Fruitcake - Who Doesn't Love It?

Say fruitcake around my family during the holidays and all you get is eww! ugh! yuk! and are you crazy? My brothers have suggested using the fruitcake as a football.

They like fruitcake about as much as they like my meatloaf, but that is another story. I for one love fruitcake even though I only eat it during the Christmas holiday season. To me it is wonderful and I enjoy a big hunk of it with a good cup of coffee.

I can't figure out why people have such distain for fruitcake.You would have thought I had offered them poison. Some family members won't even taste it, they don't even like the way it looks.

There are different types of fruitcakes and I have tasted many of them. Some, I must admit were not the greatest, they either had too much chunky fruit or not the right mix of spices but the majority were quite tasteful.

My favorite type of fruitcake is a moist dark cake, moderately spiced with a little rum or bourbon added to it along with very small cut up pieces of candied fruits and nuts. The rum really adds a nice flavor to the fruitcake. The colors of the candied fruits add a festive look to the fruitcake.

I have never tried to bake one myself, as I think it would be a lot of work. During the holidays I consider myself fortunate when I receive a homemade fruitcake as a gift from a friend. Other than that I buy one or two of them myself.

It is believed that ancient Rome had the earliest recipe for fruitcake. It was a barley mash mixed with raisins, pine nuts and pomegranate seeds. In the middle ages other fruits and spices were added. In Europe, fruitcake recipes were varied depending on what ingredients were on hand.

The American colonies during the 16th century discovered that sugar could preserve fruit which created an excess amount of candied fruit available for fruitcakes. That made them more popular and affordable.

If fruitcakes are made with some type of alcohol they will have a long shelf life, if kept in a cool dark space. You can purchase fruitcakes ahead of time online for the holidays. They are available in loaf shapes or ring shapes.

Whatever you decide, I hope you will be enjoying your fruitcake as much as I will during the upcoming holiday season.

I won't have to worry about sharing it with the family, since they don't like it! More for me.