What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
Truly Donovan
<arc...@iconn.net> wrote:
>Back where I come from, Christmas cake is a rich fruit cake, covered
>with a layer of almond paste, and then a layer of Royal icing. My
>husband and I love fruitcake. When we first moved to the USA, one of our
>new neighbours sold us a fruitcake as part of a fund-raiser for some
>good cause. It arrived in a can, from Texas.
This sounds like a not-so-subtle putdown. There is at least one
Texas-bred fruitcake shipped in a tin (we don't call those "cans," we
call them "tins") which is superb. Probably not available as a
fundraiser, but the fact of being from Texas and arriving in a tin is
not itself a disgrace.
And we don't call them "Christmas cakes," either, so you're talking
about a different animal at the get-go.
>
>My first surprise was that it had a hole in the middle. Apparently, the
>baker did not learn how to cook a heavy cake so that the middle would
>cook, without burning the outside. The second surprise was that it was
>nothing like the fruitcakes we were accustomed to make. It seemed to
>comprise almost entirely of candied fruit, and green cherries.
Fruitcakes can be made in all sorts of pan configurations. Why would
it be objectionable that it have a "hole" in the middle if you
selected it on any basis except its circumference? They are usually
sold by weight. Since American fruitcakes are traditionally sliced
very thin for serving, the hole in the middle actually facilitates
this. The other common shape for fruitcakes in the US is a loaf.
If it came so surprisingly came from Texas in a tin and had a hole in
the middle, why would you expect it to be anything like what you were
accustomed to?
>
>Having made my own fruitcakes since then, I have discovered that it is
>very difficult to find the right kind of dried fruit and candied peel to
>make my family's traditional cake. This year, we're going to England
>for Christmas.
Because of the cake? Wow.
Well I now know that if I ever am served a "Christmas cake" in England
that I shall have to bring a knife to scrape the damn almond paste off
before it will be edible.
My fruitcake doesn't have any candied fruits in it--just dried fruits,
maraschino cherries, walnuts and pecans. I have yet to serve it to
someone who admits to liking fruitcake who didn't love it. I've only
been using this recipe for four years now and the demand is such that
I have to make 16 to get a few for home use.
--
Truly Donovan
reply to truly at lunemere dot com
Gary Williams, Business Services Accounting
writes:
>My fruitcake doesn't have any candied fruits in it--just dried fruits,
>maraschino cherries, walnuts and pecans. I have yet to serve it to
>someone who admits to liking fruitcake who didn't love it. I've only
>been using this recipe for four years now and the demand is such that
>I have to make 16 to get a few for home use.
Seventeen this year, if it's okay with you.
Just ship it direct, not through Maria.
Gary Williams
Jitze Couperus
McMurray) wrote:
>
>I've been making one every year[1] for ages and its appearance on
>Christmas Day is further cause for joy. Everyone partakes and no one
>refuses a second piece.
>
>Maybe it's the half-cup of dark rum.
>
>[1] The one I make next month will be for Christmas, 1999.
>
For lovers of fruit-cakes (with or without hyphen) let
me offer the following recipe for a specific
Christmas variant:
Christmas Cake "Colonel Demurais"
12 ozs each Margarine and Brown Sugar
1 lb plain flour
1 lb each sultanas and currents
4 ozs each glace' cherries and raisins
6 ozs candied peel
1 pinch salt
2 ozs chopped almonds
1/2 t mixed spice
2 T Dark Treacle (Yanks may substitute Maple Syrup)
3 Tots brandy (plus or minus)
14 ozs Marzipan for topping
Enough white icing for topping (the kind that gets hard)
1 Circular Baking Tin (approx 9 inch dia & at least 6 inch high)
1 Gunny Sack
Strong Arm Muscles
(Note - it is difficult in some parts of the world to get some
of the dried fruits listed above - in which case merely ensure
that you find some substitute(s) that make the weight up to
46 ozs - maybe two types of raisins or whatever)
Cream the margarine and sugar together. Add eggs one by one
and beat in until mixture is stiff and uniform. It is
easier if you don't use cold margarine - nuke it slightly
first.
Stir in the sifted flour, treacle, and the rest of the
ingredients - this gets to be progressively harder work.
Taste test the brandy to ensure it hasn't gone off.
