You don't see jam spice cakes much anymore, but they are special — delicately spiced, with just a hint of something that's hard to identify. The "something" is blackberry or strawberry jam. This recipe is extra special, as it has a pineapple filling to complement the cream cheese frosting. Perhaps because pineapples have been bred to be sweeter and sweeter in recent years, we found the original 2 cups of sugar called for in the pineapple filling of Ada Aberegg's original recipe to be overwhelming. Deborah Geering, who tested the recipe, cut it back to 1/2 cup and replaced regular raisins with golden raisins for a beautiful pineapple-gold filling that's not too sweet. She also discovered that "enough flour to make a light batter," as called for in Aberegg's recipe, equals 3 cups.

The contributor: B.J. Gearhart of Canton is a retired federal employee. She's been married to Earl for 40 years. She enjoys making jewelry, golfing and playing cards.

Jessica McGowan/AJC (ENLARGE)

Ada Aberegg's Strawberry Jam Cake.

Family photo (ENLARGE)

Ada Aberegg always made Strawberry Jam Cake at Christmas, granddaughter B.J. Gearhart says. In this 1920 photo, Aberegg is with her husband, Edward, and children, Lawrence, Louise, Harold and Hazel.

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"I'm retired, so it's time for me to play," she says.

The story: When Gearhart married in 1967, her paternal grandmother, Ada Aberegg, gave her two gifts: a wedding-ring quilt and, upon Gearhart's request, the recipe for her strawberry jam cake. Aberegg, who spent her entire life in the Ohio Valley of West Virginia, always brought this cake to Christmas dinner. "She always knew just the right amount [of each ingredient] by 'the feel' of the batter," Gearhart said. "I, on the other hand, found it very difficult but definitely worth the effort."

Ada Aberegg's Strawberry Jam Cake
12 servings

Hands on: 1 hour
Total time: 2 1/2 hours, including cooking and cooling time

We found this recipe not really difficult to make, but because of the special filling in addition to a frosting, more time consuming than most two-layer cakes. "It does take a little more time than a box cake," said B.J. Gearhart. But it's worth it, because the cake is as delicious as it is unusual. Gearhart prefers the higher amounts of the spices, but if you like a delicately spiced cake, go with the lower quantities. For the pineapple filling we reduced the sugar from 2 cups to 1/2cup and found it to be plenty sweet. Sure, Ada Aberegg's original recipe called for only a 3-ounce package of cream cheese and about 3 tablespoons butter. But if you're going to frost a cake, you might as well really frost the cake, right? We've increased the quantities below. You don't have to use all of it if you don't want to.

For the cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup strawberry jam

For the pineapple filling:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple in pineapple juice
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

For the cream cheese frosting:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pound (about 4 cups) confectioners' sugar
1 to 3 tablespoons milk
Additional nuts for garnish, optional

To prepare the cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans (or butter the pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper and butter again). In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cloves, allspice and cinnamon. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add vanilla and mix in. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the buttermilk and mixing each time just until blended. Fold in the jam.

Divide the batter among the 3 pans. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and cakes just start to pull away from the sides. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes, then invert the cakes onto the racks and cool completely.

To prepare the pineapple filling: In a saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch; stir until well-combined. Stir in the pineapple and juice. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a simmer, thickens and turns clear. Remove from heat. Transfer to a bowl and chill until tepid. Stir in the raisins and nuts. Cover and chill until ready to assemble cake.

To prepare the frosting: With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter. Beat in the confectioners' sugar. Beat in enough milk to make a consistency that's easy to spread.

When the cakes and filling are cool, place the first cake on a serving plate and top with half the pineapple filling, spreading evenly to the edges. Top with a second cake and spread the remaining filling over the top, spreading evenly to the edges. Top with remaining cake. Frost the top and the sides of the stacked cake. Garnish with nuts, if desired.

Per serving: 932 calories (percent of calories from fat, 35), 11 grams protein, 144 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams fiber, 38 grams fat (20 grams saturated), 154 milligrams cholesterol, 378 milligrams sodium.