The World Recipes

Contributed Photo Tightly wrapped fruitcakes can last for months, but these tasty morsels, using dried fruit, probably won't make it that long.

Fruitcake. The mere mention of the word brings fear into the hearts of many. Along with images of doorstops, and the endless collection of jokes. Yet, they remain a holiday tradition.

There is a world of difference between store fruitcakes and scratch-made fruitcakes. Fruitcakes that your friends and families will be happy to receive, if you want to share!

The first thing that makes an excellent fruitcake is using real fruit. No candied fruit, no glaceed fruit, and actually no fresh fruit, which just melts away during the cooking process. Dried fruit in large pieces is the only kind to use.

A good source for dried fruit is your local health food store. You can get dates, apricots, mangoes, cherries, blueberries, apples, papaya slices, and the list goes on. The more of these you can find, the more interesting your fruitcake will be.

For those of you who always wondered why good fruitcake is so expensive, you’re about to find out!

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