Although dogs cannot eat Fruitcake because some of the ingredients are toxic to us, today we are celebrating this holiday dessert by sharing fun facts. Often the punchline in jokes in America, the Fruitcake is considered the food of royalty in England, and has been served at the weddings Queen Victoria, and also enjoyed more recently on Kate Middleton and Prince William’s big day. However, the Fruitcake didn’t have its origins in England, the oldest known recipe for it is from Rome. Yet some historians will argue that Egyptians were serving Fruitcake well before that, because the remnants of a very similar dessert was found in a tomb as food for the afterlife.
Also known as “Plum Cake” in England, the Fruitcake at one point had a bad reputation. In the 18th century, Fruitcakes were outlawed throughout continental Europe for being “sinfully rich.” It wasn’t until the end of the 1700s that officials loosened the rules to allow Fruitcake to be eaten at weddings and holiday celebrations. By the Victorian era, it found itself the center of attention by being served at tea parties, birthdays, weddings, and of course Christmas.
In America, the Fruitcake was known as “Muster Cakes” in the colonies because it was a hearty food served to men while they practiced their military training. Later it was called “Election Cake,” because many an anxious candidate and supporters ate it while waiting for election results. Speaking of American politics, apparently President George Washington once refused the gift of a Fruitcake citing, it was “unseemly for Presidents to accept gifts weighing more than 80 pounds, even though they were only eight inches in diameter.” According to a 1983 article in the New York Times, descendants of that baker not only still have the cake, they shave off a piece each year to enjoy it!
One can also argue that people love the Fruitcake to the moon and back, because the Apollo 11 crew brought one up into space with them in 1969. However, Neil Armstrong didn’t carry it with him when he took his first steps on the moon, nor did anyone of the crew get to sample that delicious treat in space. Today that out of this world Fruitcake is in the collections at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Perhaps they were inspired to bring it into space after reading Truman Capote’s 1956 short story, “The Christmas Memory,” in which the Fruitcake weather played a pivotal role in signifying the start of the Christmas season.
For our family, Fruitcakes are near and dear to our hearts because our Great Grammy would lovingly bake them using a modified version of her mother’s Applesauce Cake recipe. Today, our Great Uncle in America, who made the one in this photo, and our Great Aunt in Europe, each continue the tradition of using this family recipe.
