Jam Cake

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One of my goals for 2022 is to resurrect some recipes. I’ve never been someone who cooked from books. I’ve relied on Instagram and Pinterest for recipes. I’m not saying that is a bad thing either. I just found that I would save all these recipes and then not use them. They would get lost in the abyss and I’d be cooking pretty much the same things as always. 2022 is the year I push outside of those comfort zones. To be honest, I’m starting a little early. I’ve started collecting some extra recipe books and going through them. There are so many recipes that I can already tell I’m going to have a hard time choosing them. I decided to start with a more simple recipe and resurrected this Jam Cake. 

Jelly, Jam, or Preserves

What is the difference between these three? Jelly is made with fruit juice and typically doesn’t have any fruit chunks in it. Jam is made with mashed fruit so it is filled with fruit chunks. Preserves have whole fruit or very large pieces of fruit in them. They are all made in essentially the same way. Cooking the fruit, adding the pectin, and putting it in jars. There are just a couple more processing steps in between cooking and pectin for jelly and jam. You can use any of these in this recipe and I’m sure it will turn out just fine. 

This is the very first thing I ever canned. To be honest, I still had jam left from that very first batch. It was a long time ago (we’re talking like 5 years at least) and I’m down to my very last jar. The seals on the jar are still good so I’m using them up. I tend to fall into the “rebel canner” category so don’t take my advice as solid gold. I just think if I don’t see mold, it’s good to go. Probably not the best way to live but it hasn’t steered me wrong yet (knock on wood). 

Ingredients

• 1 c. Strawberry Jam
• ½ c. Sour Cream
• 2 c. Flour
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• ½ tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Cloves
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp Allspice
• ½ tsp Ginger
• ½ c. butter
• 3/4 c. sugar

Directions

• Sift flour with baking soda, salt, and spices. 
• Cream the butter and sugar gradually.

• Add eggs, beating well.
• Add flour alternately with sour cream.

• Fold in the jam.
• Bake at 325 for 35-45 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Tips & Tricks

Use the whole half pint of jam. That’s what I do every time and it works out perfect. I use the measurement above just in case you have a bigger jar but honestly- just go with the half pint if your a canner. Or, if you want to clean out your fridge feel free to use up all the ends of the jelly you have left. I also like to use jelly or jam that hasn’t set for this recipe. It’s a perfect way to use it without throwing it out.

I like to use a bundt pan to bake this one. I think you could do it in a normal 9×13 pan but I honestly haven’t tried it. Someday I’ll have a cast iron bundt pan and I’ll bake all my cakes it in! Kidding…kind of. You won’t see me sharing those non-stick bundt pans (like the one I have). The non-stick coating is toxic but we don’t have the budget to replace it yet. That’s how these things go sometimes. Do what you can with what you have.

I used ¾ c of sugar. My jam is extremely sweet and I knew it would be too sweet if I made it with much more sugar. I honestly think I could have reduced this to ½ cup and it still would have been great.

As always, I used greek yogurt instead of sour cream. We don’t even keep sour cream in our house. Plain greek yogurt tastes the exact same to me and it’s more multi-purpose. I can use it in my oatmeal for breakfast and serve it on tacos for dinner. That’s a versatile ingredient!

In Summary: Jam Cake

I think what I like most about this recipe is that you can eat it anytime of day. It’s not super sweet so it doesn’t need to be eaten as a dessert. It reminds me of my jam coffee cake, with some slight variations. For that reason, I definitely think you could eat it for breakfast too. Heck, we’re homesteaders- let’s eat the dang cake whenever we want to. Someday I’ll get into how it’s not the sugar that’s killing us- it’s the seed oils (among other things).

Jam Cake

This cake is just the perfect amount of sweet and it's easy to make.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup Strawberry Jam
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream Can sub with greek yogurt.
• 2 cups Flour
• 2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Cloves
• 3 Eggs
• 1 tsp Allspice
• 1/2 tsp Ginger
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 3/4 cup Sugar

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 325.
• Sift the flour with the baking soda, salt, and other spices. Set aside.
• Cream the butter with the sugar gradually.
• Add the eggs, beating well.
• Add flour alternately with sour cream.
• Fold in the jam.
• Bake for 35-35 minutes, until golden brown.

Notes

The sugar can be reduced if you wish. I tried it with 3/4 cup sugar and it was perfect. 

Keyword Cake, Jam