Japanese Fruit Cake (Louise Tatum / Ola Edwards)

Ola Edward's recipe for icing. Cake by Louise Tatum

1 plain butter cake recipe (in Desserts)

1/3 c. pecans, chopped 3 T. cornstarch

½ t. cinnamon ¾ c. crushed pineapple, drained

½ t. allspice 1 T. butter

¼ t. cloves 1 t. lemon juice

½ c. sugar

1 t. salt 7 Minute Icing

Heat oven to 350°. Prepare cake recipe. Grease and flour three 8-inch cake pans. Pour 1/3 of the plain cake batter into 1 pan. Add nuts and spices to the rest of the batter. Then divide and pour into to the other 2 cake pans. Bake all three. While cake bakes, combine sugar, salt and cornstarch in a pan. Slowly stir in pineapple juice; add the pineapple until smooth and thickened. When cake cools, remove 1 spice layer: put ½ of the pineapple sauce on top. Add the plain layer, then more of the pineapple sauce, then the final layer. Ice cake with 7 Minute Icing.

7 Minute Icing:

1 ½ c. sugar ¾ c. water

1 c. miniature marshmallows 2 egg whites

Boil water and sugar until hard ball when dropped in cold water. Pour over stiffly beaten egg whites. As soon as mixed, add marshmallows and mix until melted. Spread on cooled cake.