Fruitcake
Fruitcake(orfruit cake) is acakemade withchoppedcandied fruitand/or driedfruit,nuts, andspices, and (occasionally) soaked inspirits. In theUnited Kingdom, certain rich versions maybeiced anddecorated.
Fruit cakes are typicallyserved in celebration ofweddingsandChristmas. Giventheirrich nature, fruit cake ismostoftenconsumed on itsown, as opposed to with condiments (such as butter or cream).
History
The earliestrecipefromancient Romelistspomegranateseeds,pinenuts, andraisinsthatwere mixed intobarleymash. In theMiddle Ages,honey,spices, andpreservedfruitswereadded.[
Fruit cakes soonproliferated all over Europe. Recipesvariedgreatly in different countries throughout the ages, depending on the availableingredients as well as (in some instances) churchregulationsforbidding the use of butter, regarding the observance offast.Pope Innocent VIII(1432–1492) finallygranted the use of butter, in a written permission known as the ‘Butter Letter' orButterbriefin 1490, giving permission toSaxonyto use milk and butter in the NorthGermanStollenfruit cakes.
Starting in the 16th century, sugarfrom theAmerican Colonies(and the discoverythathigh concentrations of sugarcouldpreserve fruits) created an excess of candied fruit, thusmaking fruit cakes more affordable and popular.[
Canada[
The fruit cake iscommonlyknown as aChristmas CakeinCanadaand eatenduring theChristmasseason. Rarelyisitseenduringother times of the year. The Canadian fruit cake issimilar in style to the UK version, as itis in mostCommonwealth countries. However, thereisrarelyicing on the cake and alcoholis not commonly put in Christmas cakes that are sold. The cakes also tend to bevoid of anydecorations and are shapedlike a smallloaf of bread.
Dark, moist and rich Christmas cakes are the mostfrequentlyconsumed, with white Christmas cake rarelyseen. These cakes tend to be made in mid-November to earlyDecemberwhen the weatherstarts to cool down. They are a stapleduring Christmas dinner and a gift generallyexchangedbetween business associates and close friends/family.
France[
In France, as in someother non-English speaking countries, thegâteau aux fruits("fruit-cake") isoftensimplycalled "Cake
Ireland[
In Ireland, a type of fruitcakecalledBarmbrackiseatenatHallowe'en. The cake containsdifferentobjectssuch as a ring or small coin, eachsignifying a different fortune for the personwhofindsit.
United Kingdom
In the UK, fruit cakes come in manyvarieties, fromextremely light to rich and moist.
The traditional Christmas cake is a round fruitcakecovered inmarzipanand then in whiteroyal icingor fondant icing. They are oftenfurtherdecoratedwithsnowscenes, hollyleaves, and berries (real or artificial), or tinydecorative robins orsnowmen. It isalso the tradition for thiskind of cake to beservedatweddings as part of the dessert course.
In Yorkshire, itisoftenservedaccompaniedwithcheese. Fruit cakes in the United Kingdomoftencontaincurrants andglace cherries. One type of cake thatoriginated in Scotland is theDundee Cake, a type of fruit cake whichdoes not containglace cherries. This is a fruit cake thatisdecoratedwithalmonds, and whichowesitsname toKeiller'smarmalade.
Fruitcakewashistoricallyreferred to asplum cakein Englandsincearound 1700
FromWikipedia