Transfer the mixture to the tin which was previously lined
with grease-proof paper (Yanks use waxed paper) or foil
which was greased beforehand with the margarine wrappings.
Bake somewhere around 6 hours at 290 degrees F. testing
with a sprigger to see if it is done all the way through.
Roll the Marzipan into a ball and flatten same with a
rolling pin to make a disk - same diameter as the cake.
After cake has cooled on a rack, cover the cake with
this disk, and then cover the whole damn thing with
icing.
Once the icing has hardened, wrap in gunny sack and hang
from ceiling in cellar or other cool place for maybe a
couple of weeks - or until temptation inevitably wins.
Whence cometh the name "Colonel Demurais"?
When I was demobilized from the Kings African Rifles
after a most illustrious career, I took with me my batman
as he had been "retired" at the same time. A wizened old
chap, Deo Gratias by name, (orphaned at birth, he had been
raised by Nuns at a mission station) he became my cook
in return for my providing him with food and shelter for
him and family, as well as some pocket money.
He taught me this recipe, and said he had learned it
from a Scottish officer while the Battalion was serving
in Burma during WWII.
Demurais was not the officer's real name. His African troops
had assigned him the nickname "Oh Bladiful Demurais" and
it was he who handed down the recipe in some jungle far
away and long ago. This monniker apparently derived from
his motivational expletives - which none of the troops
understood - but which together with the recipe, lives on
many years later.
After leaving Africa, I corresponded with Deo Gratias
(after a fashion - he was close to illiterate) for some
years until I learned that he had passed on - leaving
something like 20 children via the three wives that
his religion permitted. Truly a great fellow and a
faithful friend - forever remembered, and honoured
every Christmas in the eating of the legacy he left me.
Jitze
---
If replying - first remove the .spam.filter from my address
Frances Kemmish
>
> On Fri, 11 Sep 1998 08:33:43 -0400, Frances Kemmish
> <arc...@iconn.net> wrote:
>
> >Back where I come from, Christmas cake is a rich fruit cake, covered
> >with a layer of almond paste, and then a layer of Royal icing. My
> >husband and I love fruitcake. When we first moved to the USA, one of our
> >new neighbours sold us a fruitcake as part of a fund-raiser for some
> >good cause. It arrived in a can, from Texas.
>
> This sounds like a not-so-subtle putdown. There is at least one
> Texas-bred fruitcake shipped in a tin (we don't call those "cans," we
> call them "tins") which is superb. Probably not available as a
> fundraiser, but the fact of being from Texas and arriving in a tin is
> not itself a disgrace.
>
That wasn't the put-down; that was simply an identifying characteristic.
I have not learned the difference between a 'tin' and a 'can': they are
all 'tins' in England.
> And we don't call them "Christmas cakes," either, so you're talking
> about a different animal at the get-go.
> >
> >My first surprise was that it had a hole in the middle. Apparently, the
> >baker did not learn how to cook a heavy cake so that the middle would
> >cook, without burning the outside. The second surprise was that it was
> >nothing like the fruitcakes we were accustomed to make. It seemed to
> >comprise almost entirely of candied fruit, and green cherries.
>
> Fruitcakes can be made in all sorts of pan configurations. Why would
> it be objectionable that it have a "hole" in the middle if you
> selected it on any basis except its circumference? They are usually
> sold by weight. Since American fruitcakes are traditionally sliced
> very thin for serving, the hole in the middle actually facilitates
> this. The other common shape for fruitcakes in the US is a loaf.
>
Fruit cakes in the shape of a loaf are common in England, too. I never
had one with a hole in the middle until I came to America. When I went
to buy a cake tin to make my own Christmas cake, I had a lot of trouble
finding the kind I wanted - circular, and with a push-up base.
> If it came so surprisingly came from Texas in a tin and had a hole in
> the middle, why would you expect it to be anything like what you were
> accustomed to?
Well, I wasn't surprised that it came from Texas, because it said that
in the brochure that we ordered it from. I was surprised that it had a
hole in the middle, because where I come from, fruit cakes don't have
holes in the middle.
> >
> >Having made my own fruitcakes since then, I have discovered that it is
> >very difficult to find the right kind of dried fruit and candied peel to
> >make my family's traditional cake. This year, we're going to England
> >for Christmas.
>
> Because of the cake? Wow.
>
You've never tasted my mother's fruit cake.
