It's National Fruitcake Day-- and We're Sharing A Recipe

#NationalFruitcakeDay

According to the folks at National Day Calendar, it's National Fruitcake Day - and a perfect opportunity to share a 1911 recipe from the Franklin Sentinel (see below).

National Day Calendar explains that fruitcakes are made with chopped candied or dried fruit, nuts, and spices and sometimes soaked in spirits, fruitcake has been a holiday gift-giving tradition for many, many years.

Dating back to ancient Rome, one of the earliest known recipes lists pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins mixed into barley mash. Records indicate that in the Middle Ages, makers added honey, spices, and preserved fruits. Recipes for fruitcakes vary from country to country, depending on available ingredients and tradition.

In the 16th century, two achievements crystallized to make fruitcakes more affordable and accessible. First, sugar from the American Colonies became abundant. Second, it was discovered that high concentrations of sugar could preserve fruits. These two actions resulted in excess candied fruit. Consequently, fruitcake making grew.

• Typically, Americans produce fruitcakes abundant in fruit and nuts
• In America, mail-order fruitcake began in 1913.
• Charities often sell commercial fruitcakes from catalogs as a fundraising event.
• In 1935, the expression “nutty as a fruitcake” was coined. The phrase came about as a result of excess nuts some Southern bakeries added to their fruitcakes due to their access to cheap nuts.
• Most mass-produced fruitcakes in America are alcohol-free.
• Some traditional recipes include liqueurs or brandy. Bakers then complete the fruitcake by covering it with powdered sugar.
• Some fruitcake makers soaked their fruitcakes in brandy-soaked linens believing the cakes improved with age.

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HOLIDAY COOKERY from the Dec. 1911 Franklin Sentinel

The time will soon be here when it will be necessary for us to look up the old family recipes and prepare for the festive holiday season.

Fruit cakes may be made weeks before hand and are better for their age.

Fruit Cake – Take two pounds of raisins, a pound of currants, half a pound of citron, four cups of brown sugar, two cups of butter, a cup of molasses, eight eggs, two teaspoonfuls of soda, a half cup of grape juice, five cups of flour, the grated rind of a lemon, two teaspoonfuls of cinnamon, a teaspoon of cloves, and also one of nutmeg. Beat the eggs and add the flour last, giving a thorough beating. Bake in a slow oven [a google search for a definition of a slow oven yields a wide range of results but 300-325 degrees F seems most common] for the first hour and a quarter then increase the heat to brown the cake.

(Good luck!)