What Exactly Are We Talking About?

Well what in the world is fruit cake anyway and how did it get its Christmas fame. Well gather round readers and I will tell you what it is. Grab a piece of fruitcake and a glass of milk and read on.




Fruitcake usually has candied fruit, citron (this is the thick peel of the citrus fruit of the same name. It is made by simmering the peels in syrup and sugar), nuts, spices, dried fruit, fruit rind, and some sort of liquor or brandy. There is almost an equal amount of cake batter to the fruits and nuts you put into the batter. I mean the cake barely holds of the ingredients you put into it. This makes a very dense, heavy cake. Fruitcakes can be classified as either light or dark, although it is not necessarily the color that matters.

The lighter ones are less rich than their darker cousins and have subtler flavors and aroma. Lighter fruitcakes are made with granulated sugar, light corn syrup, almonds, golden raisins, pineapple and apricots.

The darker cakes are considered be the top of the line and are more commonly found. They are much bolder in flavor and appearance. The darker cakes get their color from molasses, brown sugar, dates, cherries, raisins, prunes, pecans and walnuts. Ok we know what's in a fruit cake. Now how did it get associated with Christmas? Did you finish your first piece yet? Well hurry up and wash it down. The Christmas tie in to fruitcake is next.

In the 1700's A ceremonial type of fruitcake was baked at the end of the nut harvest and saved and eaten the next year to celebrate the beginning of the next harvest, hoping it will bring them another successful harvest. After the harvest, nuts were mixed and made into a fruitcake that was saved until the following year. At that time, previous year's fruitcakes were consumed in the hope that its symbolism would bring the blessing of another successful harvest.

Now this practice could have transformed into the Christmas holidays. Most likely the Christmas fruitcake came from the English, who passed out slices of cake to poor women who sang Christmas carols in the street during the late 1700s. So next time you get carolers at your doorstep take a piece of cake to them for their hard work and revive an old tradition