> Well I now know that if I ever am served a "Christmas cake" in England
> that I shall have to bring a knife to scrape the damn almond paste off
> before it will be edible.
>
My father always hated the almond paste, too. He and my brother used to
share slices of cake. My brother doesn't like fruit cake, but loves
almond paste, so Dad would eat the cake and my brother would eat the
covering.
> My fruitcake doesn't have any candied fruits in it--just dried fruits,
> maraschino cherries, walnuts and pecans. I have yet to serve it to
> someone who admits to liking fruitcake who didn't love it. I've only
> been using this recipe for four years now and the demand is such that
> I have to make 16 to get a few for home use.
>
Sounds wonderful - especially the pecans; you don't see them much in
England, either.
Fran
Lee Rudolph
recipe.)
---(December, 1995)---
From: Lee Rudolph <rud...@cis.umassd.edu>
Subject: fruitcake
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Oldest living fruitcake?
Don_R._...@commonlink.com (Don R. Calkins) writes:
>A properly made and aged fruitcake, with just enough batter to hold a wide
>variety of dried fruit together, sweetened with unsulphered molasses is
>delicious.
In the spirit of reconciliation and good fellowship which is
currently running amuck in alt.folklore.urban, I herewith post
my modification of Jacque P\'epin's recipe for "Cake Anglais (Fruit
Cake)". (I suppose he borrowed the name from Edith Cresson.)
Parts in square brackets are my emendations; the rest is ripped
off from _A French Chef Cooks at Home_ (Simon and Schuster, 1975).
This is an excellent cake customarily done around the
Christmas holiday in France. The cake is best a few days
old. Wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated, it will
keep for over a month. {\it For a rich pound cake, follow
the same procedure omitting the glazed fruits, raisins, and
the rum.}
1-1/2 ounces dark raisins
[plus an equal amount of golden raisins]
1/3 cup good dark rum
[I use Lemon Hart, and double the quantity]
1 pound fresh sweet butter at room temperature
1 pound sugar
7 large eggs [i.e., one pound]
1 pound all-purpose flour (3-1/2 cups loose flour)
grated rind of 1 lemon
grated rind of 1 orange
14 ounces glazed or candied mixed fruits
[I replace this with about 2 pounds of mixed
dried fruits: peaches, apples, pears, dates,
and maybe a few apricots--but not too many.
These should all be chopped into quarter-inch
dice, lightly floured to keep them from
clumping too badly, and mixed together.]
Place the raisins and the rum in a bowl and let macerate
for 1 hour. Meanwhile, work the butter and sugar together
with a whisk until the mixture becomes light, fluffy, and
smooth. Add 2 eggs at a time, mixing vigorously after each
addition. Add the flour, mixing with the whisk until it is
blended and no lumps show. Do not overmix or the cake will
be too ``tight.'' With a wood or rubber spatula, fold in
the remaining ingredients, including the rum-raisin mixture.
{\it ``Folding'' means that instead of stirring the ingredients
in a circular movement from side to side, you stir the mixture
in a circular up-and-down movement. The spatula cuts going
down through the ingredients, and is kept flat coming up to
lift up the mixture. This gentle technique helps to give
cakes and souffle\'es the light texture which is peculiar to
this kind of dessert.} Butter a piece of waxed paper and line
a cake mold. The amount of mixture will make 1 large or 2
small cakes. Use one 10-inch long, 5-inch wide and 4-inch high
mold, or two smaller molds. Place the mold on a cookie sheet
and cook in a preheated 350o oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the
heat to 325o and cook for another 1-1/4 hours. [I cook for
as much as half an hour longer than that, checking the doneness
regularly after 1-1/4 hours have passed.] (If you choose to make
2 cakes the time should be adjusted accordingly.) When done,
a thin knife-blade inserted into the middle of the cake should
come out without any runny batter adhering to it. However,
some sticky mixture will adhere to it. Let cool at room
temperature at least overnight before cutting. Yield:
18 to 20 slices. [I like to soak the cooled cake in extra
dark rum. On the other hand, I like to eat the cake for
breakfast. These are not completely compatible.]
Lee "will bake fruitcake for food for friends and family" Rudolph
---end archived post---
Since then I have decided that, by all means, some pecans should
join the crowd.
