106-year-old Antarctic fruitcake found, might be edible
Newly discovered artifact of South Pole expedition in 'excellent condition'

By Mike Moffitt, SFGATE Updated 12:43 pm, Friday, August 11, 2017

A 100-year-old fruitcake was recovered on Cape Adare in Antarctica.

Move over, Twinkies. You've been bested in the "food that refuses to
decompose" department, and the contest wasn't even close.

Conservators with the New Zealand-based Antarctic Heritage Trust
recently discovered a 106-year-old fruitcake in Antarctica's oldest
building, a hut on Cape Adare.

A fruitcake is a dense, brick-like confection spiked with lumps of dried
fruit and nuts that is traditionally regifted at Christmas. It is known
for its long shelf life, although usually not 100 years long.

The Antarctic dessert was found wrapped in paper in a decrepit tin. But
despite its rotting container, the cake was said to be in "excellent
condition."

"There was a very, very slight rancid butter smell to it, but other than
that, the cake looked and smelled edible," trust program manager Lizzie
Meeks said.

Conservators believe British explorer Capt. Robert Falcon Scott probably
brought the cake, made by the British biscuit company Huntley & Palmers,
to Antarctica during their ill-fated 1910-1913 Terra Nova expedition.

The expedition's Northern Party took shelter in the Cape Adare hut,
which had been built by Norwegian Carsten Borchgrevink's team in 1899,
and left the fruitcake behind.

Scott and his four companions reached the South Pole, only to discover
Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had beaten them to the spot five weeks
earlier. All five died on the return trip, four after support teams
failed to rendezvous with his party as ordered.

The fruitcake is one of last of some 1,500 artifacts conserved by the
trust. After conservation, which includes stabilizing and repairing the
items, they will be returned to the site.