Love it or hate it, when did modern fruitcake start baking?

"There is only one fruitcake in the entire world and people keep passing it around," Johnny Carson once joked. So, why do we keep this repugnant Christmas "treat" around during the holidays, and where did it come from? Western Europe threw this blend of dried fruits and bread together in the Middle Ages. Whether you travel back in your time machine to Sienna, Italy in the 13th century to taste-test the dense panforte ("strong bread"), or you jump over to Dresden in the 1400s for the stollen, a powdered-sugary butter loaf, fruitcakes have been around for a long time. Their association with Christmas is unknown.

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