Lee Rudolph
Mark Odegard
1998 20:35:45 GMT, tru...@ibm.net (Truly Donovan) in
<35ff8527...@news3.ibm.net> wrote
|I've only
|been using this recipe for four years now and the demand is such that
|I have to make 16 to get a few for home use.
Jitze C and Lee R have both posted their recipes. They measure
by weight -- agggggggh. Anyway, TD needs to post hers too --
unless of course, it's a state secret.
Also, does anyone have a good (but relatively simple) recipe for
plum pudding? The kind that has to be made pretty soon (next
month or so) so as to let it age properly? My late aunt's recipe
file did not survive her brothers's cleaning out of her house at
her death, so that recipe is lost (but at the time of serving,
it was mostly brandy); she was the one who made *perfect*
futigmon (hope I spelled that one right), a kind of fried
Norwegian dough, that required rolling out until you could see
the grain in the wood of the cutting board.
--
Mark Odegard. (Omit OMIT to email)
Emailed copies of responses are very much appreciated.
Truly Donovan
> Place the raisins and the rum in a bowl and let macerate
> for 1 hour.
About eight years ago, I made this wonderful cake (recipe since lost,
I'm afraid -- one of the drawbacks of having a great many cookbooks is
the inability to find which one had the recipe that was so great last
year) that wanted its raisins macerated in bourbon overnight. It was
so good, I put a largish batch of raisins in a jar to soak for another
one. Eight years ago. For the past five years, I've examined this jar,
topping it off every 3 or 4 years, and wondered what one does with
what is obviously a rare commodity, as it sits there, getting rarer.
Speaking of lost recipes, I am unable to walk past a good-looking
blueberry without buying it, with the result that, just about this
time of year, I have a surfeit of blueberries, all requiring immediate
execution. Some years ago, I made this absolutely marvellous dense
cake-cum-steamed-pudding blueberry thingy. At the next year's
Blueberry Surfeit Festival, I couldn't find the damn recipe. If this
rings any bells with anyone, I'd sure be interested in hearing about
it.
Truly Donovan
wrote:
>[Posted, e-mailed] **Please note Spam Trap** On Fri, 11 Sep
>1998 20:35:45 GMT, tru...@ibm.net (Truly Donovan) in
><35ff8527...@news3.ibm.net> wrote
>
>|I've only
>|been using this recipe for four years now and the demand is such that
>|I have to make 16 to get a few for home use.
>
>Jitze C and Lee R have both posted their recipes. They measure
>by weight -- agggggggh. Anyway, TD needs to post hers too --
>unless of course, it's a state secret.
I'm afraid that this one is in volume *and* weight -- at one point I
had the equivalent in cups for the flour and sugar, but I have a
kitchen scale so I didn't need to keep them; for volumes like this,
weighing is easier than measuring.
Having eaten the cake for several years before I managed to talk
someone out of the recipe, I was astounded at the absence of spices.
Not that I could recall tasting any spices, but it just seemed that
something with such a rich taste ought to have spices.
I meant to experiment with last year's to see how well it took to
being boozed, but they were all gone before I got around to it.
If you want a really great but more traditional fruitcake, the Nanny
Craig recipe in Craig Claiborne's "Favorites, Volume 1" (I think it's
in volume 1; I have all three of them and routinely have to look in at
least two of them to find the recipe I want) is simply out of this
world. The ingredient list goes on for three days with all kinds of
esoterica (fig preserves, for instance), but it is worth it. This one
is comparatively simple.
Devonshire Cakes
(8 large loaf cakes)
2 pounds walnuts
2 pounds pecans
2½ pounds dried apricots
2½ pounds raisins
(golden [sultanas], not golden, or some of each)
1 pound dried berries & cherries
2 16-ounce jars maraschino cherries, drained
1½ pounds flour
1½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon cream of tartar
1½ pounds butter
1½ pounds sugar
1½ cups honey
18 large eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla
1. Mix dried fruits and drained cherries in one large bowl, nuts in
another.
2. Mix flour, salt, and cream of tartar together. Add half to fruit
mixture, half to nut mixture and mix until fruit and nuts are coated.
3. Cream together butter and sugar. Add honey, eggs, and vanilla and
beat until well mixed. (You may need to do this in two batches. A
large capacity mixer can handle it in one batch--my Sunbeam can almost
do it, but it's messy when the batter climbs up the beaters.)
