WEBVTT - How Does Fruitcake Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio Hey brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Laurin Vogel bomb Here. Each year in December, the US

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<v Speaker 1>Postal Service delivers tidy, dense packages of certain baked goods

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<v Speaker 1>into mailboxes across America, with a shelf life of up

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<v Speaker 1>to three years and even longer if generously doused with rum.

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<v Speaker 1>It's easy to see why they're so male friendly. But

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<v Speaker 1>what exactly is fruitcake? In the parlance of our times?

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<v Speaker 1>Fruitcake is a sweet, rich, moist type of cake. The

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<v Speaker 1>batter is traditionally made with wheat flour, eggs, butter, dark sugars,

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<v Speaker 1>and warm spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. It's

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<v Speaker 1>heavily studded with dried and candied fruits and nuts. Most

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<v Speaker 1>traditionally raisins, citrus, peel, and almonds, but honestly, anything goes

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<v Speaker 1>and candied cherries are common. Modernly, a rich brown liquor

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<v Speaker 1>like brandy, whisky or rum is often incorporated. Either the

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<v Speaker 1>fruits are soaked in it before being stirred in and

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<v Speaker 1>or the finished cake is basted in liquor. For those

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<v Speaker 1>who don't imbibe things like apple juice or vanilla syrup,

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<v Speaker 1>can be substituted here. The overall effect is a little overwhelming,

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<v Speaker 1>lots of heavy flavors and differing textures, but it basically

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<v Speaker 1>tastes like Christmas time. There are a lot of different recipes.

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<v Speaker 1>Some include other flavorings like cocoa powder. Some are coated

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<v Speaker 1>in a glaze and icing, or with marzipan. Fruitcake is

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<v Speaker 1>a tradition that technically goes back to Roman times. It

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<v Speaker 1>became a staple of festivals and today is widely associated

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<v Speaker 1>with winter holidays. There are some ardently against these dense,

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<v Speaker 1>fruit filled loaves. On average, they share a density with mahogany.

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<v Speaker 1>Johnny Carson famously joked back in nineteen eighty five the

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<v Speaker 1>worst Christmas gift is fruitcake. There's only one fruitcake in

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<v Speaker 1>the entire world, and people keep passing it around. In

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<v Speaker 1>one survey, forty seven percent of people who received a

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<v Speaker 1>gift of fruitcake reported throwing it away, eleven percent reported

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<v Speaker 1>regifting it. Some reported using it as a doorstop, but

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<v Speaker 1>there are some who are ardently for the fruitcake. A

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<v Speaker 1>Texas based Collin Street Bakery, which has been providing fruitcakes

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<v Speaker 1>since eighteen ninety six, produces more than one million a year.

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<v Speaker 1>And ships to some two hundred countries. So how did

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<v Speaker 1>we get here? A culinary lore claims that ancient Egyptians

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<v Speaker 1>placed an early version of the fruitcake on the tombs

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<v Speaker 1>of loved ones. Perhaps is food for the afterlife, but

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<v Speaker 1>fruitcakes weren't common until Roman times, when pomegranate seeds, pine nuts,

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<v Speaker 1>and barley mash were mixed together to form a ring

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<v Speaker 1>shaped dessert. A prize for its portability and shelf life,

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<v Speaker 1>Roman soldiers often brought this version of fruitcake with them

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<v Speaker 1>to the battlefields. Later in the Middle Ages, preserved fruit

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<v Speaker 1>spices and honey were added to the mix, and fruitcakes

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<v Speaker 1>gained popularity with crusaders. When colonialism and enslaved labor brought

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<v Speaker 1>down the price of sugar to merely extravagant, sugar was

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<v Speaker 1>incorporated by the cupful. For diners and wealthy households, fruits

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<v Speaker 1>from the Mediterranean were candied and added to the mixture,

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<v Speaker 1>along with nuts. When globalization made spices like nutmeg and

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<v Speaker 1>cinnamon limitedly available and wildly posh, those spices went in too,

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<v Speaker 1>making it even more of a special occasion treat. Various

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<v Speaker 1>versions were banned by European leaders in the sixteen and

