During wartime, Canadians had less fruit for the fruitcake
In 1943, CBC offered tips for bakers at a time when food rationing meant making do with less
"Many will be doing bits of baking from now on in preparation for Christmas," began an early December 1943 edition of CBC Radio's Food Facts and Food Fashions. "This is a good idea because there won't be so much to do at the last moment."
Host Dorothy Batcheller, a home economist, delivered a weekly program brimming with tips and tricks for the homemaker, and this pre-holiday edition was no exception.
Today's bakers might be surprised to learn of the challenges imposed on their predecessors by food rationing rules during the Second World War. And in an era when the Christmas fruitcake was an essential holiday treat, the challenges were serious.
Reminding bakers that rationing of key ingredients like sugar and butter would mean "our Christmas puddings and cakes are going to be much more simple," Batcheller also told them "another reason is that there are not as plentiful supplies of other ingredients either, such as fruits and so on."
Smaller cakes with more fruit would be the result.
"We're going in for quality in place of quantity this season," said Batcheller.
Holding back on the butter
Imports of some ingredients were made difficult by the war, but rationing also made some food available for the troops overseas.
Batcheller provided workarounds for the home cook hoping to stretch her supply of butter, saving the precious butter for recipes that truly needed it.
And in the end, icing would be less plentiful than in past years. No worries about the appearance of the cake, however, as Batcheller had a solution for that — powdered sugar could be sifted over a lacy paper doily.
"Do you ever have difficulty cutting fruitcake without it crumbling?" Batcheller asked listeners. "Every year it seems that the same tale of woe is repeated by so many women ... here's a tip for you."
Her advice was to "use a sharp knife and dip it frequently into warm water" and to "use a sawing motion, just as you do when cutting bread."
Treats for the troops
Although most Canadians would have already mailed off Christmas boxes to loved ones overseas, she reminded them that "many would welcome a second taste of Christmas in their next box."
Perhaps bakers might make some extra cake or shortbread cookies, which keep well, she noted.
But they needed to be properly packed, and for that she suggested filling leftover space with waxed paper or even popcorn to fill up the tin and keep the treats safe.