4. Add one batch to each of the fruit and nut mixtures and mix
thoroughly. Then combine the two mixtures, mixing thoroughly.
5. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
6. Pour batter into loaf pans, mounding slightly (cakes do not rise).
7. Bake one hour, then rotate top to bottom, front to back, inside to
outside.
8. Continue baking, another hour for large cakes, 45 minutes for small
ones. Then check every 10-15 minutes until cakes are golden brown and
tester is sticky from fruit but not doughy.
9. Cool thoroughly on rack. Yield is 8 large cakes.
Notes: The original version of which this an adaptation used pitted
dates. I like dates okay, but not in this cake, so I opted for the
cherries and berries (this is packaged by a California company under
the brand name Mariani and is available in my local market and, for
far less cost, at Costco; I don't know if it is generally available)
and more apricots, instead. A date lover might want the dates
restored. I'm also thinking that dried pineapple might be an
interesting addition. The kids would be happy if it was all maraschino
cherries.
Rex Knepp
On those rare occasions that you wander into Denver, you might
try the fruitcake at the Star Deli. It's at Evans and University,
essentially in the middle of the DU campus. Their fruitcake (if indeed
they still sell it) is a marvel.
The Texas fruitcake business is alive and well; check out the
Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana. When I was a lad, we sold
Texas Manor fruitcakes as a band fundraiser. These 2-, 3- and 5-pound
toroidal cakes arrived in a blue tin decorated with bluebonnets on
the top and a victorian street scene aound the side. I haven't
looked to see if Texas Manor is still extant though I suspect it's
long since been gobbled up by Heinz or Borden or even AMD.
FWIW, the fruitcake industry is stong here in Texas because
of the ready availability of the pecans.
This calls to mind a sign I see every time I drive from Austin to
Houston, which cries out...
PECANS
BUY SELL CRACK
I often wonder why the DEA hasn't battered down the door...
-30-
rex
(posted and mailed)
Perchprism
>From: Rex Knepp <rkn...@scminc.com>
>Date: 9/14/98 8:42 AM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <35FD0...@scminc.com>
<snip>
>FWIW, the fruitcake industry is stong here in Texas because
>of the ready availability of the pecans.
>
>This calls to mind a sign I see every time I drive from Austin to
>Houston, which cries out...
>
> PECANS
> BUY SELL CRACK
>
>I often wonder why the DEA hasn't battered down the door...
Beautiful, Rex. Ah, the innocence of it. I wish I'd never heard of that evil
shit, too.
Perchprism
". . . further, father? That can't be right." - Groucho
K1912
>Mebbe they're in on it. U.S. "drug enforcement" has been
>accused of, uh, participation, via some pretty convincing
>investigative reporting. For just one, Gary Webb's articles in the
>San Jose (CA) Mercury News last year. [1] The editor printed a
>half-assed disclaimer, but one wonders under what pressure.... Many
>still think there might be some there, there. And that's only ONE
>example. Collaboration w/drug lords in Asia by the CIA, long
>documented.
>
>[1] Selling crack in the LA ghetto to raise money to fight the
>Contras, IIRC. Oliver North's favorite charity.
And Reagan's favorite colonel. Regarding Gary Webb, read Alexander Cockburn's
column in the Nation a few weeks back to see what pressure was brought and by
whom.
George
K1912
Cybiades
>
>The Texas fruitcake business is alive and well; check out the
>Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana.
You from Corsicana? woohoo, so's my wife :)
'Later
Peter
------
Come and experience my online world!
Fels at http://www.ticnet.com/azenomei/fels/fels.html
Exiled Prince of the Peaceable Principality of the Ford of Beruna
(a micronation)
Dominate Tricks
wrote:
>What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
>It's not an excerpt from a joke book.
It is CHRISTMAS TIME!
Dominate Tricks
David McMurray
> [...] A "fruitcake" is a type of baked dessert
> containing nuts, candied fruits, and enough sugar to ensure that
> it remains edible for years. (Or as edible as it ever was, which
> isn't saying much.)
I'm aware that fruitcake attracts more derogatory comment than just
about any other type of food but I've never been sure why. I can only
assume that there's fruitcake and then there's fruitcake.
I've been making one every year[1] for ages and its appearance on
Christmas Day is further cause for joy. Everyone partakes and no one
refuses a second piece.
