43% Never Want To See This Holiday Dessert At A Christmas Party

There are holiday parties and holiday parties, ranging from sugar-fueled classroom celebrations to boozy office bacchanalias. Our very favorite kind of Christmas party, however, is one where it's all about the sweet treats. At such a shindig, while there may be a few glasses of eggnog raised, coffee (or milk) is more likely to be the beverage of choice as it better complements the dessert selection.

The Christmas dessert spread of our dreams is bedecked in sparkling red and green sugar and features plenty of peppermint, although chocolate, of course, plays a prominent role. We wouldn't even mind seeing a few fall fruits like pumpkin and cranberries making their last hurrah. There are, however, a few traditional treats that return year after year like an unfavorite ugly sweater.

Which holiday dessert is the one you'd least like to see in the center of the dessert spread? Mashed posed this question to 613 people, and when all the votes were tabulated, the clear loser came as no surprise whatsoever.

Shocking absolutely no-one, everyone's least-favorite holiday confection was the much-maligned dessert-that-doubles-as-a-doorstop, fruitcake. The only thing the least bit eyebrow-raising about this result was wrapping our brains around the fact that 43% of the people being fruitcake haters means that 57% of people don't think it's the worst holiday dessert out there. What could possibly be worse?

For over 13% of our poll respondents, the answer to that not-so-rhetorical question would be sweet potato pie. This pumpkin pie taste-alike came in second place on our list of desserts nobody wanted to eat in December. Peppermint bark and bûche de Noël (aka holiday Yule log cake, for those who don't like to type special characters) tied for third with almost 11% of the vote, while peanut butter blossoms were close behind, disliked by over 10%. Down at the bottom were pecan pie, the unfavorite of only 6% of the people we surveyed, and gingerbread cookies, a treat that just 5% didn't care for.

As for those unwanted fruitcakes, though, there's no need to toss them — in the trash, that is! Instead, you can take them to Manitou Springs, Colorado the third week in January for The Great Fruitcake Toss. Kidding, the Manitou Springs competition supplies its own fruitcake. Their website can, however, show you how to build a mini-catapult for your own backyard fruitcake flinging fun.