Strawberry Jam Cake
Light and fluffy vanilla cake layers with strawberry jam filling. This easy strawberry jam cake is frosted with a light strawberry buttercream and topped with more jam and fresh berries.
Equipment
- 2 7.5 inch round cake pan
- hand held electric beater or stand mixer
- whisk
- 2 large mixing bowl
- small mixing bowl
- spatula
- piping bag or ziploc bag
Ingredients
Ingredients for Vanilla Bean Cake Layers
- 5 eggs separated into yolks and whites
- 1 teaspoon cream of tarter
- 1¼ cups superfine granulated sugar or caster sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour or plain flour
- 3 tablespoon cornstarch or cornflour in the UK
- ¼ cup water
- 2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Ingredients for Strawberry Jam Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened at room temperature
- 2¾ cup powdered sugar or icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- ⅔ cup strawberry jam either store bought or homemade (for an easy recipe use this small batch version)
Ingredients for Strawberry Jam Cake Topping
- 4 oz fresh strawberries stems removed and cut in half or quartered
- ⅓ cup strawberry jam
Instructions
Instructions for Vanilla Bean Cake Layers
- Begin by preheating the oven to 325°F (165C/145C Fan) and preparing your cake tins. If using silicone tins, these do not need any preparation. If using standard cake tins, line these with parchment paper - you do not want grease to come in contact with the cake batter.
- Add the egg whites and cream of tarter to a large mixing bowl and whisk with a handheld electric beater until foamy soft peaks form.
- Once your meringue has been beaten to soft peaks, slowly add 6 tablespoons of sugar about 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until glossy stiff peaks form (see note). Set this aside.
- In a jug, whisk together the egg yolks with the vanilla bean paste and water until emulsified.
- Meanwhile in a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar with the flour and cornstarch.
- Add the egg yolk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk to create a smooth batter.
- Next, add the meringue to the batter and fold to combine, creating a light and airy mixture (see note).
- Pour the batter into your cake tins and carefully smooth evenly with an offset spatula.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 40 minutes until the cakes have risen and are turning golden. Test by lightly touching the top of the cakes - they should spring back lightly to the touch (similar to Swiss Roll cakes).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the cake tins. During this time, the domed tops will deflate and should create a more even surface. Then carefully unmould and place on a wire rack to cool completely, while you prepare your buttercream.
Instructions for Strawberry Jam Buttercream
- To make the buttercream, beat the softened butter briefly until smooth, then sift in the powdered sugar and beat to combine (this can be done in two additions). Then add 2 tablespoons of strawberry jam and the vanilla bean paste. Beat for a couple of minutes until smooth (see note).
Instructions for Assembling Strawberry Jam Cake
- Once the cake layers have cooled, place one on a cake plate or stand and frost with the top with a thin layer of buttercream, taking care as the layers will be delicate.
- Pipe a border around the inside of the edge of the layer and fill with about ½ cup of strawberry jam.
- Place the second layer of cake on top, sandwiching the jam filling.
- Then carefully frost the sides and top of the cake (see the blog post for tips on assembling and crumb coating this cake).
- To make the topping, stir the fresh strawberries with about ⅓ cup strawberry jam and spoon onto the top of the cake (see note).
Notes
You can also make the meringue using a stand mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment.
When adding the meringue to the cake batter, start by adding a spoonful (about 2 tablespoons worth) of the meringue and stir to loosen the batter. This will make folding the remaining meringue into the mixture easier. When folding, avoid stirring too forcefully and knocking out too much air.
The measurements for buttercream given in this recipe may be impacted by the weather and humidity in your kitchen as well as the specific type (and set) of jam being used. If your jam is very firm, or your kitchen cold, you may find that you need to add a bit of milk to the mixture to make this a more spreadable consistency. If your kitchen is particularly warm or the jam soft set, you may need a bit of extra powdered sugar to thicken.
The cake topping is best added at the time of serving.
See blog post for further tips and preparation photos.
Nutrition
Calories: 502kcalCarbohydrates: 85.1gProtein: 3.6gFat: 17.3gSaturated Fat: 10.3gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 136mgPotassium: 94mgFiber: 0.5gSugar: 49.7gCalcium: 18mgIron: 1mg
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