Maybe it's the half-cup of dark rum.
[1] The one I make next month will be for Christmas, 1999.
--
David
DJ Kim
It's not an excerpt from a joke book.
Thanks in advance.
Gary Williams, Business Services Accounting
writes:
>In article <snipped>
>>DJ wrote:
>>>What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
>I take it to mean a gift with a strong possiblity of cost as well as benefit
>to the recipient - not quite a white elephant, but a bit of a burden. Not
>everyone enjoys eating fruitcake; ...
That is the key.
Yet fruitcakes are often given as Christmas presents; generally to someone
about whom one does not care much, except that there is an obligation to give a
not-very-expensive gift. Since the gift is given without much thought as to
whether the recipient will like it or not, it has come to symbolize an unvalued
gift.
I happen to like fruitcake--or at least the nuts and candied fruits--and
readers of a.u.e. who receive unwanted fruitcakes may forward them to me.
Gary Williams
Charles Strauss
>DJ wrote:
>>Date: 9/10/98 8:35 AM Eastern Daylight Time
>>Message-id: <jIPJ1.243$4a6.7...@news.bora.net>
>>
>>What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
>
>context. And watch out, here come the clowns. It may not be from a joke book,
>but it's a terrific straight line.
>
>Perchprism
I take it to mean a gift with a strong possiblity of cost as well as benefit
to the recipient - not quite a white elephant, but a bit of a burden. Not
everyone enjoys eating fruitcake; fruitcakes are very heavy and last a very
long time, so people hesitate to throw them away (unlke, say, an ordinary
cake that goes stale rapidly and then can be thrown out with no guilty
feelings about wasting food); people hesitate to thrown away a gift.
Perchprism
>From: "DJ Kim" <king...@bigfoot.com>
>Date: 9/10/98 8:35 AM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: <jIPJ1.243$4a6.7...@news.bora.net>
>
>What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
>It's not an excerpt from a joke book.
It's not an expression in the US, as far as I know. Please provide some
context. And watch out, here come the clowns. It may not be from a joke book,
but it's a terrific straight line.
Perchprism
Podibanda Kuruppu
> N.Mitchum <aj...@removeme.lafn.org> wrote:
>
> > [...] A "fruitcake" is a type of baked dessert
> > containing nuts, candied fruits, and enough sugar to ensure that
> > it remains edible for years. (Or as edible as it ever was, which
> > isn't saying much.)
> I'm aware that fruitcake attracts more derogatory comment than just
> about any other type of food but I've never been sure why. I can only
> assume that there's fruitcake and then there's fruitcake.
>
> I've been making one every year[1] for ages and its appearance on
> Christmas Day is further cause for joy. Everyone partakes and no one
> refuses a second piece.
>
My mouth is already watering... The only thing that bothers me, though,
is how many pounds I'd gain afterwards. Does that bother me when I
reach for another tiny piece? Nope. In fact, I'd have just a tiny
slice after lunch every day for the next few weeks. Isn't it time
for Christmas, just yet?
By the way, since you're an expert, why don't you share the recipe with
us? (Don't hold anything back.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Podibanda (Corrections to my English most welcome - po...@3com.com) Kuruppu
Aaron J. Dinkin
> Of a magical day -- the 27th July 1944 -- and a little boy's fourth birthday.
A long year, 1944 was?
-Aaron J. Dinkin
Dr. Whom
N.Mitchum
------
> What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
> It's not an excerpt from a joke book.
If it's not a joke, then it could mean "giving someone a
fruitcake." Literally. A "fruitcake" is a type of baked dessert
containing nuts, candied fruits, and enough sugar to ensure that
it remains edible for years. (Or as edible as it ever was, which
isn't saying much.)
Perhaps you are trying to fit the other definition of "fruitcake"
(a crazy person) into the phrase.
----NM [If replying by e-mail, please heed my address]
James Follett
king...@bigfoot.com "DJ Kim" writes:
>What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
>It's not an excerpt from a joke book.
Dunno. But I do remember my birthday cake when I turned four. It was
a time of V1s and V2s falling off the sky; of newspaper squares
hanging on bits of string in the toilet; of rubbled houses; of
smoking nutty slack fires; of crouching around the neighbour's
wireless to listen to ITMA or the Ministry of Food's latest tightening
of rationing; of dadless Christmases; of friendly German PoWs breaking
mortar off bombsite bricks to rebuild houses; of generous GIs and their
endless supplies of chewing gum... Of a magical day -- the 27th July
1944 -- and a little boy's fourth birthday.
