I love fruitcake! I know a lot of people hate it but that's usually because they haven't had the homemade kind. Panchita is that the tradition where everyone takes a turn stirring the mixture? When I was growing up we all helped my mom do her fruitcakes before Christmas. My job was to remove the skins from the almonds after they had soaked. My mom always did a pretty flower design on the tops of cakes. She used the almonds for the petals with a half candied cherry for the center. Wow what good memories this topic brings to mind!