Instructions: To prepare layers, cream the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, and add alternately with the milk to the butter, mixing at low speed on an electric mixer or stirring with a wooden spoon. Dough will be soft.

Turn dough out onto a piece of wax paper, wrap, and chill several hours until firm enough to roll. This step may be hastened if the package is put into the freezer, but care must be taken that the dough does not freeze.

While dough is chilling, prepare filling. Cook the prunes in water to cover for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain prunes, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid. Cool. Pit the prunes and place fruit and reserved juice in the container of an electric blender or pass through a good chopper. Add the sugar and salt to prunes in blender and blend until smooth or stir into ground fruit. Transfer the prune mixture to a saucepan and heat, stirring, until hot. Cool. Add the vanilla. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Divide the chilled dough into eight equal portions. Leave the remainder of dough in the refrigerator and roll out one portion at a time on a lightly floured pastry cloth into a circle about 1/8 in thick and 8 to 9 inches in diameter. A flan ring makes a good cutter. Place round on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned at the edges. Cool on a rack.

Repeat with the remaining dough portions. Scraps collected and chilled will produce two more rounds, giving a total of ten layers. When layers and filling are cool, put filling between the layers, pressing down on each layer lightly with palm of hand. Wrap cake in waxed paper or cloth and allow to mellow for several hours.

Note: this cake freezes well.

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