I was ushered blindfolded into the living room. The blindfold was
whipped away, and the glory of my birthday cake was before me. Huge
and round, and virgin white. Clam-like icing shells gathered around
the edge; a whirl of piped whorls like a circle of pirouetting
ballerinas; strawberry-coloured roses, pink and sunny saying `eat
me'. Four candles that I managed to blow out with one puff while
wondering if all the fruit and sugar in the world was in this magnificent
cake. And then the cake was lifted up -- for it was made of papier mache
and hired from a shop. The real cake was underneath. Small, shrivelled-
looking, made of dried cherries, bits of preserved apples, all bonded
together with love, one egg, and sawdust.
It tasted wonderful.
--
James Follett -- novelist http://www.davew.demon.co.uk
Gary Williams, Business Services Accounting
writes:
>Is this "fruitcake" simply another example of the disappearing hyphen in
>American English? In other words, is it the same thing as what I and
>most other Brits would call a "fruit cake" (or possibly "fruit-cake"),
>or is it something different? For clarity I'll add that to me a fruit
>cake is a cake containing preserved fruit. Or, at its best, a
>collection of preserved fruits moistened with alcohol and held together
>by a thin coating of cake.
That's about how I'd describe a fruitcake; although Frances Kemmish seems to
indicate that there is a difference between those available in America and
those available in Britain.
It sure is great to see the newsgroup back on topic.
Gary Williams
R J Valentine
] In article <6t8jm8$ch7$1...@ron.uri.edu>, cha...@cs.uri.edu (Charles Strauss)
] writes:
]
]>In article <snipped>
]>>DJ wrote:
]>>>What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
]
]>I take it to mean a gift with a strong possiblity of cost as well as benefit
]>to the recipient - not quite a white elephant, but a bit of a burden. Not
]
] That is the key.
]
] Yet fruitcakes are often given as Christmas presents; generally to someone
] about whom one does not care much, except that there is an obligation to give a
] not-very-expensive gift. Since the gift is given without much thought as to
] whether the recipient will like it or not, it has come to symbolize an unvalued
] gift.
]
] I happen to like fruitcake--or at least the nuts and candied fruits--and
] readers of a.u.e. who receive unwanted fruitcakes may forward them to me.
Johnny Carson, host of _The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson_ from the
1960s to the 1990s, used to expound the theory that there is but one
fruitcake in the world and that it is given successively to others and is
never actually eaten.
--
R. J. Valentine <r...@clark.net>
Mike Barnes
>
>>What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
>
>care for fruitcake. Fruitcakes are very often given as gifts in the
>Christmas season. Fruitcakes are also notorious for a long (in cake
>terms) life expectancy.
Is this "fruitcake" simply another example of the disappearing hyphen in
American English? In other words, is it the same thing as what I and
most other Brits would call a "fruit cake" (or possibly "fruit-cake"),
or is it something different? For clarity I'll add that to me a fruit
cake is a cake containing preserved fruit. Or, at its best, a
collection of preserved fruits moistened with alcohol and held together
by a thin coating of cake.
--
-- Mike Barnes, Stockport, England.
-- If you post a response to Usenet, please *don't* send me a copy by e-mail.
Gary Williams, Business Services Accounting
writes:
>Having made my own fruitcakes since then, I have discovered that it is
>very difficult to find the right kind of dried fruit and candied peel to
>make my family's traditional cake. This year, we're going to England
>for Christmas.
Don't forget to bring me back one of _your_ fruitcakes.
Gary Williams
Maria Conlon
Gary Williams, Business Services Accounting wrote in message
[...]
>I happen to like fruitcake--or at least the nuts and candied
fruits--and
>readers of a.u.e. who receive unwanted fruitcakes may forward them to
me.
Gary's address for the receipt of fruitcakes is c/o Maria Conlon in
Michigan.
(Gary, don't worry. I'll send them on to you. Trust me on this.)
Truly Donovan
wrote:
>What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
>It's not an excerpt from a joke book.
