Does getting older cause you to like Fruit Cake?

[daannzzz]

We did not have a lot of Fruit Cake around when I was young. Once in a while someone would bring one to a holiday gathering. I hated it. Great Grandma used to have Horehound drops which we kids thought were nasty. When ever we were served Spumoni as kids we pushed it away. I am now 50...ooops 59, and really like all three of these items. I notice those were things that the older (50 - 90 year olds) liked when I was young. Do you think being older has anything to do with it?

 

[MIGrandma]

We did not have a lot of Fruit Cake around when I was young. Once in a while someone would bring one to a holiday gathering. I hated it. Great Grandma used to have Horehound drops which we kids thought were nasty. When ever we were served Spumoni as kids we pushed it away. I am now 50 and really like all three of these items. I notice those were things that the older (50 - 90 year olds) liked when I was young. Do you think being older has anything to do with it?

I make fruitcake from my mother-in-law's recipe and my young grandchildren (ages 6 and 10) love it so I think it depends on the fruitcake and not the age of the person, at least in my case anyway.
My mother-in-law's recipe is wonderful, she made it every year until she passed away and a couple of years ago I took over the "tradition" of making it for our family and extended families.
I didn't like fruitcake when I was younger, but the ones I tried were always bitter. As far as the other things you mentioned, the horehound candy was something my grandmother liked and almost always had in the house and I liked it from a very young age. Never had spumoni until I was older, so not sure if I would have liked it when I was a kid or not.

Green beans was something I didn't like when I was a child, but as an adult I started to like them.

 

[NMAmy]

My father used to adore the kind of fruitcakes that you see around the holidays in the U.S with the bright red and green "fruit." I always thought it was disgusting and still don't care for it.

My father-in-law lived in the UK and on one visit insisted I try a piece of fruitcake and so I readied myself for the same thing. Instead, I got a delightfully light bread with raisins and currants. I loved it.

So, for me, it depends on the fruitcake, not on my age.

 

[Kogo Shuko]

I've always loved fruitcake, so I can't say yes or no.

However, most children hate dark chocolate, but many adults love it. So I do feel our taste (or taste buds?!) changes over time.

 

[Disneylover99]

I hate fruitcake and spumoni.
That's good news for me, I guess.
My tastebuds are still young.

 

[superme80]

I have always liked fruitcake. My grandma's friend always made it. It was amazing.

 

[ImDMous]

I've been making fruitcake since I was 8, I love my recipe but don't really like storebought ones at all. Mine is more like actual cake instead of that super dense heavy syrupy stuff they sell.

I have no idea what horehound drops are, never heard of them.

I love spumoni, always have. It's pistachio, chocolate and cherry, what's not to love?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I think as you get older, you get more of an appreciation for a lot of things. So maybe!

I never really tried it (that I remember, even though my mother and aunts were "fruitcake people"), until a couple of years ago, and I was surprised at how good it was, lol. Although I bought one last year and it was awful. Maybe if you make it, it tastes good!

OT - I miss your dog picture!

 

[PigletsPal2]

Lord, I hope not!

Queen Colleen

 

[NotUrsula]

I've been making fruitcake since I was a tiny tot, my first job was to dredge the soaked fruit for the batter, so that it wouldn't fall to the bottom of the cake. When I got older I got the boat paddle chore, which I wasn't so crazy about -- my mother made so many fruitcakes that we used a washing tub and a canoe paddle to mix the batter. Thing is, my Irish mother's fruitcake wasn't to my taste -- it was essentially straight currant cake, and I hate currants. I switched recipes when I was about 10, to the one my older sisters made, because they didn't like Mom's recipe, either. Mom would eat any kind of fruitcake, it was her favorite sweet -- actually, in our house it was the only kind of baking that was done most of the time. The tradition of making the "cakes" was so important in my mother's family that once I left home she used to call me up and drop me postcards starting in late August, "Have you made your cakes yet?" If I didn't get them done by Halloween she started getting anxious.

The red and green "fruit" really is fruit; it's been coloured for Christmas. I happen to love candied fruit, even citron peel; I keep the stuff in my pantry year-round, and make fruitcake cookies when I'm in the mood but don't feel like going whole-hog. Mine are chock-full of peels, pecans, and ESPECIALLY cherries -- the batter is there more or less as a binder. Mine is so-called "white" fruitcake; no treacle in the batter, no currants, and the raisins must be sultanas.

