Beth's Fruitcake

You probably know fruitcakes have been around for a long time. What is sometimes subjected to disparaging comments was at one time prized as a travel food, both in this life and to send with the deceased into the next.

Culinary lore claims that ancient Egyptians placed an early version of the fruitcake on the tombs of loved ones, perhaps as food for the afterlife. But fruitcakes were not common until Roman times, when pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and barley mash were mixed together to form a ring-shaped dessert. Prized for its portability and shelf life, Roman soldiers often brought fruitcake with them to the battlefields. Later, in the Middle Ages, preserved fruit, spices and honey were added to the mix and fruitcakes gained popularity with crusaders for their portability and their longevity.

Medieval Kitchen

Fruitcakes became popular all over Europe. Recipes varied greatly in different countries throughout the ages, depending on the available ingredients. For a time in the Middle Ages, fruit cakes made with butter and sugar were banned in Europe because they were thought to be too rich and tasty. Pope Innocent VIII (1432–1492) finally granted the use of butter, in a written permission known as the ‘Butter Letter' or Butterbrief in 1490, giving permission to Saxony to use milk and butter.

Starting in the 16th century, sugar from the American Colonies (and the discovery that high concentrations of sugar could preserve fruits) created an excess of candied fruit, thus making fruitcakes more affordable and popular. 

My grandmother, daughter of 19^th century English immigrants, used to make fruitcake using a recipe she claimed came from England. She never gave the recipe to me while she lived since she was sure I would share it with all the ladies at church, then everyone would have her good fruitcake recipe. My aunt inherited my grandmother’s recipe box and sent me the recipe. In honor of my grandmother’s wishes, I still don’t share it outside the family.

The practice of adding alcohol to fruitcake to help preserve it started in the Victorian era. (My grandmother's parents' era. She used brandy-soaked cheesecloth to wrap her fruitcakes she made at least a month before the holiday season. She then wrapped the whole works in aluminum foil. She swore the alcohol evaporated before the cake was served. Okay, if she says so…)

From the 19th century on, fruitcake became a traditional wedding cake in England. (My grandmother made a groom’s cake for my wedding out of fruitcake. I tried to carry on the tradition with my children, but they were less than enthused.)

Typical American fruitcakes are rich in fruit and nuts. Mail-order fruitcakes in America began in 1913. The two largest producers of fruit cakes are Southern companies with inexpensive access to large nut quantities, for which the expression "nutty as a fruitcake" was derived in 1935.

Most American mass-produced fruitcakes are alcohol-free, but traditional recipes are saturated with liqueurs or brandy and covered in powdered sugar, both of which prevent mold. Brandy (or wine) soaked linens can be used to store the fruitcakes and is one method of lengthening its shelf life. Some people feel that fruitcakes improve with age.

One reason fruitcakes have become the objects of ridicule is because of their questionable age. If prepared correctly, they do preserve well. When a fruitcake contains a good deal of alcohol, it can remain edible for many years. For example, a fruitcake baked in 1878 was kept as an heirloom by a family (Morgan L. Ford) in Tecumseh, Michigan. In 2003 it was sampled byJay Leno on The Tonight Show. A 106-year-old fruitcake discovered in 2017 by the Antarctic Heritage Trust was described as in "excellent condition" and "almost" edible.

My grandmother would probably suggest that in order to make the above-mentioned fruitcake more edible again, it needs a good wrap in a brandy-soaked length of cheesecloth for a month or two.

In my book, Bridgeport Holiday Brides, to whom did Beth give a Christmas fruitcake? The answer is found in this excerpt:

             “No wedding trip first, Mrs. Dodd?” the lawyer teased.

          “I figure on takin’ care of business first, Mr. Murphy. Besides, my weddin’ trip will be to my own land.” Beth pulled her reticule onto her lap pulled the strings apart. “How much you figure I owe you?”

          “I almost hate to charge you for the satisfaction of helping put Edwin Caldwell in his place, Mrs. Dodd. But, even lawyers have to eat.”

          Beth paid him the fee he requested, although she suspected he gave her a discount. She decided she’d bring him a Christmas fruitcake at the time of her final payment.

Please CLICK HERE to find the book description and buy link for Bridgeport Holiday Brides.

Have a wonderful holiday and a very merry Christmas. Enjoy that fruitcake!

Sources:

Wikipedia

https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/menus/fruitcake1.htm

https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/the-secret-history-of-fruitcake

Hunewill Ranch & Bridgeport Holiday Brides

My first three novellas in the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series are set in the gold mining town of Lundy. The fourth, Haunted by Love, takes place in Bridgeport and along Robinson Creek. But, many of the scenes plus the big event in the fifth book, Bridgeport Holiday Brides, takes place at the Caldwell Ranch in Big Meadows area by Bridgeport.

I did not need to search long and hard before I found a ranch to serve as my model for the Caldwell Ranch.  Mr. Napoleon Bonaparte Hunewill, along with being a successful owner of two sawmills along Buckeye Creek supplying wood for both Bodie and Bridgeport starting in the 1860’s, used the site of the current Hunewill Ranch to graze the oxen he worked in his logging operation. For more information on the Hunewill sawmills, please CLICK HERE.

Hunewill soon found himself raising cattle and helping to supply beef to the miners in Bodie, Aurora and Bridgeport.  He and his wife, Esther, built a beautiful ranch house in 1880 and where they eventually switched their focus to running a successful cattle ranch. They also raised horses and sheep. There they lived with their son Frank who married Alice in 1883.

The Hunewill Ranch home was beautiful example of Victorian-era architecture. Built with the Sawtooths of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the west, the setting is spectacular.

Economic conditions in the early 1900’s prompted the family to turn the Hunewill Ranch into a guest ranch. This guest ranch is still in operation today and is run by descendants of Napoleon and Esther Hunewill, despite efforts to pressure landowners to subdivide the land for development. For more photographs of the countryside on and around the Hunewill Ranch, please CLICK HERE.

 

Is it any wonder I chose this site for the Caldwell Ranch in Bridgeport Holiday Brides? Here is the book description:

With the arrival of Beth Dodd’s sister, Hazel, in California, Beth and her fiancé, Val Caldwell, are now able to make wedding plans.  Thanksgiving seems to be a good time to tie the knot and bring the Caldwell family together, as well, but when Val’s older half-brother, Edwin, and his family show up for the wedding, things fall apart. Edwin’s advice to Val to wrest control of Beth’s holdings and absorb them into the Caldwell Ranch leads to bad blood and fisticuffs between the brothers. Will Beth call the wedding off to protect what she’s worked so hard to gain?

As Beth’s younger sister, Hazel, realizes she’s falling in love with Val’s younger brother, Luther, she learns the feeling is mutual. Luther has bought a ring and plans to announce their engagement at Thanksgiving, as well. But Beth has a stormy relationship with her future brother-in-law, and believes her sister is too young to marry. Headstrong and determined to control their own destinies, will happiness also be possible for these BRIDGEPORT HOLIDAY BRIDES?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels. Her novelette, A Christmas Promise, and the five novellas in the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series, Big Meadows Valentine, A Resurrected Heart, Her Independent Spirit, Haunted by Love  and Bridgeport Holiday Brides were published by Prairie Rose Publications.