Fruitcakes have been around for a long time — and not just those that were made last year that may still be lingering around today, uneaten. Their history goes back to the days of ancient Rome, when they were used as energy bars for soldiers. The ingredients were mostly nuts and raisins, with some grains and honey wine mixed in. Then, in the Middle Ages, preserved fruits were added, according to fruit purveyors Harry and David. At that point, they became more like the fruitcakes we know and love — or not — today.
Yes, fruitcake is a revered tradition and among the first culinary signs that Christmas is coming. When the fruitcakes start appearing on supermarket or bakery shelves, you know the holiday season is upon us. But this cake is also one of the most divisive treats this time of year. With few exceptions, most people have strong opinions on the topic. Either you can’t get enough fruitcake, or you’d rather use is as a doorstop. We’re looking at both sides of the fruitcake coin.
Ooltewah resident Lynda Lawson has tried every kind of fruitcake she can find and has never found one that she likes. She says it’s too dry, plus there’s just some unknown, unpalatable spice in there that she finds repulsive enough to make her put her slice of fruitcake to the side every time.
Chattanoogan Greg DeMars, on the other hand, likes both commercially made and homemade fruitcakes.
“The fact that both are totally different adds to the appeal,” he says.
His paternal grandmother’s fruitcake is a dark cake studded with whole cherries then wrapped in rum-soaked cheesecloth. It’s a time-consuming process but not too hard to make, he says.
His mother makes a flourless fruitcake with lots of coconut and sweetened condensed milk.
“It’s fantastic, and age has changed my love for it,” he says. “I used to not like it because it was rich and sweet. I love it now.”
Contributed photo / Claxton fruitcake is commercially produced and sold. It’s also the type of fruitcake the Chattanooga Civitan Club auctions off at its annual fruitcake auction.Rather than making it, though, many fruitcake lovers choose to buy it from their favorite bakery or support the Chattanooga Civitan Club and place bids to, fingers crossed, take one home.
Civitan members have been selling fruitcakes for the past 70 years to support organizations that help children with special needs, such as Children’s Hospital at Erlanger, Orange Grove Center, Signal Centers and Siskin Children’s Institute.
But a few years ago, rather than selling fruitcakes to families and friends, club members began selling them via an auction format, something roughly 40% of Civitan Clubs are doing now. Not only is it exciting that way, but local Civitan members bought $10,000 worth of fruitcakes last year.
“It’s always a lot of fun,” says Civitan member and club treasurer Chuck Elmes. “Just like regular Civitan meetings: We sing a patriotic song, we bless our food and our mission and pledge allegiance to the flag. Civitan members are a warm and inviting group. A good time is to be had by all attending the fruitcake auction.”
There are approximately 400 Civitan Clubs across America and Canada, and get this: More than 250,000 pounds of fruitcakes are sold each year. That’s a lot of nuts, green and red maraschino cherries, flour, sugar and butter!
The auction will be held on December 6 with Little Miss Wheelchair Tennessee as its special guest, and featuring local personality Jed Mescon rallying the crowd and encouraging bids. Non-members are welcome to attend, and the minimum bid for a fruitcake is $25. Bids may be placed in person or online at chattanoogacivitanclub.org. Other forms of payment and donations can be given to any active member of the Civitan Club, even after the auction.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Kary Favish, known as the Crosby Baker, makes fruitcakes year-round.Civitan fruitcakes are made in Clayton, Georgia. But closer to home, Kary Favish, aka the Crosby Baker, makes them year-round by request — although most of her orders are made during the holiday season. And hers are different from most other fruitcakes.
“Most of the conversation [about fruitcakes] tends to be about dark fruitcakes, and people either love them or hate them, ” she says.
But Crosby Baker fruitcakes are white, made with a recipe from Hiram Walker, makers of award-winning distilled spirits.
Favish starts making them weeks ahead of time, wrapping them in cheesecloth soaked in peach or apricot brandy and stored in an airtight container for at least five weeks before taking them out, resoaking the cheesecloth and wrapping them again until the beautiful white fruitcakes are revealed in mid-December.
Certain foods bring back memories, and for another Chattanoogan, fruitcake takes her back to her grandmother’s kitchen.
“I sure miss her,” says Mary Miller Burton. “She would make them for us as birthday presents, and I would put mine in the freezer and cut pieces from it, making it last for months and not sharing it with anyone.”
At that time, probably back in the 1960s and ’70s, making a fruitcake was not an inexpensive endeavor, so Burton says her grandmother wouldn’t give her prized fruitcakes as gifts to just anybody — only to her closest family members.
They’re still not cheap with the skyrocketing prices of fruits, nuts, butter and, should you choose to add it, rum or brandy.
“So if someone makes you a fruitcake, it’s ’cause they love you lots!” Burton says.
For more information, go to chattanoogacivitanclub.org or thecrosbybaker.com.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton/ A fruitcake made by Kary Favish