Friday, May 6, 2011

Red Raspberry Jam Cake


I got up extra early this morning to bake this cake for you from the newest cookbook I love called, "Rustic Fruit Desserts". I haven't been good about posting lately...well that's not entirely true. I felt so quilty and wanted so badly to bake a lovely cake to show you. But I've been having some baking issues, let's just call them that, shall we? The past few recipes I've made haven't been post worthy- to say the very least!

There was a tart lemon tart that sounded so good-but the crust was a disaster so that one was tossed. Then  I tried a rhubarb compote, nope!
Then some cookie mishaps-won't even go there. Then this!

Look at that dark blob of a cake! Had such high hopes for it. But I figured out the problem, fixed it and made it again...only this time I made mini versions. I do love the flavor of the cake. It is a nice spice cake with pockets of jam and if  when I make it again, I might even try making it into cupcakes.

Before I totally lose you, please take note. If you have this cookbook, please go to page 142 and change the jam amount to ONE CUP. (I, obviously, used TWO cups ).
There's where the other cup wound up. Stuck to the bottom of the pan. What a mess!


I decided to halve the recipe and put the batter into small bundt type pans, just to be sure the recipe worked.

The cake is actually delicious with a nice spice flavor. I was getting a little tired of playing around with the cake so I didn't make the glaze from the recipe, which I think was needed so I just dusted the top with powdered sugar and called it a day!


Jam Cake with Brown Sugar Rum Glaze ( adapted from "Rustic Fruit Desserts")


1 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temp. , for pan.

2 cups (10 oz.) AP flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup ( 4 oz.) unsalted butter, room temp.
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup red raspberry jam ( or any other jam that you like, blackberry, blueberry...)
Rum Glaze, recipe follows
**************************
Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 10 to 12 cup Bundt pan.

1. Sift flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on medium high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, or til light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
3. Add half the flour mixture and mix til just combined, then mix in the buttermilk. Add the remaining flour and mix, again just til combined.
4. Fold in the jam til evenly distributed. Do not overmix.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes or til a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean and the cake has started to pull away from the sides.
7. Cool on wire rack 20 minutes before inverting the cake onto the cooling rack.
Place a baking sheet or some parchment paper under the rack to catch the drips when you glaze the cake.
Rum Glaze:
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
Pinch fine sea salt
4 cups (1 lb., 1 oz.) confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp. rum

1. Stir the butter, brown sugar, cream and salt together in a small saucepan over medium high heat.
2. Boil the mixture 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir the confectioners' sugar into a bowl, then pour in all the butter mixture and whisk til smooth.
4. Whisk in the rum, then pour the glaze over the cake while it's still slightly warm.
Wrapped in plastic, the cake will keep at room temperature for up to 5 days.

2 comments:

  1. If I didn't live by the motto "as long as it tastes good" I probably wouldn't bake anything anymore :). And I actually like hearing about the ones that go wrong. I usually learn somethng and it always makes me feel better about my own disasters :).

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  2. Adam,
    The funny thing about this "mistake" cake is that it tasted great! Just SO much jam. I'm going to give it another try. This time I'm going to use a scant 1 1/2 cups of jam and see how that works.
    Keep on baking!

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