A New Life for Fruitcake
Posted by The Editorial Desk / Thursday, December 2nd, 2010
Most of us probably think of fruitcake as a hard tasteless block of flavorless cake that arrives in the mailbox from a long lost great-aunt. I had fruitcake as a child and can say that it certainly isn’t something that I fought over with my siblings. Someone had sent the fruitcake in the mail for the holidays and it must have been en route since October. It was hard as a rock and dry.
(Image: Fruitcake Recipes)
Legend has it that the reason fruitcake became associated with Christmas is because in the late 1700′s the English passed out slices of the cake to poor Christmas carol singers.
I always thought I hated fruitcake until last year when I had a bite of a delicious, moist, nutty fruitcake that had been homemade by a friend. I intend to find a good recipe this year and make one that will change the minds of any fruitcake haters that visit my house.
When searching for the perfect recipe, I found that Holy Cross Abbey in Berryville has a Monastery Bakery and sells fruitcakes year-round. Their fruitcakes are made from an old-fashioned recipe with select fruit and nuts in a brandy-laced batter.
(Image: Holy Cross Abbey)
The Monastery Bakery also makes a special treat called “Fraters”. The fraters are small slices of their fruitcake smothered in dark chocolate. I have never tried them, but a moist bite of fruitcake coated in chocolate sounds delicious.
(Image: Holy Cross Abbey)
For a delicious fruitcake that doesn’t take up any of your time, try the Assumption Abbey Fruitcake from Williams-Sonoma or the Traditional Fruitcake from Neiman Marcus.
(Image: Williams-Sonoma)
Whether you bake your own fruitcake, buy a fruitcake, or receive one in the mail from someone special, give fruitcake another try this year. It can be a great holiday treat and all fruitcakes don’t deserve a bad rap.
-Liz Stevenson
Tags: fruitcake, Gut Check, Holy Cross Abbey, Liz Stevenson, Neiman Marcus, Northern Virginia Magazine, Williams Sonoma