Jam Cake

When I saw this cake was from 1912, I knew I had to make it as soon as possible!  I love that time period, the late 1800s and early 1900s.  I love to read and a lot of the books I read are historical Christian love stories.  The latest ones I just finished are here and here.  They were very good now I just need to get the third one.  If you enjoy reading I recommend anything by this author.  Anyways, I love how back then they made a hearty meal three times a day and they ate dessert with dinner.  With all that said that’s why I couldn’t wait to make this cake.  Since we were going to a friend’s house I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to make the cake so we wouldn’t have it all just for the two of us.  It was quite good.  We all loved it even the 20 month old!  It tasted like a spice cake but not quite as “spicey” as spice cakes.  I really couldn’t taste the blackberry jam but I’m sure it added to the moistness of the cake.

I followed this recipe exactly except for one unintentional adjustment.  I put the baking soda in with the flour and spices but it turned out fine.  I also made my own sour milk by putting ¾ tsp vinegar into a 1 cup measuring cup and then filling it to the ¼ cup line with milk and letting it stand for 5 minutes.  I cooked it for 22 min and 30 seconds.  I had two on my top rack and one on the bottom so I rotated them three times, every seven and a half minutes.  They were perfect when I took them out of the oven.  I then let them rest in the pans 8 minutes before I turned them onto the cooling racks

Recipe taken from – Heritage Cookbook (1976)

1 c butter or margarine

4 eggs

4 T sour milk

1 c jam (blackberry is best)

1 ¼ c sugar

2 c flour

1 scant tsp soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp allspice

Cream butter, sugar and eggs thoroughly.  Sift flour and spices together.  Add soda to the sour milk.  Add flour mixture and sour milk and soda to creamed mixture alternately, a little at a time.  Add the jam last.  Divide into 3 cake pans that have been greased and floured.  Bake at 325 till done.

Icing

1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese, softened

½ stick butter

2 tsp vanilla

1 1-lb box confectioner’s sugar

1 c finely chopped pecans (optional)

Cream the softened cheese and butter.  Add remaining ingredients.  Spread between layers and top and sides of cake.

Somehow I doubt that this icing is from 1912!  They probably didn’t have 8 oz packages of cream cheese!:)  But that’s ok it makes it yummy in 2011!