FRUITCAKE

The holidays are a time when families come together. And yet, fruitcake, that seasonal staple, is as divisive as desserts get.

fruitcake is as polarizing as baked goods come. Some people hate them, but those who love them tend to be loyal to old family recipes. Rosella Helwig and her daughter, Alice, are proof of the latter; they have been baking this cake for 50 years.

When Alice was little, her job was to cut the sugary candied cherries with scissors (they’ve since fallen out of fashion; substitute dried apricots, figs, cherries, or other dried fruit to suit your taste), while her mother would bake the cakes in cleaned-out coffee tins. The original recipe came from an old green-covered cookbook compiled by an Edmonton church group, but it has evolved over time.

Each year they name their cake after events surrounding its creation. The year they soaked the fruit in 150-proof rum, the final product was called the Firebomb Cake. Whatever they’re called, the cakes have become such a strong tradition that they bake them on Thanksgiving weekend in order to ship them to friends and relatives across Canada and as far away as Essex, England. The British relatives say the first whiff upon opening the container is the best—a combination of fruitcake, rum and Calgary air.