Who likes fruitcake?

[shootingstar]

Or stollen /kristollen traditionally from Germany, Austria or perhaps Switzerland.

The cake/crumb part is not as heavy as brandy-soaked heavy fruitcakes. Lighter in colour and they don't traditionally use maraschino cherries/overly sweet soaked fruits. It is drier in taste (something like panetonne, but a little more dense) and meant to have a good fine coffee.

Properly made stollen is aged up to 1 month. At least dearie's mom did, before she died.

For past few Christmases we buy from a well-known local artisan European bakery, Thomas Haas. Sample of his other cakes: https://thomashaas.com/page160.htm It is really high-end gourmet fine pastries that is on par with Iron Chef baking. This is what fine European baking is genuinely like.

Haas is originally from Germany, pastry chef training in Black Forest region...same region where dearie's mum came from and where she learned her fine baking.

Haas also is an avid mtbiker and sells cycling shirts (at somewhat high end prices).
But I will try any fruitcake offered to me, particularily if homemade.

Would agree with Zen, that understanding fruitcake and other variants, indeed alot of different desserts, requires over a long time, developing a more refined palate that understands nuances/subtleties in flavour, texture, etc. Before I knew dearie and hence, became exposed to the range of his mother's baking, I had super simplistic palate for baked desserts. At that time, I never understood subtleties of aniseed, hazelnut, etc.

(Now I am picky on quality of croissants, real tortes (vs. fake tortes full of just whipping cream), flans, etc. All this stuff means...I have to bike more!!)