It’s National Fruitcake Day

Get Baking, today is national Fruitcake Day.  The fruitcake, perhaps one of the most mocked holiday gifts, is also a holiday giving tradition.  It actually dates back to ancient Rome.  By the 16th century, sugar was plentiful and bakers found that a lot of sugar could be used to preserve fruits.  Combined, this led to a lot of candied fruit and the exponential growth of fruitcake making.  Ever hear the phrase “nutty as a fruitcake?”  That expression was coined in 1935 because of the huge amount of nuts some southern bakeries added to their fruitcakes because nuts were both plentiful and cheap.