Saturday, January 23, 2010

Good Enough to Eat!

I have mentioned in the past that marrying into my husband's family has allowed me to try some new dishes and recipes. One dessert new to me was jam cake. I'm not sure if this cake is particular to the south or not, but it seems to be popular in this area. My husband's aunt used to make a jam cake every year for Christmas, and his mom would give us half of it. Honestly, neither one of us never really cared for it because it was very dense like a fruit cake--but we ate it simply for the frosting which is typically caramel.

In recent years, my mother found a strawberry jam cake recipe that she makes and it is delicious--and I'm not just saying that because my mom reads my blog (really)! The strawberry preserves and the coconut and raisins make the cake very moist. Mom's caramel icing is so good I think I could just eat the whole bowl if given the opportunity!

This weekend Jeff and I visited my parents and Mom blessed us by making her strawberry jam cake--and sent half of it home with us. I assure you we will eat every bite-- frosting and cake!

Strawberry Jam Cake
2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 t. salt
3/4 t. soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. allspice
1/4 t. cloves
1 t. vanilla
1 10-oz. jar of strawberry preserves
1/2 c. shortening
2/3 c. buttermilk
3 eggs
1 c. flaked coconut
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/2 - 3/4 c. raisins

Grease a 10" bundt pan. Combine all ingredients except coconut, nuts and raisins. Blend at medium speed for three minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into bundt pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 60-65 minutes. Cool 30 minutes and remove from pan. Frost with caramel frosting. (Recipe follows)

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

Quick Caramel Frosting
2/3 c. margarine
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. milk
3 c. confectionery sugar

Melt margarine in a saucepan. Add brown sugar. Cook over low heat about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add milk. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat and cool about 10 minutes. Gradually add confectionery sugar, beating well after each addition until it is the right spreading consistency.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

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2 comments:

  1. MJanuary 24, 2010 at 3:09 PM

    Thanks for the praise! One thing, I don't have raisins in the recipe I use. Did I put that in the copy I gave you? It always is a good addition and will help to make a moist cake, either way. Mom

    ReplyDelete
  2. DianneJanuary 25, 2010 at 5:58 PM

    Yes, my copy of the recipe has raisins.

    ReplyDelete

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Best-Ever Apple Pie--Really!

You just can't beat a good ol' American apple pie for a great dessert. This recipe was featured in the September 2008 issue of Southern Living. It has five pounds of apples in it!! The picture above is the picture of the pie I made. It was so good! As you read the recipe, you will notice that the crust is a little different--it has cornmeal in it. It also uses apple juice as the wetting agent. The trick is rolling the top crust out large enough to cover that mound of apples. If you love apple pie, try this one. I don't think you'll be disappointed!