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Grandma’s Recipes – Spiced Jam Cake

This recipe popped up twice in my grandmother’s recipe box, so I knew I had to try it out! 🙂 The first copy of this recipe I tried was handwritten down on a loose, pink-stained scrap of paper. I don’t know if I did something wrong or if an ingredient was missing (I think an ingredient was missing!), but the first cake I made came out flat and gummy! Not appetizing at all!

I decided to try again with the second recipe. When I compared the two, I realized that the handwritten recipe was missing any kind of leavening agent! I had assumed the eggs would help the cake rise in the first recipe, but the second recipe had eggs and baking soda. The second recipe came out much better as you can see! Which just goes to show that our ancestors made mistakes too and how important it is to write down a recipe carefully for those who might try it after us 🙂

I went ahead and halved all the ingredients in the recipe that you will find below. If you want to make a two layer cake instead of a single layer as I did, this recipe easily doubles. I brushed a little warm jam and water on the cake when it was done to give it a little glaze. Any jam you have on hand will do. I used strawberry.

Category,

 1 cup Sugar
 ½ cup Butter
 2 Eggs
 ½ tsp Vanilla
 1 ½ cups Flour
 ½ tsp Soda
 ½ tsp Allspice
 ½ cup Buttermilk
 ½ cup Blackberry or Other Jam
 ½ cup Chopped Nuts, Optional
 ½ cup Chopped Raisins, Optional

1

Cream the butter and the sugar together.

2

Add the beaten eggs and then the vanilla.

3

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

4

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients alternating with the buttermilk.

5

Add the jam and the nuts if using.

6

If using the raisins, make sure to roll them in flour first before adding them after the jam and the nuts.

7

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 - 35 minutes.

Ingredients

 1 cup Sugar
 ½ cup Butter
 2 Eggs
 ½ tsp Vanilla
 1 ½ cups Flour
 ½ tsp Soda
 ½ tsp Allspice
 ½ cup Buttermilk
 ½ cup Blackberry or Other Jam
 ½ cup Chopped Nuts, Optional
 ½ cup Chopped Raisins, Optional

Directions

1

Cream the butter and the sugar together.

2

Add the beaten eggs and then the vanilla.

3

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.

4

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients alternating with the buttermilk.

5

Add the jam and the nuts if using.

6

If using the raisins, make sure to roll them in flour first before adding them after the jam and the nuts.

7

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 - 35 minutes.

Jam Cake

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