Blackberry Jam Cake

A quick post for y’all on this lovely Tuesday! I’ve wanted to share this Blackberry Jam Cake recipe FOREVER and I’m SUPER PUMPED to finally post it! This is one of my absolute favorite recipes from my cookbook. And some of my personal favorite photos that I shot for the book as well.

I’m going to be honest with you—I had never heard of a jam cake until I was doing research for the book. Jam cakes are apparently a very Old Fashioned Southern Thing—most of them blackberry and most of them served for special occasions and at Christmas. (Blackberries make me think of fresh berries in the summer, so I guess that’s why I’m sharing this now 😂) It’s believed to have been brought to the US by German settlers who ended up in Kentucky and Tennessee.

When you think of jam being included in a cake, you probably think of it going between the cake layers, but this recipe actually mixes it right into the cake batter. In addition to jam, it’s also full of warm and cozy spices (like cinnamon and allspice) and chopped pecans. Most recipes I’ve come across either use pecans or walnuts, so feel free to use whichever you prefer! Some recipes also include raisins or other dried fruits, but I don’t like those in my cakes so I left them out 😬

Traditionally, it has a rich and decadent caramel frosting similar to the icing on a Southern caramel cake. I switched things up a little with mine and paired the cake with a cream cheese frosting and more blackberry jam. I’m obsessed with how the color turned out! Kind of like the vibrant colors in this Blackberry Delight recipe. 😍

I would absolutely love to try this with other jams as well. You could get some really creative cake flavors! My only real advice is, whatever flavor you choose, go with a seedless jam.

Happy baking! xx

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Blackberry Jam Cake

Prep Time: 35 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

Blackberry Jam Cake

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ tsp allspice
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1 cup seedless blackberry jam
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Blackberry-Cream Cheese Frosting

• ½ cup butter
• 1 8-oz pkg cream cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp seedless blackberry jam
• 6 cups powdered sugar

Garnishes:

• Fresh Blackberries, fresh flowers, chopped pecans

Instructions

To make the cake:

• Preheat oven to 350°F and grease three 8-inch cake pans with cooking spray. Line the bottom of each with parchment paper, then spray again.
• Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, combine both sugars, oil, and blackberry jam. Mix on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla extract; mix well. Add half of flour mixture and half of buttermilk. Mix until ingredients are just blended. Repeat with second half of flour and buttermilk. Mix until batter is smooth. Fold in pecans.
• Divide batter evenly among cake pans and bake 23-25 minutes, or until cake layers are golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cake layers cool in pans 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire wrack to cool completely.

To make the frosting:

• To make frosting, cream butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Add vanilla, jam, and half of powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until mostly combined, then medium-high speed until completely combined. Repeat with second half of powdered sugar.

Assembly:

• To assemble cake, place a cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread with frosting. Repeat with second two layers, and then spread frosting around the entire cake. Garnish with fresh blackberries, pecans, and fresh flowers, if desired.

Notes

All images and text ©Bethcakes. Recipe from Hello, Sugar!

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