Without any context, one can only guess, but a lot of people do not
care for fruitcake. Fruitcakes are very often given as gifts in the
Christmas season. Fruitcakes are also notorious for a long (in cake
terms) life expectancy.
So, the jokes about fruitcakes take various forms, such as giving the
fruitcakes you got last Christmas to some other poor sucker this
Christmas.
Some people are fortunate enough to like fruitcake. People fight to
get on *my* fruitcake-giving list.
Frances Kemmish
Back where I come from, Christmas cake is a rich fruit cake, covered
with a layer of almond paste, and then a layer of Royal icing. My
husband and I love fruitcake. When we first moved to the USA, one of our
new neighbours sold us a fruitcake as part of a fund-raiser for some
good cause. It arrived in a can, from Texas.
My first surprise was that it had a hole in the middle. Apparently, the
baker did not learn how to cook a heavy cake so that the middle would
cook, without burning the outside. The second surprise was that it was
nothing like the fruitcakes we were accustomed to make. It seemed to
comprise almost entirely of candied fruit, and green cherries.
Having made my own fruitcakes since then, I have discovered that it is
very difficult to find the right kind of dried fruit and candied peel to
make my family's traditional cake. This year, we're going to England
for Christmas.
Fran
David McMurray
> ik0...@kingston.net (David McMurray) writes:
[Christmas fruitcake]
> [...] why don't you share the recipe with us? (Don't hold anything back.)
It's a bit long for public posting but e-mail requests will be honoured.
Your copy is on its way, Podi.
--
David
Gwen Lenker
>On Thu, 10 Sep 1998 12:35:27 GMT, "DJ Kim" <king...@bigfoot.com>
>wrote:
>
>>What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
>>It's not an excerpt from a joke book.
>
>Without any context, one can only guess, but a lot of people do not
>care for fruitcake. Fruitcakes are very often given as gifts in the
>Christmas season. Fruitcakes are also notorious for a long (in cake
>terms) life expectancy.
>
>So, the jokes about fruitcakes take various forms, such as giving the
>fruitcakes you got last Christmas to some other poor sucker this
>Christmas.
>
>Some people are fortunate enough to like fruitcake. People fight to
>get on *my* fruitcake-giving list.
The subjective fruitcake-perception problem is no doubt exacerbated by
the execrable quality of many mass-produced fruitcakes given as
obligatory gifts.
I've had Sahara-dry fruitcake in which the dominant flavor was that of
burnt waxed paper with a hint of citron. If I didn't know that there
were *other* kinds of fruitcake out there, I'd probably align myself
with the anti-fruitcake faction myself.
Maria Conlon
David McMurray wrote in message
>I'm aware that fruitcake attracts more derogatory comment than just
>about any other type of food but I've never been sure why. I can only
>assume that there's fruitcake and then there's fruitcake.
>
>I've been making one every year[1] for ages and its appearance on
>Christmas Day is further cause for joy. Everyone partakes and no one
>refuses a second piece.
>
>Maybe it's the half-cup of dark rum.
>
>[1] The one I make next month will be for Christmas, 1999.
Only one a year? Up the quantity a bit and I'll become a customer. I
*love* fruitcake, but from the posts I've seen so far in this thread,
only you and Gary Williams share this sensible view. You two must have
good taste.
(When I tell my husband I have good taste when it comes to food, he says
all my taste is in my mouth. I respond that that's where good taste
belongs. Are we witty -- or what?)
Roberta Cook
> What does "giving someone a fruitcake" mean?
> It's not an excerpt from a joke book.
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> ik0...@kingston.net (David McMurray) writes:
> >
> > > [...] A "fruitcake" is a type of baked dessert
> > > it remains edible for years. (Or as edible as it ever was, which
> > > isn't saying much.)
> > about any other type of food but I've never been sure why. I can only
> > assume that there's fruitcake and then there's fruitcake.
> >
> > I've been making one every year[1] for ages and its appearance on
> > Christmas Day is further cause for joy. Everyone partakes and no one
> > refuses a second piece.
> >
> is how many pounds I'd gain afterwards. Does that bother me when I
> reach for another tiny piece? Nope. In fact, I'd have just a tiny
> slice after lunch every day for the next few weeks. Isn't it time
> for Christmas, just yet?
> Podibanda (Corrections to my English most welcome - po...@3com.com) Kuruppu
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