Max

thank you.
a quick thought about WW1.
in fact, what happened is that families would make these fruit cakes, and then send pieces to the soldiers. i know this was common in Australia, where I lived as a boy. WW1 was before my time. But the family remembered the old days. there was mail. so wives and sweethearts would wrap a large piece of fruitcake, I think in paper and secured tightly with tape and string. then give it to the Army, to be delivered to the soldier who was fighting.
And the Army was very loyal about doing these deliveries ... because it was an excellent way of maintaining morale.

Of course, it might take months for a piece of fruit cake to travel from Australia to the war in Europe. But that was really the point - the fruit cake would last that long and not decay.

So I have always wondered ... was there something special in the British recipe for fruit cake, that caused it to last so long? The British recipe was widely used throughout the old colonies of Britain, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other places.