The World's Largest Fruitcake Weighs Almost 10,000 Pounds

"Fruitcake." For some, this compound word makes their mouths water in anticipation. For others, it makes them cringe in utter revulsion. Love it or hate it, this polarizing cake has one significant thing going for it: It lasts a long time. As late-night host Johnny Carson once joked, "There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other" (via PBS). Thanks to this holiday dessert's high-proof alcohol content, dry ingredients, and trusty sugar, it takes longer than most baked goods to expire. 

Think about it. The National Geographic revealed that in 2017, a group of scientists uncovered a centenarian fruitcake that had likely belonged to a member of Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic exploration team from around 1910. And, according to The Detroit News, one specimen that was baked in Ohio in 1878 has been handed down from one generation to another ever since. Yes, the fruitcake was built to last. In fact, it is so tough that the people of Manitou Springs, Colorado, host an annual festival called the Great Fruitcake Toss, an event that encourages visitors to "let your fruitcake fly." Not many baked goods were built for hurling — especially not one that weighs 10,000 pounds. This is just about the weight of the world's largest fruitcake, whipped up in 2014.

When the Serengeti Park in Germany decided to mark its 40th anniversary, they did it in a very big way. The managing director, Dr. Fabrizio Sepe, and his team set out to bake the largest fruitcake in the world — and they did it. According to the folks at Guinness World Records, they managed to whip up a cake that weighed in at over 9,596 pounds, beating out the previous record held by India's Just Bake by roughly 1,164 pounds (via Guinness).  

Guinness adds that it took 250 working hours to prepare this mammoth confection, plus 440 baking trays worth of cake. The pile of ingredients used to make this creation was gargantuan as well. For example, the fruitcake recipe used 1,000 eggs, over 3,527 pounds of strawberries, roughly 1,521 cups of milk, and at least 1,102 pounds of butter. The endeavor was well worth all this effort, though, as it earned the free-roaming zoo significant media attention and attracted 200 notable guests, including a former German president. 

It isn't known what happened to this massive fruitcake. It is, perhaps, still lurking in closets, being used as doorstops, or waiting for next year's fruitcake toss. Some, likely, made its way into the tummies of happy fruitcake lovers.