Why do people dislike fruitcake

Sure, some people like this seasonal baked good, but we don't really trust them. Who in their right mind wants to eat something that looks like this:.

And to be fair, this is the best picture of fruit cake we could find. Image credit, Flickr: sylvar. Here at HuffPost Taste, we like to think ourselves as food lovers, not haters. We love doughnuts and melted cheese , whipped cream and sriracha -- we've even written them love letters. But when it comes to fruit cake, all we feel is hate. In our hearts, fruit cake does not deserve a declaration of love, but the very opposite of one.

This is the anti love letter. Fruit cake, we hate you, let us count the ways. We hate fruit cake's fluorescent candied fruit pieces. Why must its candied fruit look radioactive? As is usually the case when history is long and complicated, the answer is both yes and no. However, rather than eat them right away, people would wait an entire year before serving them, out of superstition that it would bring good luck for the new year.

While the cakes can withstand days without refrigeration, they were rarely properly preserved. Thus, this tradition helped the cake achieve its reputation as a tough, rock hard dessert. As evidence of their long shelf life, a year-old fruitcake was found in Antarctica earlier this year. And yes, it is believed to be edible. The cake is thought to have belonged to British explorer Robert Falcon Scott, who even in the most frigid of circumstances, left his dessert untouched.

Despite their questionable texture, they still maintain their status as special occasion treats overseas. By the s, thanks to increasing industrialization and inexpensive access to fruits and nuts, Southern bakeries were able to mass produce the dessert. Because of these conveniences and their remarkably long shelf life, the cakes were able to be sold via mail order catalog across the United States.

Because the fruits in the loaves are so vigorously preserved, scientists have claimed that a well-stored one can remain edible for up to 25 years. Proving that it could be much longer as well as seeming to prove that American disdain for the treat is almost as old as America itself, Russell Baker wrote for the New York Times in that his family was in possession of a loaf that had been baked in Fruitcakes are notoriously hefty, due to being densely packed with fruits and nuts.

There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other. Even some fruitcake manufacturers blame comedians like Carson for spreading this bad reputation for the Christmas regifting favorite. Apparently, the dessert had a fine reputation in the s before Carson and others started sullying its name. I associate fruitcake and disdain for it for an old Mary-Kate and Ashley film where an older couple who robs mail trucks at Christmas time gets frustrated because so much of their haul in one scene is fruitcakes; what a horrible gift, the lesson seemed to be, not even criminals like it.

I'm not sure if the holiday cheer is clouding my judgment, but does that fruitcake recipe actually sound National tastes, like trends, evolve with each generation. As evidenced by the last decade's artisanal food boom, young people are interested in food and drinks with complex flavor profiles, like dark chocolate, craft beers , strong coffee , and gourmet cheeses.

We're also actively rejecting the unhealthy, processed foods we grew up eating. It was very light, very sweet, and really, the antithesis of fruitcake. Fruitcake is just a taste that fell out of habit, and became really a dessert associated with the old and out of touch. And as a result, ended up a punchline for jokes around Christmas time. There is room to rediscover the fruitcake. It can be really good. We like things that are familiar, and we like novelty. Fruitcake can cover both bases, if made correctly and with some style.

Taste is cyclical, so it stands to reason that at some point in the future, our food- and fad-obsessed culture will embrace the fruitcake once again. If a hot chef makes a decent stab at bringing new spins on fruitcakes to the food world, they might just have a hit. Someone will get totally rich off this idea," Glass said.

She continued: "The big trick: getting people to actually try good, homemade fruitcakes. Fruitcake is truly a cake that comes out of love. If you make it right, it takes literal days.