National Fruitcake Day

Categories:: Food & Beverage
Tags:: Baking Food
Where:: United States
Date change rule:: Every December 27
Holiday emoji:: 🍰

National Fruitcake Day arrives every December 27, inviting enthusiasts to celebrate the rich, boozy, and often debated holiday dessert. This dense confection, packed with dried fruits, nuts, and spirits, has a history stretching back to ancient times. Embrace its unique charm by baking your own, sharing a slice with friends, or discovering new ways to appreciate this festive staple.

Timeline
FAQs
Importance
Celebrate
Insights

National Fruitcake Day timeline

500 BC

Earliest recipe

The earliest documented recipe for fruitcake in ancient Rome consisted of ingredients like pomegranate seeds, raisins, and pine nuts, mixed with barley.

18th century

If being tasty was a crime

Fruitcake made with sugar and butter was banned for some time in Europe because it was too rich and tasty.

1956

A Christmas Memory

The humble loaf also appeared in pop culture like in Truman Capote's book "A Christmas Memory," in which young Capote's eccentric cousin would bake fruitcake when, according to her, it was proper "fruitcake weather."

January 7, 1995

Fruitcake Toss Day

Shortly after National Fruitcake Day is Fruitcake Toss Day - created to get rid of leftover Christmas fruitcake.

National Fruitcake Day - Survey Results

Data gathered by a top Philadelphia Marketing Agency

National Fruitcake Day FAQs

When is National Fruitcake Day?

National Fruitcake Day 2026 falls on Sunday, December 27, offering a relaxed weekend opportunity to bake or enjoy this festive treat.

How many people actually like fruitcake?

While fruitcake often gets a bad rap, a 2025 survey by YouGov found that approximately 22% of Americans actually like fruitcake, with another 15% saying they neither like nor dislike it.

How much fruitcake is sold each year?

Major fruitcake producers like Claxton Bakery and Collin Street Bakery collectively sell millions of pounds of fruitcake annually, with sales peaking during the holiday season.

What is the origin of fruitcake?

Fruitcake’s origins trace back to ancient Rome, where a mixture of barley mash, nuts, and dried fruit was made. Medieval European versions often included honey and spices, evolving into the rich, dense cakes we know today.

National Fruitcake Day Activities

Have a fruitcake party
Since the ingredients of fruitcake vary widely, have a party where each guest makes his or her own version of the treat! You can even hold a contest for the best version—winner earns everlasting glory.
Give the gift of fruitcakes
Fruitcakes are a traditional gift, and mailorder fruitcakes have been around since the early 1900s. So take a note from your ancestors and order a tasty, quality fruitcake available through the mail to gift to your friends.
Make your own fruitcake
You can keep the tradition alive by creating your own fruitcake. If you don’t have a family recipe, adapt a recipe from a popular cookbook. All the ingredients can be purchased, but why not make it a family tradition to dry your own fruit? Not only will your fruitcake taste better, but it will be healthier and better for you. Toast some fresh nuts, use honey instead of sugar, and use top-shelf booze to make a real fruitcake lover’s fruitcake.

Why We Love National Fruitcake Day

Christmas is right around the corner
Fruitcakes are traditionally associated with the arrival of winter, when heavier desserts (and food in general) are served. Their popularity grew before refrigeration allowed an easy way to keep food fresh, so other means of preservation had to be devised. Pouring alcohol over them until no more could be absorbed was one way to preserve them for months, because it was believed they got better with age.
You can use any ingredients to make them
An early recipe from Rome lists pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins as fruitcake's main ingredients, but any extra fruit you have lying around is fair game for this all-encompassing dessert.
It's international
Fruitcake is consumed in different forms around the world, and we mean all over. It's served in America, the Bahamas, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Germany and Ireland, among other places.