owners. I have often wondered if anyone truly enjoys fruitcakes. Believe it or not, my husband says he does, but that fruitcakes are not all created equal. This made me curious about the origins of the fruitcake, and how it came to be associated with Christmas.

It turns out that the earliest mention of fruitcake goes back to ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire, but later it was the English, who actually started the Christmas tradition. It was known back then as plum porridge, and it was eaten on Christmas Eve, as a transitional food after a day of fasting. Later, dried fruits, honey and various spices were added to the oatmeal mixture, and it was called Christmas pudding. By the 16th century, the oatmeal was removed and some of the familiar ingredients of cake were added, such as eggs, butter and wheat flour. This was boiled into a plum cake. Wealthier families who had ovens, started making cakes using dried fruit and spices. The discovery was also made at this time, that fruit could be preserved, when soaked in large concentrations of sugar. It was now called "Christmas Cake", because the spices brought to mind the story of the Wise Men bringing exotic spices to the Christ child. The English gave out pieces of fruitcake to the poor, who sang Christmas Carols in the streets in the late 1700's. By the end of the 18th century, there were actually laws saying that plum cakes (generic for dried fruit) could only be consumed at Christmas, Easter, weddings, christenings, and funerals.

Christmas cakes are made in a variety of ways, but are all some variation of the classic fruitcake. Some are leavened, some unleavened, some are dark, and others light. There are moist fruitcakes, and dry ones. Some are plain, and others are glazed, frosted or sprinkled with sugar. They also come in many different shapes. (Remember the brick shaped ones the schools used to sell? ) I guess my husband is right, they are not all the same.

The cakes usually have red and green candied fruit, pineapple, raisins and other dried fruit, citron, and pecans or other nuts, in addition to the spices. There is just enough batter to hold it all together.

I seem to remember a reference to whiskey and fruit cake, and from long ago, I think I can recall the strong smell of alcohol, when I opened the cake tin. My research proves me correct. Christmas cakes are made well before Christmas, usually in November, and the cake is stored upside down and put into an airtight container. Then a small amount of whiskey, brandy, bourbon, rum, or sherry is poured over the cake. This is called "feeding" the cake. (More like getting it drunk, if you ask me.) These "pickled" or "aged" cakes last quite awhile. It is said that the Crusaders carried them in their saddlebags, on their long journeys.

Despairing of ever being able to eat fruitcake without breaking teeth, some have used it for a doorstop. Marjorie Dorfman in her article, "Et Tu, Fruitcake" commented that the name fruitcake congers up something rock hard and "easier to cut with a welding torch than a knife." She also added that, ..."Egyptian fruitcake was considered an essential food for the afterlife, and there are those who maintain that this is the only thing they are good for."

In Europe, the fruitcake was associated with the nut harvests of the 1700s. The nuts were collected, and then added to a fruitcake, which was saved until the next year. At that time, it was eaten as a symbol of the hope for another plentiful harvest.

The Victorians loved their fruitcakes, and there is a rumor that Queen Victoria once waited a year to eat her favorite birthday fruitcake, because she felt it demonstrated discipline. ( Perhaps, or maybe she hated them as much as I do.) Even today there is a custom in England, that if single wedding guests put a slice of dark fruit cake under their pillow, they will dream of their future marriage partner. (Here in the U. S., the expression, "nutty as a fruitcake" originated in 1935.)

Well, I am still not convinced about something as distasteful as fruit cake. On Peter Isaacson Penfold's "I Hate Fruitcake" website, he says there has got to be something wrong, wrong, wrong, with anything that requires no refrigeration, and that birds, mice, rats, ants, and cockroaches won't eat. He also includes a list of creative uses for fruitcake that might not have occurred to you.

Even though bakeries report that fruitcakes continue to be a good selling item, some are not being eaten. People are publicly throwing them away at the annual "Great Fruitcake Toss" in Manitou Springs, Colorada. (If you are not the proud owner of a fruitcake to be thrown away, you can rent one for 25 cents.)

The fact is, the popularity of the fruitcake has steadily declined in America, and some point to Johnny Carson and his jokes as the reason. He once commented, "The worst gift is fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other."

Sources: http://www.englishteastore.com/history-christmas-cake.html
http://www.ingestandimbibe.com/Articles_p/fruitcake_p.html
http://www.kidsturncentral.com/holidays/christmas/fruitcake.htm
http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0247,sietsema,40011,15.html