# Why does Fruitcake get such a bad reputation?



## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

My wife just made 6 and she brought me in a slice. Most folks I know turn their noses up at fruitcake, but I suspect they never had a good one. My wife's fruitcake is absolutely delicious...I never ate a store bought one, and maybe that's what most folks have. Maybe they're not so good. Home made...bring it on!


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## TJN66 (Aug 29, 2004)

Could you be persuaded to give out the recipe? I have been wanting to make one but I want a tried and true recipe.


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## Jokarva (Jan 17, 2010)

I love fruitcake, store bought, homemade - whatever! I'm too lazy to try to make one though, so I'll have to stick to store bought.


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## GrannyG (Mar 26, 2005)

I think it is an "aquired taste" by us oldies...LOL...so many HATE nuts, HATE raisins, just picky, picky ....we were blessed to just have an orange and a little bag of candy at Holiday times, fruitcake was definitely a luxury. I love fruitcake, my grands turn their noses up...."Eeewwwww"...we live in a new time of sweets.....but they never turn down jelly doughnuts or candy....


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## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

TJN66 said:


> Could you be persuaded to give out the recipe? I have been wanting to make one but I want a tried and true recipe.


I will give you the recipe tomorrow...I tell you it is delicious..."old school" stuff


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## thebaker (Dec 2, 2009)

Also known as plum cake, Christmas cake, black cake and wedding cake, fruitcake is a rich, dense cake studded with dried and candied fruit and usually marinated in booze for several weeks, sometimes months. 


The fruit cake can be traced to the Middle Ages, when dried fruit began to arrive in Britain from Portugal and the E. Mediterranean. Sugar was cheap and plentiful, a reason to dip the dried fruit to further preserve and "candy" it. It's not clear exactly when alcohol entered the fruitcake equation, but recipe references to Madeira, rum and brandy all point in the direction of the 17th century, when British colonists boarded ships for the West Indies. The former British colony of Barbados is home to rum, after all. I'm betting that the alcohol was injected into the fruitcake to further extend its life, with the long ocean journeys of rumrunners in mind. 

The alcohol-steeped fruitcake of 18th-century Britain became so intoxicating that a law was limiting its consumption to special occasions -- weddings, funerals, Christmas. This would explain how the fruitcake came to be known as "Christmas cake." 


The fruitcake didn't make its way to this country until the early 20th century, but seems to have had a bad reputation ever since it arrived. (Hmmm...maybe because American mail-order versions came without the booze?) 

Another reason it's got a bad rep is due to lots of them aren't made homemade an taste awful. There is only a few companies that makes a true fruitcake. 

According to John, the fruitcake began to get a bad name when people âstarted getting down on drinking and driving.â He claims that a wine company began taking shots at fruitcake in order to divert attention from the problem of holiday drunk driving. 

The reason a lot of people donât like fruitcake is because they eat them when theyâre fresh. They forget that fruitcake is supposed to be made, wrapped in an airtight container and then put away.â Giving the cake time to set allows the flavors to blend and achieve its optimal taste. âI would say anywhere from a month to three months is a good setting time.

Fruitcakes are suppose to be made a few months before Christmas so they will taste good..


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

It is one of those "love it or hate it" things, not much middle ground with fruitcake. The commercially made ones can be much improved by infusing with bourbon or rum.


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## Guest (Dec 13, 2010)

I learned a long time ago that you only put in the fruit you like. if you don't like citron(whatever that is) by itself, you wont like it mixed with a lot of other stuff you don't like. We fruitcake by consensus here, everybody that will be eating any gets to pick out their favorite fruits and that's what I use.


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## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

OK...for those of you who think fruitcake is for the birds, literally...give this one a try. I've never tasted better:

Combine: 3 cups baking raisins, 1&1/2 cup water, 1&1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter and two beaten eggs.

Sift together: 2&1/2 cups flour (unbleached all purpose), 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, and 1/2 tsp allspice.

Add to the dry ingredients: 1&1/2 cup candied fruits and 1&1/2 cup nuts

Add the dry ingredients to the raisin mixture.

Spray loaf pans and parchment paper with spray oil and line the pans with the parchment paper. Spoon the batter into the pans.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 min. for mini pans, or 1&1/2 hours for loaf size pan.

Cool on wire rack in pan for 10 minutes, then take out of pan and cool completely on wire rack. Wrap each loaf in wax paper then foil. Store at room temperature.


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## Guest (Dec 13, 2010)

Home made fruit cake can be pretty good. I've yet to try a commercial fruit cake that I'd eat a second slice of.

I like it best using the batter to make fruit cake cookies. Extra nuts in mine please.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Reason. No one liked it so it got passed around. Either they let it dry out or someone tried to make it better. If you got drunk smelling it, the fruit cake tasted better. LOL. I love homemade moist fruitcake. But we make it more like banana bread....James


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

I just made 3 cakes a couple of days ago. It was my experience that the parchment paper did not need any oil. The cakes just came right out.

