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Why we love this recipe
Hi there jam cake, you sweet thing you. I love this recipe first and foremost for its easy deliciousness – think of a soft sugar cake with swirls of jam and a crunchy crumb cake topping, and that’s what this is.
I also love it because it helps me with the obsessive need that I have to keep my fridge tidy.
I know, I know, but I gotta be me! One of the doors of my fridge has a section that is dedicated to jams and jellies and preserves of all kinds and inevitably at any one time there are various jars with various amounts, and when the fridge is full up, it’s time to make jam cake!
(Because you KNOW I am not going to allow jam in any section it doesn’t belong in. Nope, not even in with the fruits.)
Not that anyone is complaining, because jam cake is a great big fave in our house. And since I know you are probably wondering, let me clear one thing up.
What’s the difference between jelly and jam?
Jelly is a clear fruit spread made with fruit juice and sugar some kind of thickener to help it gel.
Jam is a spread made with fruit juice, sugar, and also bits and pieces of crushed or chopped fruit.
Jam with larger pieces of fruit is often called preserves.
Any of these items will work just fine in this cake, although I do love using jam the best because of the little bits of fruit.
And, you can also mix and match! I’ve used apricot with strawberry, raspberry with blueberry…and if you are a purist, of course you can use just one flavor.
Ingredients you need
Ingredient notes and substitutions
Jam: You can make it with all one kind of jam or jelly, or you can mix and match! I’ve made it with strawberry, raspberry and apricot jam combos and they are all wonderful. One day I am going to make it with a mixture of strawberry jam and banana jam!
Milk: You can use either whole or low-fat milk, but not skim.
How to make this recipe
STEP 1: Preheat oven to 400 and line an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick foil. You want to get your foil pretty much all the way up the sides so the jam doesn’t stick to the pan.
STEP 2: Combine 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, a tablespoon of baking powder, and a half teaspoon of salt. Pour the flour into your food processor, add 1/3 cup of butter and process until it looks like fine crumbs.
STEP 3: Transfer the flour butter mixture to a mixing bowl, add an egg and ¾ cup of milk and stir it up until everything is just combined.
STEP 4: Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Spoon the jam over the batter, then swirl through the batter with a knife. Don’t worry if a lot of it is close to the top – we are about to cover it with a scrumptious topping!
STEP 5: Mix together 1/3 cup of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour and 2 tablespoons of butter, stir in some walnuts and sprinkle evenly over the batter.
PRO TIP: I mix the brown sugar, flour and butter in the food processor, and then stir in the walnuts. So much easier than mixing by hand!
STEP 6 Bake at 400° for 30 to 35 minutes until done. Let it cool for about an hour (OH, THE WAITING!), then cut into squares and serve.
Recipe FAQs
Yep! Or you can swap in an equal amount of a nut you like better – I keep meaning to make a grape jam cake with a peanut topping!
It can! As with all cakes, it’s best the first day or so, but I’m going to bet you won’t have a problem with it hanging around too long.
Put your question in the comments and I will answer pronto!
So there you have it – jam cake! Just saying the words “jam” and “cake” in the same sentence makes you happy already, right?
Because jam is wonderful, and cake is wonderful, and it seems inevitable that they should be together. And we all lived happily ever after!
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Could you leave us some stars?
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section.
Jam Cake
Jam cake is the love child of crumb cake and jam in this easy and delicious coffee cake recipe. It’s also a great way to use up leftover jam!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 9 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
For the cake!
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 cup of your favorite jam (or a mixture of different kinds!)
For the topping!
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons butter, chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 and line an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick foil.
- Combine 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pour the flour into your food processor, add 1/3 cup of butter and process until it looks like fine crumbs.
- Transfer the flour butter mixture to a mixing bowl, add the egg and milk and stir it up until everything is just combined.
- Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Spoon the jam over the batter, then swirl through the batter with a knife.
- Mix the all topping ingredients except for the walnuts until crumbly, stir in the walnuts and sprinkle evenly over batter. (You can mix the brown sugar, flour and butter in the food processor and then stir in the nuts – that makes mixing this topping up super easy!)
- Bake at 400° for 30 to 35 minutes, until done. Let it cool for about an hour, then cut into squares and serve.
Notes
Jam: You can make it with all one kind of jam or jelly, or you can mix and match! I’ve made it with strawberry, raspberry and apricot jam combos and they are all wonderful. One day I am going to make it with a mixture of strawberry jam and banana jam!
Milk: You can use either whole or low-fat milk, but not skim.
Cate says
FABULOUS cake! We had jars of jam passing their sell-by, so I wanted a cake recipe that used some up.
I used olive oil instead of butter (I always do) for both the batter and topping; used brown sugar in both too (I never have white sugar in the house) and also added 1/2 teaspoon almond essence to the batter.
It too 35 mins to bake thoroughly….and tastes wonderful!
Thank you!
Cate! Thank you so much for your kind words, and for sharing your version of this recipe – it’s always the one I reach for too when the jam assortment gets crowded! So glad you like it. :)
Lindsay says
I made this for my family. They told me it was really good.
I used raspberry preserves.
The dough is really thick and puffs up a lot. I would also lean towards the 35 minutes unless you like a very soft middle.
Maria says
Great recipe. I use oil instead of butter in the batter and mix it all with a Danish whisk. Made two cakes this week: one was raspberry jam and mince and the other was with dulce de leche.
Maria! I’m so glad you liked this recipe, and dulce de lethe sounds AMAZING!!!
Enza Galloro says
Looks like a great recipe for my leftover fig jam. Is it possible to omit the
foil,and just butter and flour the pan? Thank you.
Hi Ezna! The reason I use foil is because jam tends to stick to the sides (and sometimes the bottom) of the pan, and the foil is a way to guarantee it will come out of the pan in one piece. But I’ve never tried it with butter and flour…if you do try it, will you come back and let us know how it worked? Also, fig jam – yum!!!!
Douglas Freelon says
I used parchment paper and baking spray. It worked great.
Hi Douglas and I’m so glad! This cake is worth all the stickiness. :)
Taylor says
This cake is scrumptious and the step by step pictures are SO helpful! I wish my fridge looked that good!
Hi Taylor! I know, I am a little crazy when it comes to my fridge. But I do always know how much jam I have – ha!
Jayne says
Ive made this several times! SO EASY AND DELICIOUS!!!!
Hi Jayne and hurray! You know, I was just this morning looking at all the jam jars in my fridge and thinking hmmm…time for jam cake! Hope you have a wonderful and happy new year!
Ramona W. says
Well, we make a lot of fruit jams to preserve then don’t always get to them to consume, so this is a good way to use them up. Made this the first time yesterday, and enjoyed the resulting cake. We changed things up a bit, being lazy Saturday, didn’t use the food processer, instead used a potato masher to “cut in” the butter, this also kept it in one bowl. Told you, lazy day. We are also not a crumble topping fans, so used icing instead, with yummy results. The cake had a biscuit texture, that set off the apricot jam well. Thank you, will keep making MANY variations of this.
Ramona! I am so glad you liked this cake, and I love your variations! I’m a lazy day fan myself. :)
Martha in KS says
My refrigerator would drive you nuts! I’ve thought about buying containers to separate items into categories but spending $30+ makes me cringe. I too love fruity jams & preserves – especially cherry & strawberry with big chunks of fruit. Now I’ll have to go check to see what kinds I have so I can make this yummy- looking cake. I’m going to try making the entire batter in the food processor to dirty fewer dishes. Thanks for the temptation!
Ha! I know I am over the top when it comes to my fridge. I’d love to know how yours comes out doing it all in the food processor! Happy baking. :)