Christmas tradition keeps Benedictine monks busy all year

Published: 2006-06-14

BERRYVILLE, Va. (CNS) -- Even though fruitcake is the butt of many jokes, it is no laughing matter to the Benedictine monks of Holy Cross Abbey in Berryville. The monks, who have been producing these cakes for more than 20 years and annually sell about 25,000 of them, know with almost blessed assurance that they will have a guaranteed market each year. On a recent spring morning well before dawn, and long before the Christmas rush, a few of them were already at work mixing the fruits, nuts and spices for the day's production at the small warehouse on their property in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. Every Tuesday, a crew of about eight bakers gathers in the nondescript warehouse to combine ingredients and slowly bake the mixture for two hours. The entire process, including soaking the cakes in brandy and letting them age for three months before they are weighed, wrapped and placed into tins, seems to perfectly fit the monks because it is not fast-food production by any means. These cakes take time and patience and the monks have plenty of both.

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