This Fruitcake Recipe Is a Food Blogger's Family Heirloom (2024)

FAQs

Why was fruitcake outlawed? ›

Fruitcakes were so rich, they were considered sinful and were outlawed in Europe in the early 18th century. Restrictions eased later in the century.

A regal history of fruitcake

A forerunner of the fruitcake actually fueled Ancient Roman warriors who carried a mixture of barley, pomegranate seeds, nuts, and raisins mixed with honeyed wine. The cakes — called satura — sustained them through their long marches to the furthest corners of the empire.

But a Michigan family has its own heirloom: a 141-year-old fruitcake. “It's a great thing,” said Julie Ruttinger, the great great granddaughter of Fidelia Ford, who baked the cake in 1878.

Fruitcake Is Expensive

Processed and manufactured foods are increasingly expensive, and if you want to make a traditional fruitcake, you'll need to use many ingredients, some of which are higher-end items. This has negatively affected small businesses, which have had to raise their prices.

Nowadays fruitcakes are a holiday delicacy still prized for their long-lasting freshness.

Part of the reason this dense, often dry cake has the reputation it does is due to that no one finds that dried fruit in the middle to be appealing.

Fruitcake is no ordinary cake. It can stay fresh and edible for months after baking. What typically makes fruitcake last so long is its super dense texture. This texture prevents, let's say, less than appetizing things from setting up camp in the cake's crevices.

Marie Rudisill died in Hudson, Florida, on November 3, 2006, at the age of 95, just before the publication date of her last book, Ask the Fruitcake Lady: Everything You Would Already Know If You Had Any Sense, on November 7.

Slang. a crazy or eccentric person; nut.

It lasts longer than you think

According to Mental Floss, fruitcake has quite the shelf life. The tasty, holiday treat can age 25 years and still be enjoyed, as long as it's stored in an airtight container.

How do you store Grandma's fruitcake? ›

How should I serve and store my cake? Grandma's Fruitcake slices best when chilled. We recommend that you refrigerate your cake overnight or freeze it for a few hours before slicing with a Non Serrated Knife. Our fruitcakes have a 9 month shelf life.

Jenkins, a low-level employee at the city's famed fruitcake company, the Collin Street Bakery, embezzled $17 million from 2004 to 2013, spending the money on cars, trips, watches, and jewelry—all so that he could keep up appearances with the upper crust of his town of 24,000.

Why is fruitcake eaten at Christmas? It's hard to determine exactly when fruitcake became associated with the holidays; however, it is believed that it started it happened during the 18th and 19th centuries when the cost of the ingredients was too expensive for most households to afford.

The ancient Romans made a mishmash of barley, pomegranate seeds, nuts and raisins as a sort of energy bar; however the modern fruitcake can be traced back to the Middle Ages as dried fruits became more widely available and fruited breads entered Western European cuisine.

Slang. a crazy or eccentric person; nut.

In The Early 1700s, Fruitcakes Were Outlawed In Europe

Over the centuries, people added increasingly sweeter ingredients to their fruitcakes until the cakes became decadence incarnate, which was morally wrong and thus made illegal.

Because they were so rich, fruitcakes were rumored to have been considered sinful and were outlawed in continental Europe in the early 18th century.