Blackberry Jam Cake

Imagine, if you will, a moist, tender cake filled with blackberry jam and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar on all sides... something like a jelly donut but in cake form. Go ahead and imagine that cuz believe me, you are going to want to make this cake. Oh my heavenly days, it's just simply amazing.

The backstory on this cake takes us to a previous post about these Cheddar Onion Yeast Rolls that sort of gave me fits because the recipe was so poorly written. The publishers of the cookbook in question apologized profusely, and as part of their apology, sent me a couple of their other books to peruse, one of which contained a beautiful assortment of agonizingly gorgeous desserts.

When I came upon this Sugared Jam Cake recipe, my heart did a little happy dance, and I've been wanting to get it made ever since. But there are only two of us in this household, and we don't eat a lot of dessert, so I kept waiting for just the right excuse to get it made. Finally, I decided that wanting to eat it was excuse enough, and got it made, bringing on another happy dance...it was every bit as good as I had imagined.

...except it could maybe have used a bit more jam. The recipe called for 3/4 cup, but as you can see from the photos, their 3/4 cup looks like waaaay more than mine, so next time I'll be inviting quite a bit more jam to this party. I mean, that's what this cake is ALL about. They provide a recipe for a quick jam, but I don't see the point in making jam if you have a jar of it in the fridge. You can use any jam you like, but I was ever so lucky to have some of my Cousin Katie's blackberry jam, which I could bathe in it's so good.

Then there's that little sugar coating on the outside of the cake... a blend of sugar, cinnamon and kosher salt; yes, that's salt. Very clever touch as it provides the perfect little textured sweetness with just a hint of salty that keeps your fork quite busy indeed.

There are some beautiful and delicious cakes in the Circle B Kitchen repertoire, and I really do love them all, but at the moment, I've got a serious crush on this one. Here's the recipe...

Click here for a printable recipe

This is simply a beautiful cake that’s as moist and tender as it is pretty. The original recipe called for 3/4 cup of jam, but I've upped that to 1 cup. Feel free to add a little more if you're so inclined. The recipe also asks you to pipe the top layer of batter over the jam, but if you don’t have a piping bag, just snip the corner of a ziplock back and use that. And might I suggest that you spray the foil before setting it on top of the cake for the last 30 minutes so it doesn’t stick.

Makes 1 (8-inch) cake

For the Cake:

2½ cups all-purpose flour
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg
¾ cup whole milk
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla)
1 cup of blackberry jam (or more if you like)

For the Topping:

½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-inch round cake pan with baking spray with flour, and line pan with parchment paper.

For cake: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla bean paste. Add flour mixture to the milk mixture, stirring just until combined.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Spoon remaining batter into a large piping bag. Pipe a ring of batter around the inside edge of the pan. Spoon the jam into center of the ring. Pipe remaining batter on top of jam, and smooth with an offset spatula.

Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 55 minutes to 1 hour, covering with foil during last 30 minutes of baking to prevent excess browning. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.

For topping: In a small bowl, stir together sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Run an offset spatula around edge of pan to loosen cake before turning out. Turn cake back over (so dome is on top). Brush top and sides of cake with melted butter. Sprinkle top with sugar mixture, and press into sides of cake.