kgb_ Special Agents are tireless and relentless in their search for the answers to America’s questions.  And what does America want to know, you ask?  Well, today’s buzz centers on a maligned holiday confection, fruitcake:

So what’s actually in fruitcake anyway?

Know more:

Millions of Americans dread the thought of receiving it…until perhaps they receive a good one.  Historically, fruitcake in the United States has tasted, well, unsatisfying.   However, today’s fruitcake bakers say it’s the media’s fault.

Johnny Carson once said “I have a theory for many years that there’s only one fruitcake in the entire world, and it keeps getting passed on.”  Each year in Manitou Springs, Colorado, there is an annual fruitcake toss.  The 15th Annual Fruitcake Toss will be January 9, 2010.

The Woullet Bakery in Minnesota sells about 1000 pounds of fruitcake to folks willing to lend a deaf ear to the bad rap and give fruitcake a chance.

What makes the Wuollet fruitcake desirable?  Pecans, cherries, pineapple, dates and a dollop of butter cake batter combine with rum and that’s pretty much it.  The fruit is glazed and candied and the dates are rolled in sugar.  They bake it in 25-pound sheets and then cut it up to avoid crispy edges.

The big secret of the Woullet’s success however is the fact that they tossed a primary ingredient of traditional fruitcake…citron (candied fruit peels.) They just never liked it and decided to make a new kind of  fruitcake.

Fruitcake folklore from the Fruitcake Page

“The First Recorded Fruitcake was in Roman Times, and some believe the fruitcake to be the cause of the fall of the Roman Empire.”

“A little publicized method of determining whether a woman was a witch during the Salem Witch Trials was to offer the suspect a piece of fruitcake. If she ate it and lived, it was considered proof that she was, in fact, a witch.”

Making Christmas Fruitcake

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Source:    Good Question: What’s The Story About Fruitcake?

The Fruitcake Page