JAPANESE FRUITCAKE

The first print reference to Japanese Fruitcake as 1913, when Nashville native Kate Brew Vaughn, a traveling home economist, shared the recipe she said a former chef for the Mikado, or Japanese emperor, gave her.

JAPANESE FRUIT CAKE 1

Ingredients

1 cup butter or margarine

2 ½ cups sugar

½ cup milk

6 eggs, beaten

4 cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup chopped nuts

1 cup seedless raisins

Filling:

2 cups sugar

1 cup water or coconut milk

1 3/4 cups cake batter

2 lemons, juice and zest

1 large coconut, grated, or 2 cans flaked coconut

1 cup chopped nuts

3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

¼ cup green candied cherries, chopped

¼ cup candied pineapple, chopped

Directions

1 Cream butter or margarine and sugar; add milk. Beat well. Add beaten eggs.

2 Combine dry ingredients; mix into batter and add nuts and raisins. Reserve 1 ¾ cups batter for filling.

3 Bake in three greased 8-inch cake pans at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Filling:

1 Combine sugar and water or coconut milk and boil until slightly syrupy.

2 Add reserved cake batter, lemon juice and zest. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly.

3 Add coconut, nuts, melted butter or margarine and chopped candied fruits. Spread between layers and on cake.