How Does Fruitcake Work?

Whether you love it, hate it, or hurl it with a trebuchet, fruitcake holds a dense place in holiday traditions. Learn how it came to be (and where to win prizes for throwing it) in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/menus/fruitcake.htm

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio Hey brain Stuff
Laurin Vogel bomb Here. Each year in December, the US
Postal Service delivers tidy, dense packages of certain baked goods
into mailboxes across America, with a shelf life of up
to three years and even longer if generously doused with rum.

(00:23):
It's easy to see why they're so male friendly. But
what exactly is fruitcake? In the parlance of our times?
Fruitcake is a sweet, rich, moist type of cake. The
batter is traditionally made with wheat flour, eggs, butter, dark sugars,
and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. It's

(00:45):
heavily studded with dried and candied fruits and nuts. Most
traditionally raisins, citrus, peel, and almonds, but honestly, anything goes
and candied cherries are common. Modernly, a rich brown liquor
like brandy, whisky or rum is often incorporated. Either the
fruits are soaked in it before being stirred in and
or the finished cake is basted in liquor. For those

(01:07):
who don't imbibe things like apple juice or vanilla syrup,
can be substituted here. The overall effect is a little overwhelming,
lots of heavy flavors and differing textures, but it basically
tastes like Christmas time. There are a lot of different recipes.
Some include other flavorings like cocoa powder. Some are coated

(01:28):
in a glaze and icing, or with marzipan. Fruitcake is
a tradition that technically goes back to Roman times. It
became a staple of festivals and today is widely associated
with winter holidays. There are some ardently against these dense,
fruit filled loaves. On average, they share a density with mahogany.

(01:50):
Johnny Carson famously joked back in nineteen eighty five the
worst Christmas gift is fruitcake. There's only one fruitcake in
the entire world, and people keep passing it around. In
one survey, forty seven percent of people who received a
gift of fruitcake reported throwing it away, eleven percent reported
regifting it. Some reported using it as a doorstop, but

(02:12):
there are some who are ardently for the fruitcake. A
Texas based Collin Street Bakery, which has been providing fruitcakes
since eighteen ninety six, produces more than one million a year.
And ships to some two hundred countries. So how did
we get here? A culinary lore claims that ancient Egyptians
placed an early version of the fruitcake on the tombs

(02:34):
of loved ones. Perhaps is food for the afterlife, but
fruitcakes weren't common until Roman times, when pomegranate seeds, pine nuts,
and barley mash were mixed together to form a ring
shaped dessert. A prize for its portability and shelf life,
Roman soldiers often brought this version of fruitcake with them
to the battlefields. Later in the Middle Ages, preserved fruit

(02:56):
spices and honey were added to the mix, and fruitcakes
gained popularity with crusaders. When colonialism and enslaved labor brought
down the price of sugar to merely extravagant, sugar was
incorporated by the cupful. For diners and wealthy households, fruits
from the Mediterranean were candied and added to the mixture,

(03:16):
along with nuts. When globalization made spices like nutmeg and
cinnamon limitedly available and wildly posh, those spices went in too,
making it even more of a special occasion treat. Various
versions were banned by European leaders in the sixteen and
seventeen hundreds, naming fruitcake inappropriately decadent and therefore lewed. But

(03:40):
it's always come back, and each successive century has contributed
yet more elements to the cake, like alcohol during the
Victorian era, until it became weighty with the cumulative harvests
of the seasons. It does seem a bit old fashioned today,
but it hasn't always been the butt of jokes. It

(04:01):
was so popular through the nineteen sixties that it was
part of the extremely limited menu sent into space with
the Apollo eleven moon landing astronauts. Defenders of these sometimes
leaden loaves claim that those who abhor fruitcake just haven't
had the right kind. So what is the right kind?
And does density make it more delicious or more dangerous if, say,

(04:25):
dropped on your foot. Let's begin by examining some statistics.
The average fruitcake weighs two pounds and serves six to
seven people. Its ability to languish on countertops for months
without a spot of mold developing is due to its
moisture stabilizing properties, mainly sugar. The sugar in it reduces
the cake's available water content and therefore reduces microorganism's ability

(04:49):
to live in or on it. For fruitcake aficionados, the
quality and type of the fruit can make or break
the baked good. Although preference of but most agree that
the fruitcake should be made at least one month in
advance of its gifting or eating. Some make a fruitcake
one year in advance. This allows the cake to deepen

(05:11):
its flavors, particularly since fruit contains tannins that, like wine,
release over time. It's also common for the baker to
add another seasoning dimension by feeding the fruitcake that is,
pouring whiskey, brandy, or rum over the loaf every so often.
The loaf can and should be heavy, but it must

(05:33):
be moist and contain a variety of flavors in order
to be successful. But some detractors from the fruitcake are
acting in good fun. For example, every January, the town
of Manachu Springs, Colorado, gathers for their annual Great Fruitcake Toss.
Aside from being a food drive for a local pantry,

(05:55):
the event allows people to rid themselves of unwanted fruitcakes
by hurling, tossing, or launching them with mechanical devices like
catapults or spud guns. Although if you didn't bring your
own fruitcake, you can rent one, and some attendees keep
theirs for reuse year after year. Since nineteen ninety four,
individuals and teams have tested their projectile prowess with the

(06:18):
promise of a trophy in several categories, including throwing distance
by age group, tossing into baskets, a relay race, accuracy
when throwing through hoops, and mechanical toss for distance. Judges
take the event seriously and make contestants adhere to standards
such as weight divisions two versus four pound fruitcakes, launching distances,

(06:40):
fruitcake contents they must contain glass, seed, fruits, nuts, flour
and be edible, and launching devices non fuel devices only,
thank you. There's also a too good to toss category
for people who actually enjoy making an eating fruitcake. In
twenty twenty five, the event is being held on January

(07:01):
twenty fifth, so if you're listening as this episode comes out,
there's still time to plan for it. Today's episode is
based on the article Ultimate Guide to Fruitcake on how
Stuffworks dot Com, written by Julie Douglas and brain Stuff
is production of iHeartRadio and partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com,

(07:22):
and is produced by Tyler Klang, but four more podcasts.
My Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.