1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio Hey brain Stuff 2 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 1: Laurin Vogel bomb Here. Each year in December, the US 3 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: Postal Service delivers tidy, dense packages of certain baked goods 4 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:20,080 Speaker 1: into mailboxes across America, with a shelf life of up 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: to three years and even longer if generously doused with rum. 6 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: It's easy to see why they're so male friendly. But 7 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: what exactly is fruitcake? In the parlance of our times? 8 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:36,519 Speaker 1: Fruitcake is a sweet, rich, moist type of cake. The 9 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: batter is traditionally made with wheat flour, eggs, butter, dark sugars, 10 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:45,599 Speaker 1: and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. It's 11 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: heavily studded with dried and candied fruits and nuts. Most 12 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: traditionally raisins, citrus, peel, and almonds, but honestly, anything goes 13 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: and candied cherries are common. Modernly, a rich brown liquor 14 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: like brandy, whisky or rum is often incorporated. Either the 15 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:04,240 Speaker 1: fruits are soaked in it before being stirred in and 16 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: or the finished cake is basted in liquor. For those 17 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: who don't imbibe things like apple juice or vanilla syrup, 18 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:15,760 Speaker 1: can be substituted here. The overall effect is a little overwhelming, 19 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: lots of heavy flavors and differing textures, but it basically 20 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 1: tastes like Christmas time. There are a lot of different recipes. 21 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: Some include other flavorings like cocoa powder. Some are coated 22 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: in a glaze and icing, or with marzipan. Fruitcake is 23 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: a tradition that technically goes back to Roman times. It 24 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: became a staple of festivals and today is widely associated 25 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: with winter holidays. There are some ardently against these dense, 26 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: fruit filled loaves. On average, they share a density with mahogany. 27 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: Johnny Carson famously joked back in nineteen eighty five the 28 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: worst Christmas gift is fruitcake. There's only one fruitcake in 29 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: the entire world, and people keep passing it around. In 30 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: one survey, forty seven percent of people who received a 31 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: gift of fruitcake reported throwing it away, eleven percent reported 32 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 1: regifting it. Some reported using it as a doorstop, but 33 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,640 Speaker 1: there are some who are ardently for the fruitcake. A 34 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,880 Speaker 1: Texas based Collin Street Bakery, which has been providing fruitcakes 35 00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:22,360 Speaker 1: since eighteen ninety six, produces more than one million a year. 36 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: And ships to some two hundred countries. So how did 37 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,839 Speaker 1: we get here? A culinary lore claims that ancient Egyptians 38 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: placed an early version of the fruitcake on the tombs 39 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: of loved ones. Perhaps is food for the afterlife, but 40 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: fruitcakes weren't common until Roman times, when pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, 41 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: and barley mash were mixed together to form a ring 42 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: shaped dessert. A prize for its portability and shelf life, 43 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 1: Roman soldiers often brought this version of fruitcake with them 44 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: to the battlefields. Later in the Middle Ages, preserved fruit 45 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: spices and honey were added to the mix, and fruitcakes 46 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: gained popularity with crusaders. When colonialism and enslaved labor brought 47 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 1: down the price of sugar to merely extravagant, sugar was 48 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: incorporated by the cupful. For diners and wealthy households, fruits 49 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: from the Mediterranean were candied and added to the mixture, 50 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: along with nuts. When globalization made spices like nutmeg and 51 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: cinnamon limitedly available and wildly posh, those spices went in too, 52 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: making it even more of a special occasion treat. Various 53 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: versions were banned by European leaders in the sixteen and 54 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: seventeen hundreds, naming fruitcake inappropriately decadent and therefore lewed. But 55 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: it's always come back, and each successive century has contributed 56 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: yet more elements to the cake, like alcohol during the 57 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: Victorian era, until it became weighty with the cumulative harvests 58 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: of the seasons. It does seem a bit old fashioned today, 59 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: but it hasn't always been the butt of jokes. It 60 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: was so popular through the nineteen sixties that it was 61 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: part of the extremely limited menu sent into space with 62 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: the Apollo eleven moon landing astronauts. Defenders of these sometimes 63 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: leaden loaves claim that those who abhor fruitcake just haven't 64 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: had the right kind. So what is the right kind? 65 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: And does density make it more delicious or more dangerous if, say, 66 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: dropped on your foot. Let's begin by examining some statistics. 67 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 1: The average fruitcake weighs two pounds and serves six to 68 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 1: seven people. Its ability to languish on countertops for months 69 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: without a spot of mold developing is due to its 70 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: moisture stabilizing properties, mainly sugar. The sugar in it reduces 71 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: the cake's available water content and therefore reduces microorganism's ability 72 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: to live in or on it. For fruitcake aficionados, the 73 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: quality and type of the fruit can make or break 74 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 1: the baked good. Although preference of but most agree that 75 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 1: the fruitcake should be made at least one month in 76 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: advance of its gifting or eating. Some make a fruitcake 77 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,880 Speaker 1: one year in advance. This allows the cake to deepen 78 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: its flavors, particularly since fruit contains tannins that, like wine, 79 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 1: release over time. It's also common for the baker to 80 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:24,600 Speaker 1: add another seasoning dimension by feeding the fruitcake that is, 81 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: pouring whiskey, brandy, or rum over the loaf every so often. 82 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,479 Speaker 1: The loaf can and should be heavy, but it must 83 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: be moist and contain a variety of flavors in order 84 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: to be successful. But some detractors from the fruitcake are 85 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: acting in good fun. For example, every January, the town 86 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: of Manachu Springs, Colorado, gathers for their annual Great Fruitcake Toss. 87 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: Aside from being a food drive for a local pantry, 88 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: the event allows people to rid themselves of unwanted fruitcakes 89 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,359 Speaker 1: by hurling, tossing, or launching them with mechanical devices like 90 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: catapults or spud guns. Although if you didn't bring your 91 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: own fruitcake, you can rent one, and some attendees keep 92 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:14,039 Speaker 1: theirs for reuse year after year. Since nineteen ninety four, 93 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: individuals and teams have tested their projectile prowess with the 94 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: promise of a trophy in several categories, including throwing distance 95 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: by age group, tossing into baskets, a relay race, accuracy 96 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: when throwing through hoops, and mechanical toss for distance. Judges 97 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: take the event seriously and make contestants adhere to standards 98 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: such as weight divisions two versus four pound fruitcakes, launching distances, 99 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,680 Speaker 1: fruitcake contents they must contain glass, seed, fruits, nuts, flour 100 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:49,640 Speaker 1: and be edible, and launching devices non fuel devices only, 101 00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: thank you. There's also a too good to toss category 102 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 1: for people who actually enjoy making an eating fruitcake. In 103 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:01,840 Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, the event is being held on January 104 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: twenty fifth, so if you're listening as this episode comes out, 105 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: there's still time to plan for it. Today's episode is 106 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: based on the article Ultimate Guide to Fruitcake on how 107 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: Stuffworks dot Com, written by Julie Douglas and brain Stuff 108 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: is production of iHeartRadio and partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com, 109 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: and is produced by Tyler Klang, but four more podcasts. 110 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,240 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 111 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.