Perhaps fruitcake is not deserving of the bad rap it gets this time of year, ending up as a door stop. The 'regular' kind that everyone turns up their nose at is far from many recipes and versions of the popular cake.

According to multiple sources, this ancient Roman Empire concoction breezed through Europe and was even used as wedding cake. But much of the stuff we see is 'recipied' down.

The 'candied' fruit we see inside so much of it is from Italian version, that's the part that many people don't like. European and German versions don't have those, they are heavy on the sugar, the cake part, along with nuts and other kinds of fruit, but not candied.

And, apart from the German and Italian versions, most traditional European recipes as well as the English, contain a generous amount of rum.  Obviously, the retail stuff we see in stores doesn't have that, because of kids and those who don't want to consume it.

But next time google a fruitcake recipe that calls for rum and no candied fruit, and we bet when you make it and add some icing, it will be a lot better!

In fact Food Network has a recipe for an Island Fruitcake with rum AND cream cheese icing.  Now THAT sounds much better.

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