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen hundreds, naming fruitcake inappropriately decadent and therefore lewed. But

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<v Speaker 1>it's always come back, and each successive century has contributed

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<v Speaker 1>yet more elements to the cake, like alcohol during the

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<v Speaker 1>Victorian era, until it became weighty with the cumulative harvests

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<v Speaker 1>of the seasons. It does seem a bit old fashioned today,

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<v Speaker 1>but it hasn't always been the butt of jokes. It

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<v Speaker 1>was so popular through the nineteen sixties that it was

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<v Speaker 1>part of the extremely limited menu sent into space with

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<v Speaker 1>the Apollo eleven moon landing astronauts. Defenders of these sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>leaden loaves claim that those who abhor fruitcake just haven't

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<v Speaker 1>had the right kind. So what is the right kind?

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<v Speaker 1>And does density make it more delicious or more dangerous if, say,

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<v Speaker 1>dropped on your foot. Let's begin by examining some statistics.

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<v Speaker 1>The average fruitcake weighs two pounds and serves six to

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<v Speaker 1>seven people. Its ability to languish on countertops for months

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<v Speaker 1>without a spot of mold developing is due to its

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<v Speaker 1>moisture stabilizing properties, mainly sugar. The sugar in it reduces

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<v Speaker 1>the cake's available water content and therefore reduces microorganism's ability

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<v Speaker 1>to live in or on it. For fruitcake aficionados, the

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<v Speaker 1>quality and type of the fruit can make or break

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<v Speaker 1>the baked good. Although preference of but most agree that

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<v Speaker 1>the fruitcake should be made at least one month in

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<v Speaker 1>advance of its gifting or eating. Some make a fruitcake

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<v Speaker 1>one year in advance. This allows the cake to deepen

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<v Speaker 1>its flavors, particularly since fruit contains tannins that, like wine,

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<v Speaker 1>release over time. It's also common for the baker to

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<v Speaker 1>add another seasoning dimension by feeding the fruitcake that is,

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<v Speaker 1>pouring whiskey, brandy, or rum over the loaf every so often.

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<v Speaker 1>The loaf can and should be heavy, but it must

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<v Speaker 1>be moist and contain a variety of flavors in order

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<v Speaker 1>to be successful. But some detractors from the fruitcake are

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<v Speaker 1>acting in good fun. For example, every January, the town

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<v Speaker 1>of Manachu Springs, Colorado, gathers for their annual Great Fruitcake Toss.

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<v Speaker 1>Aside from being a food drive for a local pantry,

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<v Speaker 1>the event allows people to rid themselves of unwanted fruitcakes

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<v Speaker 1>by hurling, tossing, or launching them with mechanical devices like

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<v Speaker 1>catapults or spud guns. Although if you didn't bring your

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<v Speaker 1>own fruitcake, you can rent one, and some attendees keep

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<v Speaker 1>theirs for reuse year after year. Since nineteen ninety four,

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<v Speaker 1>individuals and teams have tested their projectile prowess with the

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<v Speaker 1>promise of a trophy in several categories, including throwing distance

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<v Speaker 1>by age group, tossing into baskets, a relay race, accuracy

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<v Speaker 1>when throwing through hoops, and mechanical toss for distance. Judges

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<v Speaker 1>take the event seriously and make contestants adhere to standards

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<v Speaker 1>such as weight divisions two versus four pound fruitcakes, launching distances,

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<v Speaker 1>fruitcake contents they must contain glass, seed, fruits, nuts, flour

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<v Speaker 1>and be edible, and launching devices non fuel devices only,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you. There's also a too good to toss category

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<v Speaker 1>for people who actually enjoy making an eating fruitcake. In

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty five, the event is being held on January

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<v Speaker 1>twenty fifth, so if you're listening as this episode comes out,

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<v Speaker 1>there's still time to plan for it. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article Ultimate Guide to Fruitcake on how

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<v Speaker 1>Stuffworks dot Com, written by Julie Douglas and brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is production of iHeartRadio and partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>and is produced by Tyler Klang, but four more podcasts.

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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