Saving the Best for Last

Aaaaaaah.

Finally, the one I've really been wanting to eat. Gethsemani Farms. The one that not only is my favorite, but I appreciate that much more because a) I receive it as a gift from my Mom (along with their amazing, do-not-light-matches-near bourbon fudge), and b) I don't have to review it--all I have to do is eat it.

It's a delicious way to end the gladsome fruitcake season. Happy New Year to all--here's wishing you plenty of good-tasting things in 2008.

The Tide is Changing

Here's a link to the Wall Street Journal article on fruitcake (not from the WSJ; actually, if you're reading this after December 2008, google WSJ and fruitake if the link doesn't work). I really do think there's a serious fruitcake-lover in the ranks at WSJ. This is an absolutely PRO-fruitcake article. Take heart, fruitcake lovers, your time is nigh.

Podcast on fruitcake

Munchcast has posted their episode 14, on what else but the fruitcake. I was interviewed and, as it turns out, one of the hosts admits to being a fruitcake lover. I tell you, they're everywhere. Check it out. Their other podcasts are fun, too--episode 13 on pizza was interesting and informative, but gave me the munchies.

Review: Holy Cross Abbey Fraters

These things are good.

I realize a lot of people, already horrified by fruitcake, would be terrified at the idea of chocolate-covered fruitcake. Even I thought it might be a bit much. Well, gosh darn it--these are really delicious.

Fraters cost $17 for six slices. Look how pretty the box looks:



And they're individually wrapped in a most elegant way:



(Excuse the plastic wrap but I had just wolfed a slice down and didn't feel like opening another, because, of course, I would have felt compelled to eat it immediately).

First, you start with a good fruitcake. I've already reviewed this fruitcake before and really like it. The chocolate is a nice thick layer of dark chocolate, supplied by a local confectionery.

The flavor of this is very much like a dark fruit and nut chocolate. The whole presentation, really, is more like a box of chocolates than a fruitcake. This might be a good way to get your fruitcake-hater friends hooked. Or if you don't want a whole fruitcake, six slices of decadence like this could be just enough.

A Fruitcake Primer

For those of you unsure about fruitcake in general, or perhaps wanting to make one yourself, Start Cooking has a nice little primer about buying and making fruitcake. Yeah, okay, item #5 points you to this blog--that's how I found it. But the whole post is great--I wish I had had such a nice roadmap before I entered the great big fruitcake forest.

Don't look to me to start baking them anytime soon. First, I have at least five more to review, with more added almost daily, lately. And second, having reviewed as many as I have, I know what things can go wrong. No thanks--all I'll be making regarding fruitcake is an order.

With a bang, not a whimper

I'm jonesing for some fruitcake, so why not go all out? I'm talkin' 'bout Fraters, yo.

Virginia's Holy Cross Abbey, whose fruitcake is rated number three on my list, sells this delicacy. A Frater is a slice of fruitcake covered with chocolate. Ooh, dark chocolate, no less. How grown-up. I ask you, how can this be bad? They describe them as "a gourmand's delight for lovers of fruitcake and chocolate." And since "lovers of fruitcake and chocolate" brings the audience down to about, what, 10 of us, I feel I should support them in this effort.