100 Year Old Jam Cake

This old school recipe is a classic. This jam cake is delicious and easy to make. Try making it for a potluck, a bake sale or company. Everyone is sure to love it.

Notes

The secret to the cake is aging. Make it, then let it sit a couple of days before cutting it.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons buttermilk
2 cups strawberry jam

Instructions

Cream soft butter. Add sugar slowly, beating until creamy. Add eggs (room temperature) one at a time. Beat well after each egg. Have flour mixture ready. Sift all-purpose flour and measure. Then sift again with baking soda and spices.
Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Mix to blend well. Mixing this cake requires about 25 to 30 minutes. Last of all fold in strawberry jam. If berries are quite large chop fine.
Take four square 8-inch layer cake pans 2 inches deep and brush bottom of pans lightly with salt free shortening or salad oil. Flour well. Pour batter into pans and level the batter with spatula. Tap the pans lightly against the counter to remove any air bubbles.
Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees F) about 30-40 minutes or until done. Cool on cake rack 5 minutes, then turn out onto cake rack to cool completely before icing.
Frost with Uncooked Caramel Icing. Uncooked Caramel Icing 1 1/2 stick butter 1/2 cup cream 2 cups dark brown sugar (or more for richer caramel flavor) 2 teaspoons pure vanilla 1/2 teaspoon salt Confectioner's sugar (enough to make spreadable consistency) Melt butter and cream together. While hot, stir in brown sugar. Cool and stir in vanilla. Stir in salt and sifted confectioner's sugar, as needed.

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oumom10966 8036008

Feb 13, 2013

missq - I totally agree with you Luckily I was able to learn most of the recipes that my grandmother used most every day of her life Although I never could get the hang of making pie crust as well as she did I've tried often enough That woman did have that light touch that's needed for excellent dough She made cakes and other tasty desserts on ration stamps and kept a family well fed for next to nothing This recipe would have been a rare treat Although I have not as yet made it I am excited to give it a try for the next family gathering Thanks for sharing your thoughts I too have noticed that the comments that have been made are not comments about the cake results just criticisms Too bad When someone puts a recipe out there for others to enjoy and all that's said about…Read More it is critical it's a personal punch close to bullying I however again will probably make this soon Thanks for sharing

Ladypeach

Mar 10, 2012

RE: Instruction #3.. Picture in your mind what that is telling people to do. Great laugh! LMBO Please instruct to grease the interior bottom of the pan, then fill with batter, then drop or bang to remove air bubbles. If a person new to baking followed #3 as written.. it would be hularious.

Master Editor

Mar 12, 2012

Hello Ladypeach, Thanks for pointing out the discrepancy, this was a reader submitted recipe and we've been updating this to the best of our knowledge. We've now changed this to be more clear. Thanks for your patience.

JennyBee1

Feb 22, 2012

Hi everyone, We've updated the recipe. Please let us know if you have any more questions. We apologize for any inconvenience, --editors of RecipeLion

Carmel Mc Hale

Feb 21, 2012

I think the directions are mixed up...don't you grease and flour the pans before you put the batter in?

oumom10966 8036008

Feb 13, 2013

This is a comment that was unnecessary. don't you think?

jgfranger 3973901

Feb 15, 2012

Sounds good. Don't pass it up without reading ALL the directions. The butter,sugar,and jam my seem a lot UNTIL you read were this FOUR cakes.

nanaerm

Jul 31, 2011

Woah-I can't imagine making this cake with three sticks of butter and four cups of sweetener ( counting the jam). Obviously 100 years ago they were not very health conscious nor is this economical.

missq

May 03, 2012

I haven't subscribed to the site for long, about 3 months. i am amazed at the "snippy", "condescending", "nit-picking" comments I've read. This is s FREE service. It consists of contributions from humans and I assume generally non-professional cooks, bakers and food lovers. I'll add my own descriptive category: "Food historians". I live with my 82 yr. old mother, we both bake and cook. I had(Past-tense) Aunts and Grandparents who wrote one or 2 of our family recipes down. The rest went to the grave with them.--Lighten up folks and keep the criticisms for blogs. (P.S. I have 40 yrs. professional food-service experience around the U.S., raised snails, sold veal, lamb and pasta, taught wine classes, traveled in Europe visiting wineries and restaurants, catered private and corporate events from 3 - 10,000, and have managed to muddle thru a few mistaken recipes.)