Grandma’s Take on Jam Cake

My mom had a birthday earlier this month. When my daughter and I decided to make her a cake, we both realized neither of us knew what her favorite cake was. So I asked. And she remembered this cake my grandmother used to make every Christmas.

I do have memories of this cake at Christmas. I preferred the slices with the pineapple – those were the best. So if the next slice didn’t have any, I would wait until someone else ate that piece. That didn’t always work to my favor though. I think some people were just eating the pineapple.

Mom had the recipe. Here it is in all of its glory.

You can tell it’s going to be good because this card has been used. A lot. Let’s get started.

The first thing to note is that grandma always used blackberry jam. Since there were wild blackberries on the farm, I believe she used her own preserves. Luckily I found some at my neighborhood store. Here are all the ingredients gathered together.

Ok, yes, I started mixing before I remembered to take the picture. As you see, the flour has been sifted together with the spices in one bowl, and the butter and sugar are creamed in another. The recipe does not include salt and I usually have unsalted butter. So I added a 1/2 teaspoon of salt into the butter and sugar mixture. The egg yolks went in next. Here’s when I realized there’s no vanilla in this cake. Interesting. I put the soda in the buttermilk, stirred that together, then added about a third of the flour to the mixing bowl.

Here’s a tip – use something larger than the one cup measuring cup for the buttermilk-soda mixture. As I’m mixing in the first bit of flour, I’m watching the buttermilk foam up to the edge of the measuring cup. So I had to quickly add some milk to the batter. Continue adding the flour and milk alternately, mixing after each addition, until combined. The batter will be stiff.

Next is the jam. There were no berries in the preserves I bought. Mom mentioned she loved getting bits of fruit in a bite. I just happened to have some blackberries from Grandma’s farm in my freezer. Woo hoo! Popped 1/4 cup of those in the microwave for a bit, tossed them in the batter, and used the mixer to break up some of the berries.

Now for the nuts. It doesn’t say what kind of nuts, but Grandma most likely used pecans since there was a pecan tree right in her back yard. And wouldn’t you know, I just happened to have some pecans from that very tree. One of my favorite annual gifts is a bag of shelled pecans from that tree. I toasted them first to bring out the flavor. The recipe also leaves out the fact that these are chopped nuts – not whole. I only added 1 cup of chopped nuts to the batter as that seemed like a lot. But if you like a lot of nuts, go for it.

Let’s pause here and discuss the egg whites. The recipe says add beaten egg whites. That’s it. What kind of beaten egg whites? Foamy? Soft peaks? Stiff peaks? I went with stiff peaks and assumed they would be folded into the batter. It wasn’t mentioned in the instructions on the recipe card, but they were added last.

Bake as directed for a tube pan. Let it cool 5-10 minutes and invert onto a rack.

A bit of the cake stuck in the bottom of the pan, so your cake may not have the cracks on it like mine. Let it cool completely before glazing.

By now you may realize what’s missing from that recipe card. The glaze! Mom remembered it was pineapple juice thickened with cornstarch. Neither of us could find anything exactly like it on the internet. The closest we found was something made from crushed pineapple. She suggested starting with 1 cup pineapple juice, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch.

One 20 ounce can of pineapple slices yields almost a cup of juice. Decorate the top of the cake with rings. I cut the remainder in half and put them along the bottom sides. Maraschino cherries are optional, but add a festive touch.

For the glaze, mix the pineapple juice and sugar in a saucepan over medium to medium low heat. To prevent lumps, I mixed a bit of water in the cornstarch before adding it to the saucepan. Heat the juice mixture, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Let the glaze cool to room temperature before pouring it on the cake. Warm room temperature is fine too.

Move the cooled cake to a pretty plate or covered cake dish before glazing (and decorating really – should have mentioned this above). I poured it all on there, trying my best to cover the sides of the cake as well. After 30 minutes, I went back with a spoon to scoop up what pooled along the edge of the cake and covered the sides again. Cover that beautiful cake with a lid or plastic wrap.

This cake is probably best the next day, so the glaze will have time to soak in. I’m waiting to taste it with my mom on Christmas Day. It probably won’t taste just like Grandma’s, but I’m hoping it’s pretty close.