My Grandmothers Japanese Fruit Cake..

This is a real time eater, but once a year its worth it.

Cream together

1 cup Crisco

2 cups sugar,

Beat in thoroughly, one at a time, 4 eggs,

Sift together

3 cups sifted all purpose flour

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

Stir dry ingredients into wet alternately with

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla

Have ready 3 -9 inch pans well greased and floured.."I line with wax paperm then grease and flour..

Into 1 pan put 1/3 of the batter,

Then mix into remaining batter

2/3 cup chopped pecans

2/3 cup chopped raisins

3/4 tsp each..Cinnamon, Allspice and Mace

1/2 tsp cloves

Divide in 2 remaining pans , bake at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes, turn out on wire racks and cool completely.

Filling

In a heavy saucepan,mix together,

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

4 TBSP cornstarch

3/4 cup Pineapple syrup from 20 oz can crushed pineapple.

Cook over low to med heat until boils, boil 1 minute, STIRRING CONSTANTLY..

Remove from heat, Blend in

1 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp grated orange rind

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Cool//

Stir in

1 1/2 cups cocoanut

Drained pineapple from 20 oz can

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Put this between layers, Frost with 7 minute frosting and garnish with cocoanut..

7 min frosting

In double boiler over boiling water, combine

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup white Karo

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup cream of tartar

2 egg whites

2 tbsp. water

Beat with portable mixer over heat for 7 minutes or until holds peak, spread on cake.

This is a really involved recipe, and my kitchen is wrecked, but once a year its nice to fix something I remember as a child always being on our table at Christmas.

Put the plain layer in the middle of the 2 dark layers......Forgot that, when you cut it its really pretty...

Reminds me of my grandmother's kitchen when she would bake cakes and pies!

Sugar cookies, Lemon Sour Bars,and ginger snaps...Im just about to get the kitchen cleaned up!!!!!The old Frigidaire really got a workout today!

The recipe came off of a Red Band Flour Bag sometime in the 40s or 50s, Grandmother made it for years at Christmas.I still make it from the same recipe,.Where the Japanese part came from ?????

Its a pain to make but it sure is good, and elegant looking on the plate too!

Man,

I think we got the cooking on the East Coast down pat!

"label off a RedBand flour..." I miss some of recipes off of labels...they rotated often, and gave one a chance to accumulate lots of different items.

BTW, that 7 min icing is exactly the same for a Fresh Coconut Cake.

Now, how to you get the coconut to stick to the sides?

Do you spread the coconut on the floor and roll the cake sideways like we do here??

Merry Christmas, and Eat Well,

Eddy

You can use butter or margarine, in fact the original recipe calls for part butter for flavor, I always use Crisco because it makes a much finer texture in a layer cake, I do add a tsp of butter flavoring.