National Fruitcake Day is celebrated on December 27th. So, let’s look at some fun facts about one of our favorite holiday deserts:
- Historians tell us that the first fruitcakes were made by the ancient Egyptians. These were not eaten, but instead were tucked into the tombs with their dead so they could be enjoyed in the afterlife.
- The Romans were some of the first to make and eat fruit cakes. They mixed pine nuts, barley mash, pomegranate seeds, raisins, and honeyed wine into a cake they called “satura”.
- Fruitcakes can be preserved for over 20 years if made with alcohol – even without refrigeration.
- The first mail-order fruitcake business was started in 1913 by the Collin Street Bakery, of Corsicana Texas.
- A pineapple fruitcake was sent with the Apollo 11 space mission. The astronauts did not eat it, and it is now on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
- Fruitcakes are like fine wine because they get better with age.
- According to the New York Daily News, fruitcakes are ranked number six on the list of the most regifted Christmas items.
- Most fruitcakes weigh between two and three pounds. The heaviest fruitcake on record was baked in Nicaragua and weighed 31,865 pounds!
- While most mass-produced fruitcakes in America are alcohol-free, some traditional recipes include liqueurs or brandy.
- Johnny Carson once said, “There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep passing it around.”
Merry Christmas!
