Do you have a jar of jam? Then you’re halfway to sitting down with your own slice of this orange-scented jam cake. This delicate and rich cake can go from afternoon snack to dessert buffet without batting an eyelid.
BE PICTURED IN; CHARACTERIZED IN:
Let’s talk about your stock. You know which ones I mean. All those pickles, tomatoes, jams and preserves that you so carefully “set up” at the end of last summer — or gotten as gifts from well-meaning friends — and are still lingering in the cupboard at the start of this new canning season.
Well, my friend Marisa McClellan, aka the Canning Queen, just released a brand new cookbook to help us all with our canning dilemma. The food in the glass kitchen is all about using up the pickles and preserves we have in stock.
A cookbook for chefs and preservers
Whether you are new to canning or have been at the canning game for years, I think this is a book you will find very useful. It goes above and beyond (far beyond!) and simply banishes jam on toast and tomatoes on pasta.
Here, jam is swirled into cocktails or baked into muesli. We get hummus made from preserved lemons and party dips made from chutney and pesto. Wondering what you can do with sauerkraut besides piling it on sausage patties? Marisa has a frittata that you must try.
The point is, this is a cookbook that will inspire, encourage, and persuade you to use up your stash of canned food. And believe me – after seeing these recipes, you will!
Let’s talk jam cake
I had a very hard time picking just one recipe to share with you all, but this cake took the, um… cake. In her top note for the recipe, Marisa says she made six of these cakes to serve at her wedding and having made them myself I can see why.
This cake is moist and rich—but not so rich that you can’t take it to work as a perfectly respectable afternoon snack. The citrus flavor is just amazing, smooth and so very pleasant, like waking up after a good nap and feeling the afternoon sun on your face.
I really like the glaze brushed across the top and sides. It makes the outer edges of each slice candy-like, adding the perfect sweetness to every bite.
Keep this cake right on the counter and cut off a piece if needed. It lasts well for about a week and gets even better with time. Marisa also says the cake freezes well — the recipe makes two, and I froze my second bread for another day.
A Q&A with Marisa McClellan!
I thought you’d all enjoy getting to know Marisa a little better, so here’s a little Q&A! Her blog, for those of you who don’t know, is Food in Jars, and it’s a treasure trove of canned food inspiration.
- How many canned goods do you think you have in your kitchen right now?
If we expand the question to include my entire apartment, the answer is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 full glasses. These include jams, pickles, chutneys, salsas, whole fruits, pie fillings, tomato products, and even canned beans and broths.
- What canned foods do you make sure to stock up on every year?
Roasted Corn Salsa. sour cherry jam. canned apricots. tomato jam. Pickled green beans.
- What summer products are you looking forward to the most when they come back in season?
apricots. You bring me incredible joy.
- What is your favorite secret recipe from Eating in the glass kitchen?
My favorite recipe is the Schnellstrudel. It comes from my great aunt Doris and I love the generational feeling it gives me in making it. Besides, Aunt Doris would have been so incredibly excited to have her recipe in a cookbook. If she were alive, she would sell copies of this book from the trunk of her Buick to all the ladies in the synagogue.
- You have now written FOUR books on or related to canning – what do you love about canning? What’s keeping you from coming back for more?
I know. It’s a bit crazy that I’ve basically spent the last decade dealing with a single topic. But I really find it endlessly fascinating. And what I love most about canning is that it’s a cooking project that lasts.
When we prepare a meal, that experience lasts 20 or 30 minutes before the enjoyment is over and you start thinking about how to do it again. With canning, you experience the joy of picking, gathering, and making over and over again. There is deep satisfaction in that.
Thank you, Marisa! And with that nice note, I encourage you all to bake this jam cake. It’s really sure to become a favorite.
Would you like to try canning? Here are some recipes!
- Meyer lemon marmalade
- Canned tomato salsa
- Apricot Riesling jam
- bread and pickles
- Green tomato chutney
Jam Pound Cake
From Marisa McClellan: “One of the things I knew when Scott and I were planning our wedding was that I wanted to bake our dessert. We didn’t have the budget to buy an exceptional cake and I wasn’t ready to serve a lackluster cake to our friends and family. And so I baked a dozen cakes in the days leading up to our big day. Half were loaves of this pound cake, and the remaining six were flourless chocolate cake. A decade later, my in-laws still mention our delicious wedding cakes when I see them. The work was worth it!”
Recommended preserves: Jam. Any kind. If it’s really thick cut, consider dicing the large pieces of zest before stirring them into the batter.
Note: I find that these cakes get better with age. If you make it, bake them at least a day or two before serving. They also freeze beautifully if left unglazed.
Reprinted with permission from FOOD IN THE GLASS KITCHEN © 2019 by Marisa McClellan, Running Press
ingredients
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1 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter at room temperature, plus more for pans
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360g all-purpose flour plus more for pans
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2 1/2 cups (495 g) granulated sugar
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2 tablespoons grated orange zest, from 2 large oranges
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8 large eggs, at room temperature
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1/3 cup (80 ml) jam
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1 tablespoon vanilla extract
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1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
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1 teaspoon of salt
- For the glaze:
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3/4 cup (85g) powdered sugar
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2/3 cup (160 ml) jam
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1/2 cup (120 ml) water
method
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Preheat your oven to 325°F
Butter and lightly flour two 8 x 4 inch loaf pans. (Alternatively, line your pans with a loop of parchment paper and spray all sides with cooking spray.)
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Make the dough
Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar and orange zest for 3 to 4 minutes.
Break the eggs into a measuring cup with a beak. With the mixer running at moderate speed, add the eggs one at a time. When the eggs are incorporated, add the jam and vanilla and mix in.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter, mixing just until well combined. Pause to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula if needed. Remove the bowl from the mixer and stir a few times to ensure that the flour from the edges of the bowl and more runny batter from the bottom are fully incorporated.
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Bake
Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared pans and smooth the tops evenly. Place on a baking sheet (for easier moving). Bake the cakes for 35 minutes.
When the time is up, rotate the pans 180° so the cakes bake evenly. Continue baking until a cake tester comes out mostly clean from the center of one cake (a few crumbs are fine), an additional 30 to 35 minutes.
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While the cakes are baking, prepare the frosting:
In a small pan, mix together the powdered sugar, jam and water. Place over medium-high heat and heat until everything melts together.
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Cool and glaze the cake
Remove the pans from the oven and set them on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Let them cool for 10 to 15 minutes and then remove the cakes from the molds.
Place them upside down on the wire rack and spoon the glaze over the warm cakes. Use a brush to glaze the sides of the cakes. Scoop and spread until all of the icing is evenly distributed over the cake.
Let them cool completely before serving.
