My mother used to make one of these Japanese fruitcakes every Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is rich and full of bright flavors.
Ingredients
- raisins: 2 cups
- flaked coconut: 2 cups
- pecans: 1 cup (chopped)
- all-purpose flour: 3 cups (divided)
- white sugar: 2 cups
- butter: 1 cup
- egg yolks: 6 piece
- baking powder: 4 tsp
- ground cinnamon: 2 tsp
- nutmeg: 1 tsp
- ground cloves: 1 tsp
- milk: 1 cup
- egg whites: 6 piece
- white sugar: 2 cups
- all-purpose flour: 0.25 cup
- ½ cups water: 1 piece
- oranges, peeled and: 2 piece (seeded)
- lemons, peeled and: 2 piece (seeded)
- flaked coconut: 2 cups
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour four (9-inch) round cake pans.
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Toss together raisins, coconut, and pecans with 1 cup flour in a medium bowl until well coated. Set aside.
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Cream sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Sift together remaining 2 cups flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a separate bowl. Add flour mixture to egg mixture in batches, alternating with milk, beating briefly after each addition. Fold in raisin mixture until incorporated.
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Whip egg whites in a separate clean bowl to stiff peaks. Fold into batter until no streaks remain. Divide batter into the prepared cake pans.
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Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to finish cooling.
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Make filling: Combine sugar and flour in a saucepan; add water and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Chop oranges and lemons into small pieces and add to water mixture in the saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until thick, about 10 minutes. Stir in coconut and set aside to cool.
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Assemble cake with filling between cooled cake layers; end with filling on top.