Jam Cake

Taste testing at knitting group.




You've heard about making lemonade when life hands you a lemon?  Well, I made applesauce by accident, and I had to figure out what to do with the applesauce.  Part of it went into some banana bread, and the rest prompted me to dig into my mother's recipe box for my grandmother Hale's jam cake recipe.  Like most of my family recipes, there are no instructions because anyone should know how to make a cake.  I figured that sweetened applesauce should be a decent substitute for jam.  It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

 

Well worn cards from my mother's recipe box.



Jam Cake

2/3 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup jam or applesauce
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease and flour three (9 inch) cake pans or one tube or Bundt cake pan.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and spices.  Spoon about ¼ cup of this mixture over the raisins and toss to coat the raisins; set aside.

Dredging raisins in flour keeps them from all sinking to the bottom of the batter.

Cream softened butter and sugar until the mixture is light and airy. 

Creamed butter and sugar mixture.

 Add eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly. 

Add flour and buttermilk alternately, mixing well but not over beating.

Add flour and buttermilk alternately, ending with flour, blending ingredients very well.  Stir in the raisins, pecans, and jam or applesauce.  Mix well. 

Batter will be very thick with raisins, nuts, and jam or applesauce.

 Pour into cake pans and bake until a toothpick or tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean; the crust should be nicely browned.  For a tube cake, it takes 1 hour and 10 minutes in my oven.  Cool thoroughly before adding frosting.




Golden brown crust, yummy!
 

Ready to bake.
 

Cooled and ready for the icing.

Icing:

½ cup butter

1 cup cream
2 cups sugar

Place ingredients in a heavy 2 quart saucepan. 



Bring to a boil and boil without stirring until the mixture reaches 235°F-245°F, or forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water.  Remove from heat and beat until cooled. 


Half batch for Bundt cake, using a smaller saucepan.

Frost cake layers, working quickly.  If making a tube or Bundt cake, make only half a recipe of icing and drizzle on the cake.

Place sheets of waxed paper beneath cake to catch drips, then remove after adding icing.

A wise friend of mine, who is also a good bake show judge, says you don't have to use all the icing.  Use just enough.

Eating the leftover icing from the pan was the best part when I was a child!

 



Tea Cakes

Plain but delicious!

Tea cakes fall into the category of "heritage foods."  These slightly thick, not-too-sweet, cookies are definitely not showy and are not something you will see in the supermarket bakery.

My late mother, who was born in 1911, remembered tea cakes as a childhood staple in her West Texas home.  Using simple ingredients and tools, her mother and other cooks of her generation were masters at making tea cakes.  My grandmother's recipe was never committed to paper, and my mother tried lots of tea cake recipes in search of one that produced tea cakes like she remembered.  Finally, she was given the perfect recipe from a  Nancy Ray of Ackerly, Texas. 

Hand written card from my mother's recipe box.

TEA CAKES

1 cup lard (or shortening)

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour milk (or buttermilk)

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla or nutmeg

6-1/2 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease 4 or 5 baking sheets.

Using a mixer on low speed, cream sugar and lard.  Add eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla and mix well. 

Yes, lard.  Crisco will do in a pinch.

Buttermilk makes everything better!

 

Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Add about half the flour to the existing mixture and, using wooden spoon, blend in flour.  Add remaining flour, working in gradually.  The dough will be very stiff. 

 

Mix flour with a heavy spoon.

Finally, use your hands!

 

Working with about one fourth of the dough at a time, place dough on a floured surface; and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough to ¼ inch thickness.  Cut dough in circles using a cookie cutter whose edges have been dipped in flour. 

I like to use a plastic pastry mat.

Roll to 1/4 inch thickness.

Don't try to work with too much dough at one time.

 

Bake on greased cookie sheets approximately 16-18 minutes or until only slightly browned.  Yield:  6-1/2 dozen cookies, using a 2.5 inch cookie cutter.

Baking time varies, watch the first pan carefully.