When was the last time you tried fruitcake? Long poked fun of around the holidays, the fruitcake is actually enjoyed by many. The classic fruit cake has classically been feared during any holiday occasion. Much of this grief is because everyone made them and gave them to each other. This would cause families to have literally a dozen fruit cakes to eat during the winter months! Add to that, many fruit cakes have been handmade, and oftentimes handmade fruitcake is not done well.

Do People Like Fruit Cakes?

I have always been a huge fan of baking, and especially baking different types of cakes. I love to bake cakes and cookies, and I could never figure out why people would bake and give all these cakes to each other if everyone hated them. Werent fruitcakes just disgusting heavy blocks of dough and jellied fruit? I set out to discover if there were such a thing as a good tasting fruit cake. Were they just being made wrong, have peoples tastes just begun to change? After asking around I noticed that many people said they didnt care for fruit cake, but those people couldnt remember eating any in many years. A few people said they did enjoy it around the holidays.

Traditional Fruit Cakes

I have discovered that there are many different recipes. The recipe I think people are most familiar with the bland, generic one. These cakes are dense, dry, but easy to preserve. In this modern age where we can have fresh food whenever we want, we are a little bit spoiled. The usefulness of having a dry, heavy holiday fruit cake that can last for months is muted. However historically they were an excellent source of food over the cold winter. When it was cold and all the gardens were dead and the ground was cold, having something sweet to eat during the winter that didnt need to be well preserved was very helpful to families. That is why the traditional recipe has caught on so much.

Modern Fruit Cakes

Welcome to the modern day. There are now some fruit cake recipes out there that are absolutely wonderful. Not nearly so dense, dry, or doughy than their traditional cousins, these cakes are a fine dessert and perfect for the holiday season. Many of the newer recipes add things like brandy and egg nog to the recipe. Adding coffee, cream and even chocolate is common. Many of the new fruitcakes use fresh fruit as well. Using fresh fruit makes your cake much less dense and alot more people will enjoy it over the preserved fruits. Many children and even adults dont like nuts scattered about their cake either, so take them out.

The fruit cake has grown up and there are many more options today than just the heavy traditional kind. This isnt your gradmas fruitcake anymore. Give one a try this holiday season, and if you bake or buy one, find a more progressive style of cake than the traditional heavy one that many people dont care for. Youll be glad you did!