Fruitcake. Source: Wikimedia Commons

This is ninth in a series of 12 posts on historical Christmas traditions. I didn’t note my sources, but please trust I did verify the information.

Ah, the Christmas traditional everyone loves to hate. According to Time magazine, “fruitcake dates back to the 16th century, when it was discovered that fruit could be preserved by soaking it in large solutions of sugar. Since sugar was cheap, it was an effective and affordable way for the colonies to ensure their native plums and cherries would make the journey to Europe without spoiling. By the 19th century people were combining all sorts of candied fruits — pineapples, plums, dates, pears, cherries, orange peels and cheap nuts — into a cake-like form. In 1913, two of the most famous American bakeries of the time — Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas and The Claxton Bakery in Claxton, Georgia — began to ship mail order fruitcakes.”

Do you like fruitcake? What’s your favorite holiday dessert?

I have never had it and I am fine with that. My favorites are either chocolate chip cookies or homemade fudge!