This 100-Year-Old Fruitcake Is Practically Edible

You've likely heard of couples freezing pieces of their wedding cake to enjoy on their anniversaries – but this particular frozen cake is one for the history books.

The Antarctic Heritage Trust team in New Zealand discovered the cake in question – a Huntley & Palmer's fruitcake – at a Cape Adare abandoned explorer hut in Antarctica. The team has gathered nearly 1,500 Cape Adare artifacts since starting their collection period more than a year ago.

The tin that held the cake may have been in bad shape, but the same couldn't be said for the actual cake. It apparently "looked and smelt (almost) edible," according to a statement from the Antarctic Heritage Trust.

"With just two weeks to go on the conservation of the Cape Adare artifacts, finding such a perfectly preserved fruitcake in amongst the last handful of unidentified and severely corroded tins was quite a surprise," Lizzie Meek, the program's artifacts manager, said in a statement. "It's an ideal high-energy food for Antarctic conditions, and is still a favorite item on modern trips to the Ice."

The Trust dates the cake to explorer Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition (1910 to 1913), and it's even been documented that he had this cake with him.

Four conservators have been working to preserve these artifacts, and have also started planning to conserve Cape Adare buildings created in 1899. These buildings were Antarctica's first. All artifacts will go back to the site following these conservation efforts.