The magnificent history of the maligned and misunderstood fruitcake – WKRN News 2

(The Conversation) Nothing says Christmas quite like a fruitcake or, at the very least, a fruitcake joke.

A quipattributed to former Tonight Show host Johnny Carson has it that There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.

Its certainly earned its reputation for longevity.

Two friends from Iowa have been exchanging the same fruitcake since the late 1950s. Even older isthe fruitcake left behind in Antarcticaby the explorer Robert Falcon Scott in 1910. But the honor for the oldest known existing fruitcake goes to one thatwas baked in 1878when Rutherford B. Hayes was president of the United States.

Whats amazing about these old fruitcakes is that people have tasted them and lived, meaning they are still edible after all these years. The trifecta of sugar, low moisture ingredients and some high-proof spirits make fruitcakessome of the longest-lasting foods in the world.

Fruitcake is an ancient goody, with the oldest versionsa sort of energy barmade by the Romans to sustain their soldiers in battle.The Roman fruitcakewas a mash of barley, honey, wine and dried fruit, often pomegranate seeds.

What you might recognize as a modern-style fruitcake a moist, leavened dessert studded with fruits and nuts was probably first baked in the early Middle Ages in Europe. Cinnamon, cloves and nutmegwere symbols of culinary sophistication, and these sweet spices started appearing alongside fruit in many savory dishes especially breads, but also main courses.

Before long, most cuisineshad some sort of fruited breads or cakes that were early versions of the modern fruitcake.

Fruitcakes are different in Europe than they are in America. European fruitcakes are more like the medieval fruited bread than the versions made in Great Britain and the United States.The two most common stylesof fruitcake in Europe are the stollen and panettone.

British and American versions are much more cakelike. For over-the-top extravagance, honors have to go toa British versionthat crowns a rich fruitcake with a layer of marzipan icing.

Fruitcakes came to America with the European colonists, and the rising tide of emigration from Britain to New England closely mirroredan influx of cheap sugarfrom the Caribbean.

Sugar was the key to preserving fruit for use across the seasons. One of the favorite methods of preserving fruit was to candy it.Candied fruit sometimes known as crystallized fruit is fruit thats been cut into small pieces, boiled in sugar syrup, tossed in granulated sugar and allowed to dry.

Thanks to this technique, colonists were able to keep fruit from the summer harvest to use in their Christmas confections, and fruitcakes became one of the most popular seasonal desserts.

Fruitcakes were also popular due to their legendary shelf life, which, in an era before mechanical refrigeration, was extremely desirable.

Fruitcake aficionados will tell you that the best fruit cakes are matured or seasoned in fruitcake lingo for at least three months before they are cut. Seasoning not only improves the flavor of the fruitcake, but it makes it easier to slice.

Seasoning a fruitcake involves brushing your fruitcake periodically with your preferred distilled spirit before wrapping it tightly and letting it sit in a cool, dark place for up to two months. The traditional spirit of choice is brandy, but rum is also popular. In the American South, where fruitcake is extremely popular, bourbon is preferred. A well-seasoned fruitcakewill get several spirit bathsover the maturation period.

Credit for the fruitcakes popularity in America should at least partially go to the U.S. Post Office.

The institution of Rural Free Delivery in 1896 and the addition of the Parcel Post service in 1913caused an explosion of mail-order foods in America. Overnight, once rare delicacies were a mere mail-order envelope away for people anywhere who could afford them.

Given fruitcakes long shelf life and dense texture, it was a natural for a mail-order food business. Americas two most famous fruitcake companies,Claxtons of Claxton, Georgia, andCollin Streetof Corsicana, Texas, got their start in this heyday of mail-order food. By the early 1900s, U.S. mailrooms were full of the now ubiquitousfruitcake tins.

As late as the 1950s, fruitcakes were a widely esteemed part of the American holiday tradition. A 1953 Los Angeles Times article called fruitcake a holiday must, and in 1958, the Christian Science Monitor asked, What Could Be a Better Gift Than Fruitcake? But by 1989,a survey by Mastercardfound that fruitcake was the least favorite gift of 75% of those polled.

Haters and disrespect aside, fruitcake is still a robust American tradition: The website Serious Eatsreports that over 2 million fruitcakes are still sold each year.

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The magnificent history of the maligned and misunderstood fruitcake - WKRN News 2