Here’s the short story most people scroll past on recipe websites: Last summer, I had a wild hair to try making decades-old heirloom dessert recipes with unfamiliar fruits from the Asian grocery store. This resulted in Pineapple Pandan Pie. I simultaneously bought a jar of arbutus in syrup because I had no idea what it was and thought I could do something with it. Well, I couldn’t, until now. Yay!

As it happens, arbutus in syrup has a flavor surprisingly reminiscent of fruit cocktail (or at least, strawberries that have been hanging out with peaches and pears). It’s a cherry-shaped fruit, raspberry-colored, with a lumpy, dimpled flesh that falls apart when you try to chop it. I used most of a 680-gram jar (minus a few pieces my spouse and I tasted, a few times on my end because I kept going back every so often to remind myself and try to think of what to do with it.

Enter my Aunt Jean’s Fruit Cocktail Cake recipe. I have no idea what she meant by a “303-sized can”, so I can’t say whether the amount of fruit I used suits this recipe. The arbutus fell apart quickly in the mixer, a bit like raspberries would. It doesn’t make a lot of batter, but the soda seems to help puff it up a bit. I substituted half of the milk in the topping with some of the syrup from the jar, so it might be a little sweeter than the original, but I like to try to use up odds and ends. The rest of the syrup might make a good drink mixer.

The end result of the cake is surprisingly un-fruity, with the coconut and nuts making the biggest impact flavor-wise. Perhaps a much larger can of fruit cocktail is needed. The topping puddled in the middle because the sides of the cake rose up a little higher, so I had to spoon liquid out of the puddle and onto the sides. Boiling it down for more than two minutes might also be needed.

2 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons soda
1 can “303” fruit cocktail

Beat sugar and eggs until thick and creamy. Add soda to flour and add alternately with the fruit cocktail.

Bake in a greased 10 x 12-inch pan at 300F for 45 minutes.

Topping:
1 stick margarine (1/2 c. butter)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup nuts

Mix and boil for 2 minutes (or longer if it’s still runny). Pour on top of the hot cake. Do not remove from pan.