6 Comments

If the cakes are as well baked as the article is well written, then sign me up as a long lost family member. Thoroughly entertaining, and thank you!!

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What a warm, loving article about something so roundly disparaged. Best Christmas story of 2022!

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Loved this article, Georgann! Made my first fruitcake this year for my mom’s partner, who loves to snack on the rectangular specimens in the red box. I decided to gift him a homemade one. He’s not a drinker, so had to cook off the rum, and no further bathing in spirits! Made a mini test cake and it’s pretty good. I enjoyed the Campbell family history and mysterious missing items. Like a King cake! Happy holidays!💜

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Generations of women mixing a cake that comes from their ancestor is a such a treasure. How wonderful they’ve been able to keep the tradition going. We received a delicious ‘abluted’ fruitcake every year from a great-aunt for years, and only after she passed away did we find out none of the other nieces or nephews got one. Unfortunately the recipe passed away with her. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year-and enjoy the cake!

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Georgann, you have taken me back to my grandmother's annual gift of her fruitcake in a round Christmas tin. Like Effie's, it contained no liquor (she was Baptist). I loved that she made it, and I would eat a slice or two out of fealty, but I never mustered warm feelings toward the cakes themselves. I'm not sure I've eaten fruitcake since she died in 1972, but who knows--maybe some year I'll come across one that's been "abluted" with the devil's brew and have an epiphany!

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Just reading this and picturing it all made me so happy!

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