Ah, long-beleaguered fruitcake, the butt of many a holiday joke.
Okay, so think of the best fruitcake joke or personal fruitcake story you have ever heard and I guarantee it won’t hold a candle to this long-forgotten Christmas tradition that doesn’t seem to be upheld anymore. I’m talking about the one that involves leaving a fruitcake under your pillow – that’s right, your pillow.
As the tradition goes, during the holiday season, it was said that if you ate a piece of fruitcake (no thanks), then put the rest of said fruitcake under your pillow, you would dream of the person you would be intended to marry. If the fruitcake had been from a wedding, it would supposedly be an even more powerful influence on one’s romantic prospects. I don’t know about you, but I have been to many weddings in my life, am married myself, and I honestly cannot think of even one instance where fruitcake entered into the discussion as a possible dessert option. Just saying.
What we really found interesting about this “weird” tradition is the fact that English royalty continues to serve fruitcake at Christmas functions to keep the story, and perhaps the tradition, alive. However, there doesn’t seem to be any supporting documentation we were able to find to see if anyone over there has actually utilized the second part of the tradition, which is the actual placement of a slice under their pillow.
Fruitcake wasn’t the only food option available as a holiday tradition to hopefully enhance one’s romantic prospects. There was a time when Christmas enthusiasts would throw food – not sure if it was any particular kind – to see what stuck. The goal was to see if anything that stuck somehow managed to spell out the name of a potential romantic connection. It’s been said the holidays can be either the most romantic or lonely time of year for some; it’s hard to say which it may have been for this tradition, but it does date back all the way back to the 17th century.
So while most people seem to ridicule fruitcake mercilessly at the holidays, it was actually kind of nice to uncover something positive about the much-maligned dessert, a fact that could be a fun holiday table discussion starter.
Here is our idea for an updated twist to the legend. How about offering fruitcake at your holiday soiree, and after the looks of confusion and outright disgust pass, regale everyone with the tale we have just shared? Here is the twist: Give each person a small slice, ask them to take a small bite, and then relay one thing they will strive to accomplish to make them a better person in the next year. In other words, use the power of the fruitcake to improve one’s person instead of asking for something.
Let us know how that works for you!