Hint: Have the parchment paper hang over the edges an inch or so on the long sides. When the cake has cooled just lift out by the parchment.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

thebaker said:


> Also known as plum cake, Christmas cake, black cake and wedding cake, fruitcake is a rich, dense cake studded with dried and candied fruit and usually marinated in booze for several weeks, sometimes months.
> 
> 
> The fruit cake can be traced to the Middle Ages, when dried fruit began to arrive in Britain from Portugal and the E. Mediterranean. Sugar was cheap and plentiful, a reason to dip the dried fruit to further preserve and "candy" it. It's not clear exactly when alcohol entered the fruitcake equation, but recipe references to Madeira, rum and brandy all point in the direction of the 17th century, when British colonists boarded ships for the West Indies. The former British colony of Barbados is home to rum, after all. I'm betting that the alcohol was injected into the fruitcake to further extend its life, with the long ocean journeys of rumrunners in mind.
> ...


Seems I read that article in the Washington Post about 3 years ago. It was quiet informative.


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

American fruit cake is very different than English Christmas or wedding cakes. The American version is much sweeter with the candied fruit whereas the English cakes get much of their sweetness from the icing and marzipan. I could eat English fruitcake everyday, but I find the American ones far too sweet.

English fruit cakes are always aged - if I don't get mine made before September we don't have one that year (pudding and mincemeat are best aged 9 months or more).


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## nancy237 (May 29, 2008)

My mom used to make the only fruitcake I ever liked...

It had no breading..it was all candied with nuts & fruit & stuff..

I sure wish I knew how she made it.
I think it was called an icebox fruitcake...


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

My grandma made a dark, aged one. Soaked in Irish whisky I think. I have called all of the surviving family members of her generation (she was born to an Irish and a German immigrant in 1906) and no one knows.


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## TJN66 (Aug 29, 2004)

Thank you so much! I am going to make this =)


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

nancy237 said:


> My mom used to make the only fruitcake I ever liked...
> 
> It had no breading..it was all candied with nuts & fruit & stuff..
> 
> ...


That sounds like my familys recipe...if you want it I can post.


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## nancy237 (May 29, 2008)

Kmac15 said:


> That sounds like my familys recipe...if you want it I can post.


When you have time I would love it...

It would be an amazing surprise for my brother who loved it also.
We lost my mom in 1991 and I never found that recipe...


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

nancy237 said:


> When you have time I would love it...
> 
> It would be an amazing surprise for my brother who loved it also.
> We lost my mom in 1991 and I never found that recipe...


Ice Box Fruit Cake (makes 2 loaves)

2lbs fine ground nuts (I like pecans)
1 box fine ground vanilla wafers
1 med container candied fruit (I like mixed, but your choice)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 box golden raisins 
1 jar maraschino cherries, cut into quarters with a few reserved for decorating the top, reserving the liquid

Mix everything except the cherry juice. Add the juice a little at a time until the mix sticks together. (normally it takes about 1/2 a jar) Wrap well with saran wrap and then with foil. Place in the fridge and top with a bit more of the cherry juice once a week for up to 6 months. 

(my family never added liquor, but I understand that a splash of Jack 
Daniels can be used in place of the cherry juice LOL)

I know this recipe is at least 60 years old as my grandmother used to make it.


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## RVcook (Mar 29, 2008)

MO_cows said:


> It is one of those "love it or hate it" things, not much middle ground with fruitcake. The commercially made ones can be much improved by infusing with bourbon or rum.


Yep...I'm definitely in the latter group. Fruitcake..._shudder_...

RVcook


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## nancy237 (May 29, 2008)

Kmac15

Thank you so much !!!!!

I can't wait to make it.

I remember her getting some of those ingredients
when we got groceries during the holidays...


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

Tallpines posted her recipe in here and I gotta say it's WONDERFUL!

I soaked my fruits and nuts in brandy for about a month before making the fruitcake. I also poured some brandy on them when they were cooled and wrapped them in foil and into a plastic bag.

Last weekend, we taste tested them. Wowsers! Don't eat and drive!

Roger loves GOOD fruitcake but has been disappointed in the past! 

Not with this recipe!


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## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

I remember helping my mom make fruitcake. She wouldn't get the candied fruit at the grocery as it has no real taste; she got it at a gourmet market. There was so much fruit in the finished cake that there was only a thread of dough to hold it together. We wrapped it in strips of muslin or cheesecloth, dropped into round tins, and began the weekly drizzling with brandy. The alcohol evaporates but the flavor remains; it becomes complex, rich, luxurious. She always made hers in rings like in an angelfood pan.

Some were given away; but some were for us. She'd slice it thin so the fruit would look like stained glass, and it'd always be on the Christmas buffet. 

I know why it gets such a bad rap. Most producers use cheap ingredients with little to no flavor, are stingy with the fruit, and use flavorings instead of real liquor. It's a ghost of the real thing. Geez, just look at what they've done to eggnog. The stuff in the carton gags me.


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