The holiday season is filled with classic confections, including candy canes, gingerbread, and sugarplums. However, one treat that has been showing up less often on dessert tables in recent decades is fruitcake. This may be due in part to Johnny Carson’s declaration years ago: \u201cThe worst gift is a fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite its current decline in popularity, fruitcake has been a part of historic events for centuries. It was even present at Princess Diana and King Charles’ wedding and made a trip to the moon on Apollo 11. Today, more than 2 million fruitcakes are sold in the United States each year, with 20,000 a day coming from one small town in Texas.<\/p>\n
The bakery responsible for these sales is Collin Street Bakery, located in Corsicana, a town about 50 miles south of Dallas. Collin Street Bakery has been in the fruitcake business for over 125 years. According to Thomas McNutt, a third-generation owner at the bakery, the key to their success lies in the quality of their ingredients. \u201cI promise you this. If every American had Collin Street Bakery\u2019s fruitcake at Christmas, then today every household would have a fruitcake still at Christmas, because ours is very different,\u201d said McNutt.<\/p>\n
Each Collin Street fruitcake features Texas pecans, pineapple, raisins, and cherries blended into a batter, hand-decorated and baked. The bakery’s owners emphasize the importance of using high-quality ingredients to create a unique and delicious taste experience. \u201cSome people will attempt to bake a product just for the season, really, with no eye to quality \u2026 You can taste a $2 wine or $2,000 wine, and there\u2019s a big difference from the bottom and the top, and it\u2019s the same way in the world of fruitcake,\u201d said Bob McNutt, another family owner.<\/p>\n
The bakery has delivered fruitcakes to celebrities, politicians, and even made a cameo in the 1972 classic film \u201cThe Godfather.\u201d Collin Street is so confident in its confection that it even offers a money-back guarantee. For customers like Bill Baxter, it\u2019s all about the nostalgia. \u201cIt brings back memories of what used to be,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s comfort.\u201d The McNutts say sharing those traditions across generations is part of their mission.<\/p>\n
Fruitcake may not be as popular as it once was, but bakeries like Collin Street are working to keep the tradition alive. With their high-quality ingredients and dedication to their craft, they are helping to bring back a sense of nostalgia and comfort to the holiday season. As Thomas McNutt said, \u201cWe think that there\u2019s a new kind of a refound appreciation of tradition, of family, of gathering and celebrating. So fruitcake just fits perfectly in that.\u201d<\/p>\n
A: Fruitcake’s decline in popularity may be due in part to Johnny Carson’s negative comments about the treat, as well as a lack of quality ingredients used by some bakeries.<\/p>\n
A: More than 2 million fruitcakes are sold in the United States each year.<\/p>\n
A: Collin Street Bakery’s fruitcake features Texas pecans, pineapple, raisins, and cherries blended into a batter, hand-decorated and baked, using high-quality ingredients.<\/p>\n
A: Yes, Collin Street Bakery’s fruitcake has been featured in the 1972 classic film \u201cThe Godfather\u201d and has been delivered to celebrities and politicians.<\/p>\n
A: Collin Street Bakery’s mission is to share traditions across generations and bring back a sense of nostalgia and comfort to the holiday season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to Fruitcake The holiday season is filled with classic confections, including candy canes, gingerbread, and sugarplums. However, one treat that has been showing up less often on dessert tables in recent decades is fruitcake. This may be due in part to Johnny Carson’s declaration years ago: \u201cThe worst gift is a fruitcake. There is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dining"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/media.nbcnewyork.com\/2025\/12\/collin-street-bakery-fruitcakes-1.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&resize=1200%2C675&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26941"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26941"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26944,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26941\/revisions\/26944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}