Mouth watering fruitcake can remain fresh for a long time. But, time limit crosses all boundaries when researchers discovered the 106 years old fruitcake in Antarctica that looks fresh.
The 106 years old fruitcake not only looks fresh even after crossing the long time frame but edible also. Famous Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott brought this fruitcake in Antarctica in 1910 during the famous Terra Nova expedition. Lizzie Meek of the Antarctic Heritage Trust utters that the cake had a mild rancid butter smell, but it looked and also smelled edible. Lizzie Meek is the Programme Manager-Artefacts of the trust.
It is quite obvious that extreme cold environment in Antarctica is the key player to preserve this 106 years old cake. According to the USA TODAY, the Antarctic Heritage Trust is a non-profit trust from New Zealand. This trust looks after the artifacts that were left behind by the famous and popular Antarctic explorers. The explorers' list obviously includes the famous Captain Robert Scott.
This specific 106 years old fruitcake was discovered with many other important artifacts from the huts located at Cape Adare. Captain Scott and his party used these huts from the year 1910 to 1913 during the said Terra Nova expedition. The Huntley & Palmers made this fruitcake, and notably, this old desert still had the paper wrapping.
According to NPR, the 106 years old cake had the paper wrapping and placed in a tin. The tin was made of iron alloy tin that bears the signs of the deterioration. But, the fruitcake was fresh and also "well-preserved".
Lizzie Meek said that finding this 106 years old properly preserved fruitcake among other artifacts was a surprise. Fruit cake is an ideal food for the Antarctic conditions as it provides high energy. The interesting fact is even in modern times this is the favorite item the explorers use during the trips to the ice.
Apart from the 106 years old cake, the trust also recovered around 1,500 artifacts from two huts at the Cape Adare. The trust has already taken all these pieces to New Zealand. The trust actually conserves them in the lab at the famous Canterbury Museum.
