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its an horrible, nasty thing

I'd rather have colonoscopy than be forced to eat fruit cake!

I think a lot of fruitcakes are made wth those dayglo candied fruits that all taste the same and are way too sweet, with not a hint of the taste the original fruit might have had. My mother and grandmother love the fruitcakes like this. I can't stand them.

I have had fruitcakes with more natural dried fruits in them, with a batter that isn't overly sweet, either, and I enjoy that version.

The best fruit cake come from Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, TX. They use fresh pecans and natural fruits and it's the only fruit cake I'll eat. That other stuff gives fruit cakes a bad name.

Yes, real people eat and enjoy good fruitcake. I didn't like it as a kid, and don't like the cheap junk from the supermarket.

Some rules of thumb: If the cake has no texture, but is just a dense sweet paste, it is a bad fruitcake. If there is no liquor, just flavoring, it's a bad fruitcake (although some can be saved by boozing and aging it). If the nuts have a tough damp texture, it's a bad fruitcake.

Disliking the dayglo fruits isn't always snobbery! They certainly are pretty, but I don't care for their taste. That's kind of it. :)

I personally love my Mom's fruitcake. It's a dense and moist, not very sweet cake, w/ some fruit and nuts in it. She wraps it in cheesecloth and mists it w/ bourbon, just enough to add some flavor.

Want to know what I think about fruitcake??? GO HERE - http://www.themustangs.net/mp3/MXmix/IMYAFFC-.mp3 - a short clip

Does anyone have a good recipe for fruitcake that isn't awful?
Maybe we could all try "the good ones" and compare our thoughts.

Depends on the fruitcake. Generally it's only good for a doorstop. Maybe as an anchor. Or alternate building material, should brick be unavailable.

I love fruitcake - so dense and moist and fruity.No nuts though please, well maybe a few almonds to decorate the top.
When I was a kid I always wanted fruitcake for my birthday cake. YUM.
Please send any unwanted fruitcake to me and I will happily give it a good home.

Like HomeSickTexan and AnnieNDM, I think the Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas makes (by far) the best fruit cake available to the masses. My family has been eating them for 50 years!

If anyone wants a great recipe for a mixed nut fruitcake email me @ imcookinsewgr8@hotmail.com.

I thought there was only one that makes it way around the world?

I had a recipe from the depression era (poor boy cake?) that was boiled and had no eggs. Tasted exactly like every fruitcake I've ever tasted. I tried substituting chopped gumdrops for the fruit, but that couldn't help the taste and texture.

I'll always taste, just in case, but haven't met one I could enjoy yet.

I don't eat cooked fruit, with a notable exception of Apfel Strudel (somehow, it grew on me ever since I tried it in Salzburg), so to me even the idea of a fruitcake does not sound appealing at all. However, when I saw Alton make one, I wanted to make it too. Not to eat it, mind you, but to make it...for somebody who does like a fruitcake.

I always thought fruitcake was some sort of holiday gag gift. I would never think of actually eating one!

I don't like fruitcake, even when it's homemade by a talented cook (like my mother; she made it as part of her Christmas baking binge for several years).

I know I'm not alone. I once heard the Chieftains sing something called "Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake." You can google the lyrics easily.

It wasn't until I was grown that I figured out why I hated it so: it's mostly the day-glo fruit - which is composed principally of bitter, leathery CITRON. That, plus the fact that there is far too little cake. Oh, and the raw taste of whiskey or brandy, not calculated to appeal to a child's tastebuds.

And yet I love pannettone, which is a nice challah-type bread spangled with the same day-glo fruit. But not nearly so much, and no whiskey.

If the Corsicana Fruitcake is anything like the "quintessential fruitcake of the South" that brooke29 links to - no wonder it's a thriving business. No citron!!

Costco's has a remarkably tasty fruitcake available during the holidays. It is filled with pecans and cherries and other non-dayglo fruits. It reminds me of the kinds of fruitcakes I see for sale at Saks during the holidays for $50 but at Costco it is only $12.

Bouchon also has a delightful fruitcake like loaf. I think it is also seasonal. No problem with bad fruit overcoming the cake there, of course.