Sugared Jam Cake

If you love jelly donuts, this Sugared Jam Cake just might blow your mind. And if you choose to eat it for breakfast, then we say you just won summer. To really make this recipe from scratch use our Quick Blackberry-Blueberry Jam recipe.

4.2 from 5 reviews
Sugared Jam Cake
 
Makes 1 (8-inch) cake
Ingredients
  • Cake:
  • 2½ cups (313 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1¼ cups (250 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1½ teaspoons (7.5 grams) baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon (2 grams) grated fresh nutmeg
  • ¾ cup whole milk
  • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (141 grams) unsalted butter, melted
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste
  • ¾ cup Quick Blackberry-Blueberry Jam
  • Topping:
  • ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons (4 grams) ground cinnamon
  • 1teaspoon (3 grams) kosher salt
  • ¼ cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-inch round cake pan with baking spray with flour, and line pan with parchment paper.
  2. For cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla bean paste. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Spoon remaining batter into a large piping bag. Pipe a ring of batter around the inside edge of the pan. Spoon Quick Blackberry-Blueberry Jam into center of the ring. Pipe remaining batter on top of jam, and smooth with an offset spatula.
  3. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 55 minutes to 1 hour, covering with foil during last 30 minutes of baking to prevent excess browning, if necessary. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.
  4. For topping: In a small bowl, stir together sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Run an offset spatula around edge of pan to loosen cake before turning out. Turn cake back over (so dome is on top). Brush top and sides of cake with melted butter. Sprinkle top with sugar mixture, and press into sides of cake.

 

Read the whole article in Bake From Scratch Summer 2016.

Bake Summer 2016 cover

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25 COMMENTS

  1. I think the metric measurement for the flour is WAY off. Someone should double check this as I have made it with the 2 cups of flour stated (and I weigh ALL ingredients) and usually figure 4 – 4 1/4 ounces of flour per cup X 28 grams per ounce (X 2 cups) = 224- 238 grams. The cake came out great using 120 grams per cup and I received many compliments.

    • Hey there,

      Thank you for reaching out! Turns out, our latest edit of the recipe called for 2 1/2 cups flour, not just 2, making the metric measurement 313 grams. We’ve now updated the recipe and are relieved to hear that your cake still turned out beautiful thanks to your quick thinking.

  2. I’m having the hardest time with my wet ingredients for this cake. I’ve mixed eggs, milk, and melted butter plenty of times before without incident, but twice now I’ve gotten little, clear clumps. Is it because of the differences in temperature between the eggs and butter? The second time I tried to mix them, I bought the eggs to room temperature and let the butter cool more. Still didn’t mix like I wanted. Any advice?

    • Hey Gabrielle,

      Often times when adding your melted butted to cold ingredients you’ll create little butter globules. It might not just be the egg temperature. Your milk could be cold and causing the same reaction. These clear clumps are just fat from the butter, and will not affect your baking in the least. Feel free to move forward with the recipe. Happy baking!

      • Thanks, Kyle! Third time was a charm–cake’s the oven baking now. It definitely was my milk temperature; I warmed it to room temperature this time and I didn’t have any problems. Thanks again!

  3. Just made this using 1/2 vanilla extract and 1/2 almond extract and cut all the topping ingredients in half, only topping the top of the cake. I still had more than I needed! Delicious cake!

  4. So I followed this recipe to a T. It filled my 8 inch cake pan to the top! Which of course resulted in it overflowing in the oven. Where did I go wrong?

    • Hi Stephanie,

      thanks for reaching out! What may have gone wrong is filling the cake pan up the top. There may have been some excess batter left over, but that is okay. If you are going to make it again, try only filling the cake pan with batter about two-thirds to three-quarters full, leaving enough room for the cake to expand and rise as it bakes. If the pan is fuller the batter may spill over the sides of the pan, and if the pan is not filled enough the cake may be dense or flat. Let us know if we can help further. Happy Baking!

    • Hi Dc,

      Thank you for reaching out! It is okay if some of the jam sinks to the bottom, as you can see from the photograph- ours does too! You could try using less jam in the recipe to ensure that the jam doesn’t sink too much on the bottom. Hopefully this helps. Happy Baking!

  5. I made this cake 2 weeks ago. I followed the instructions to the T, with the only difference being the use of vanilla extrac instead of paste, but the cake came out super dense. I want to make it tonight for my student’s potluck, what did I do wrong and how can I fix it?

    • Hey Tashanya,

      Thanks for reaching out! One problem you might be having is over-mixing the cake batter. As it is a simple stir-together cake, it’s important to mix it only until just combined. The more you mix, the denser the cake will turn out. Also double check that you’re using all-purpose flour and not a stronger, higher protein flour like bread flour or whole wheat flour. We hope this helps! Happy baking!

  6. Jam doughnut cake whats not to like. I halved the sugar and next time Id opt the salt out of the coating. My batter didnt fit in my small cake tin but when it was baked the layers where a bit thick so id try and spread it to fit the tin next time.

  7. I haven’t cook some of your cake respire form the cookbook it is my frist time cooking form the cake book and i printed one of your respires i to try make one day.

  8. I’m here in 2020 looking for a recipe I can make in lockdown. So I used ingredients I had, including (probably elderly) ground nutmeg, vanilla extract, and cheapo store-brand strawberry jam. No pastry bag so a Ziploc bag stood in. Nevertheless, I think this may be the best cake I’ve ever made. So easy to put together, no fuss at all, and the result: WOW. I’ll be making this again with the same flavors and, I’m sure, endless variations once quarantine is over. Considering making it a PBJ cake too. 7 stars out of 5.

  9. Made this in an 11 inch pan and cooked at 350 for 45 minutes. I used cranberry jam that my neighbor made. Was absolutely delish. If you want this cake to be moist and fluffy don’t over stir or over bake.

  10. Delicious. Beautiful rise. Nice moist cake. I used store bought (but quality) cherry jam and it was delicious; but don’t skimp on the jam.

    • Hi Jo,

      Thank you for your question!

      Although we haven’t tried it, this cake should do okay freezing. You might want to allow it to thaw in the fridge overnight before serving.

      Happy baking!

  11. i made this cake with small changes: cut the sugar to 180 gr and butter to 115 gr while increasing milk to 250 ml. it worked out well. the butter coating for the top was maybe one tablespoon and sugar/cinnamon about 2 tablespoons in total.
    altogether very good, moist and light.

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