"I don't know if it's unusual; it makes it good competition," said Ira Womble Jr., co-owner of Georgia Fruit Cake Co. Inc.

And how he does he know it's the fruitcake capital?
"It's on the water tower," he said.

As early as 7 a.m., a blend of sweet and tart mix in the hot summer air outside the company's building. Inside the smells are identifiable: cherries, orange, lemon, pineapple, raisins and almonds. Since 1917, the Womble family has been "making cake," using an old family, top-secret fruitcake recipe. They've heard plenty of jokes, gotten lots of teasing and ribbing, but once people try it, they usually get quiet. Greg Zielinski comes to the company's front cafe three days a week, two times a day. He always takes a fruitcake when going to visit friends and family. If he forgets, they are sorely disappointed.

"It's the best fruitcake -- because there's a lot of bourbon in it," Zielinski said with a wink. "It's not soggy or dried up -- it's just right."

Back in the kitchen, worker Verdie Boggs is lining thick red crinkling paper in the pans at a shiny silver worktable. To her left is a 20 horsepowered electric mixer, oozing with a lumpy, raw cake batter. To her right is an oven that can rotate about 1,100 pounds of cake at a time. The temperature cannot be revealed.

"It smells like fruitcake season," she said with a grin.

Every year, the company bakes and sells everything they make -- on average more than 100,000 lbs. The largest order they had at one point -- 64,000 lbs. One pound of fruitcake costs $3.50, the same price as a high-energy health bar.

"Starting in July helps," said John Womble, co-owner and son of Ira Womble Jr. "It allows us to make them at a leisurely pace and the time lets the cake work and do what it needs to do." Nearby, the elder Womble scoops and slaps batter into a lined pan on top of a scale. "The cakes like individual attention," he says.

Putting the pan before his son and sliding another down to Boggs, the pair start whipping and smoothing the thick mixture. Come peak season, even a five minute delay could mess up the schedule, said John Womble. Mixing the texture is like moving wet, lumpy cream-colored clay. The batter is expensive -- so they can't afford to mess up. Boggs keeps a steady face and a sturdy hand gripping the pan as it curves back and forth across the pan occasionally dipping into the corner to fill the pockets. When finished with the task, she wipes a cloth around the pan's edges. "It should have a mellow fruit taste it shouldn't have a sharp or bitter taste," said Ira Womble Jr. "It shouldn't scare a child off."

There is one rule to fruitcake: "Don't eat it fresh. Wait six months for a cake to age." And in case you're wondering, the cake can last up to three years. "I'm just glad it'll be the centerpiece of someone's table," said John Womble.

Fruitcake History: Fruitcake originated in ancient Egypt and was considered an essential food for the afterlife. Source: foodreference.com

"The fruit cake as known today cannot date back much beyond the Middle Ages. It was only in the 13th century that dried fruits began to arrive in Britain, from Portugal and the east Mediterranean. Lightly fruited breads were probably more common than anything resembling the modern fruit cake during the Middle Ages.

"Early versions of the rich fruit cake, such as Scottish Black Bun dating from the Middle Ages, were luxuries for special occasions. Fruit cakes have been used for celebrations since at least the early 18th century when bride cakes and plumb cakes, descended from enriched bread recipes, became cookery standards.

"Making a rich fruit cake in the 18th century was a major undertaking. The ingredients had to be carefully prepared. Fruit was washed, dried, and stoned [taking the pits out] if necessary; sugar, cut from loaves, had to be pounded and sieved; butter washed in water and rinsed in rosewater. Eggs were beaten for a long time, half an hour being commonly directed. Yeast, or barm from fermenting beer, had to be coaxed to life. Finally, the cook had to cope with the tempremental wood-fired baking ovens of that time. No wonder these cakes acquired such mystique..."-- Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson 1999

Fruitcake dates

-Jan. 4, 2003 - A group of Mexicans baked a giant Christmas cake weighing in at 13,400 kilograms. The Rosca cake is expected to deliver 34,000 slices to locals in Nuevo Leon state. Rosca is a dense fruitcake eaten locally on the eve of January 6, to mark the end of the Christmas holiday season, reports ABC News.

Source: Ananova.com

-In 2002, The Sunday Times, a Johannesburg newspaper, reported residents in an Eastern Cape town believed they may have found the world's oldest cake - which turned 100 on April 6. The cake was discovered in the attic of the Graaff-Reinet family home of Reinette Te Water Naude, the ex-fiancee of former President P W Botha. Baked in 1902 to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Frans and Caroline Te Water, the cake was discovered by a local antique dealer in the loft of the grand old home. Dealer Eira Maasdorp announced that the cake - beautifully decorated with the date "April 6 1852 - 1902" - had enjoyed its centennial.