Who Put The FRUIT Into The Cake?

First off let's look at the name Fruitcake. Its origins spring from a combination of the Latin fructus, and French frui or frug.

So there you have the origin of the word.

What about the cake itself!!!

Well fruitcake can be traced back to the Roman occupation of Egypt. The recipe included pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins that were mixed into barley mash. This was the food for long campaigns. Honey, spices, and preserved fruits were added during the Middle Ages when the dried fruits became popular. Crusaders and hunters were reported to have carried this type of cake to sustain themselves over long periods of time away from home just as the Romans did.

The introduction of cheap sugar played a role in fruitcake development in the 18th century. All sorts of fruits could be preserved though the candying process. Candying is taking fruits and soaking them in high concentrations of sugar. This soaking intensifies color and flavor as well as preserves the fruit for a longer period of time. Now these candied fruits could be shipped all over the world and wound up as a main ingredient in the fruitcake. The tasty dessert, then called a plum cake, was later outlawed in Europe for being too "sinfully rich" in the latter 1700's. Goodness!! It was against the law to eat a fruitcake. Then you would have been shot if you ate a frater then!!!

Between 1800's and 1901, fruitcake was extremely popular. A Victorian "Tea" would not have been complete without the addition of the fruitcake to the sweet and savory spread. 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 and good taste.

Nuts were introduced into the formula, probably because America's foremost fruitcake makers-Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas,( http://www.collinstreet.com/) and Claxton Bakery of Claxton, Georgia(http://www.claxtonfruitcake.com/)-were located in rural Southern communities with a surplus of cheap nuts. The Corsicana cake includes pecans. The expression "nutty as a fruitcake" was coined in 1935. NOW I know where they get that from!!

So now you know a little more about fruitcakes!!!