As to whether or not you come to like it when you get older -- quite probably, because it is a really strongly flavoured item, and older people tend to like stronger flavors. If you are a soaker, like me, the alcohol usually plays into that as well; most kids don't like sweets with alcohol in them. FWIW, my kids love my fruitcake, and have since babyhood, though I suspect that they wouldn't like their grandmother's recipe very much. I don't know anyone in my extended family that doesn't care for fruitcake -- most Americans think we're odd, LOL.

PS: I've also always loved Spumoni!

 

[daannzzz]

I have not had home made fruitcake. Just some store bought and they varied in flavor. Same with Spumoni. I love the kind that has the pistachio green and rummy vanilla with all the candied fruits in it. There have been some that were just a creamy white with slight flavoring that doesn't cut it at all.

 

[Meriweather]

I hate fruitcake....always have and always will. So getting older didn't change that at all.

 

[antmaril]

I have always liked fruitcake. My mother made a great fruitcake, but she has been gone since 1982. I have a good friend who always makes one for me at Christmas. Hers is not quite as good as my mother's used to be, but I still love it.

As I've gotten older (I am 64), I have acquired a taste for some things I didn't like when I was young, like split pea soup and dark chocolate. But, fruitcake? I have always loved it.

 

[powellrj]

I have always liked it so that doesn't count for me.

I am noticing it works both ways. I have always loved food and will always try new things, but I have noticed as I have gotten older, I don't like things as well as I used to. I always loved hamburgers with all the toppings. The more the better, but anymore I prefer them plain or with just a few toppings. I have also noticed I don't like hot things like I use to. We ordered mexican food last night and mine had a chile relleno on it and I could barely eat it it was so spicy and I use to love them spicy.

 

[loves to dive]

As to fruitcake, have always hated it and I'm almost 60, still do. My grandmother was known for her fruitcake and she would send us one every year. She soaked it in brandy so when you opened it up you almost got drunk. My mama swore it was good for door stops but daddy loved it (his mother was the one who made it). We would freeze it so he could eat it all year. The last one grandmother sent before she died went in the freezer and was still there when daddy died. He died at least 3 years after her. So we decided to see how long it would stay in the freezer before mama found it and threw it out. It was still there when she died, which was about 6 years after daddy. Now that fruitcake has become sort of a family badge of honor, my brother moved into my parents house (which I own, don't ask) and he has kept it in the freezer despite his wife wanting to thaw it and eat it. We siblings have made it clear to our children that whoever the last of them is, they must keep this frozen hunk of door stop. So far we've kept it for about 15 years, who knows some archeologist might find it hundreds of years from now and wonder what the heck it is.

My taste buds have, however, changed through the years. I used to not eat spaghetti sauce because I couldn't stand mushrooms, now I'll eat mushrooms on just about anything. As a Georgia girl I used to drink sweet tea and coke, now I'll spit either one out if I get my son's glass instead of mine.

 

[BrianL]

I actually rather like fruitcake...IF it's a good one anyway. Those hard, pre-packaged bricks don't count, but I have had homemade ones that were actually quite tasty!

 

[minnie mum]

I've loved fruitcake since I was a little girl. Grandma's recipe (which is over 100 years old now) was the only one we ever made. And it was always made in early Sept, wrapped in brandy soaked cheesecloth, and kept in the unheated area of the basement, with additional periodic basting with the brandy, until Christmas. It was cake in name only, with just enough batter to hold all the candied fruit, peel, and nuts together. I've never tasted a store bought fruit cake that could hold a candle to it. And my kids love it too.

I've never liked Spumoni. But I was raised to be adventurous with dining, and have always enjoyed trying new things. DH, OTOH, was the definition of a picky eater when I met him. But he's developed a much greater appreciation for different foods over time. He even likes broccoli and spinach now!

 

[daannzzz]

""""We siblings have made it clear to our children that whoever the last of them is, they must keep this frozen hunk of door stop. So far we've kept it for about 15 years, who knows some archeologist might find it hundreds of years from now and wonder what the heck it is.""""

That is great!

 

[denisem]

I dislike fruitcake, so I guess I'm not old enough (yet).

 

[Diznygrl]

What the heck is horehound candy??