NEW ORLEANS – If you ask what kind of Christmas cake the astronauts took with them to the moon.

The trip  was in 1969.

That’s the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.

WGNO News with a Twist features guy Wild Bill Wood has the answer.  And the answer is, the fruitcake.

The astronauts traveled to the moon with a fruitcake and actually brought it back with them to earth when they returned.

The fruitcake is part of history.

Such a chunk of history, it’s now on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

It’s pineapple fruitcake.

And it’s a tribute to the holiday tradition that goes back to Roman times.

At Baker Maid Bakery in New Orleans, it’s a tradition that goes back to 1955.  That’s how long Baker Maid has been making and baking fruitcakes.

It’s the holiday dessert that is served up with a reputation that’s as old as the fruitcake itself.

For example, there’s the one about fruitcake lasting forever.

Well, when it has alcohol as part of the recipe, the booze serves as a preservative.  And that does guarantee an extra long shelf life for most fruitcakes out there.

And then there’s the story about fruitcakes getting better with age.  Like wine, that is.  And that’s true.   Fresh fruitcake needs to si and get ripe.  That takes about a month.  That’s when it gets really delicious.

At Baker Maid Bakery, it looks to be shaping up like another sold out season.

That’s the forecast for the yule log you can actually eat.

And for the forty percent of people who get fruitcakes and admit they actually then give them away, the fruitcake really is the gift that keeps on giving.

If you’ve got a sweet tooth for one of the fruitcakes created by the elves at Baker Maid, you can find them right now at Rouses Markets, Langenstein’s, Zuppardo’s Family Supermarket and Dorignac’s Food Center.

You can find the fruitcakes, as always, until they sell out.

And that’s a holiday guarantee.