A sliced fruitcake filled with raisins, dried fruits, and nuts on a white plate over a wooden table

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Fruitcake is a mainstay holiday dessert, although some may turn their noses up at the mention of the fruit- and nut-filled confection. Part of the issue may be that, when baking it at home, there are mistakes everyone makes with fruitcake — like not pre-soaking your fruits or over-baking the cake. Still, for many, it has become more of a joke than a real, tangible food that they've seen in person. So, it might be time to put that moldy old joke to rest and try something fresh. And when you're ordering fruitcake for shipment (or if you're a Texas local), it doesn't get any fresher than from a bakery opened over a century ago in Corsicana, TX — Collin Street Bakery.

If you're unfamiliar with the company, as Collin Street Bakery states on its website, "[W]e're kind of a big deal in the fruitcake world." Collin Street Bakery claims to be the first-ever mail-order fruitcake company in the United States, developing the business across four generations. It sells over a million pounds of its DeLuxe® Fruitcake annually, doing around $20 million in online business during the holiday season alone. Although it may be anecdotal evidence, 20 million bucks in sales around the world points to some truly delicious cakes. And Collin Street Bakery puts its money where your mouth is, offering a simple, unambiguous satisfaction guarantee. If you're unsatisfied with your Collin Street Bakery order, they'll replace it or give a full monetary refund, no questions asked.

A little Collin Street Bakery history and why its fruitcakes are so good

Collin Street Bakery's famed DeLuxe fruitcake on a cake platter, one slice taken out, sitting on a plate

Collin Street Bakery / Facebook

Collin Street Bakery was founded by Augustus "Gus" Weidman in 1896, shortly after he arrived in Texas from Wiesbaden, Germany. According to the Collin Street story, Weidman's dream had been to open a bakery using  recipes from his homeland. Collin Street became popular in the early 1900s through its home deliveries, first by horse-drawn carriage, and eventually with Model-T trucks. The business later expanded into a bed and breakfast, and guests would return home from their stay with a delicious fruitcake under their arm, spreading Collin Street's fame by word (or rather taste) of mouth. There was soon demand far and wide for fruitcakes from around the globe, and a mail-order business was born.

Collin Street Bakery follows strict quality guidelines and only uses the best ingredients — fresh North American pecans, hand-picked Costa Rican pineapples, Oregon cherries, California raisins, and delicious, natural honey. The jewel of the bakery's portfolio, the DeLuxe Fruitcake, is from a recipe perfected across four generations of master bakers, and is made up of a whopping 27% pecans. In a 5-star review of the DeLuxe on Amazon, user Nicholas Detente says, "Very sweet and hits the spot. I will definitely be ordering again!" And in another 5-star review, SatchimosMom adds, "It's pricey but worth every penny. But don't tell your fruitcake hating friends and family or else they'll expect you to share!" 

Collin Street fruitcakes are made fresh daily and decorated by hand for the added human touch that just can't be machine duplicated. If you have simply fallen victim to the apocryphal tale that fruitcakes just aren't any good, you need to try one from Collin Street Bakery.