Recipe: 100 Year Old Jam Cake with Uncooked Caramel Icing

100 Year Old Jam Cake with Uncooked Caramel Icing
rec.food.recipes/Tracy Riggs (1998)

This recipe was collected by my grandmother Mrs. OF Babb from the now defunct Memphis Press Scimitar newspaper. There's no date on the clipping but I'd guess from it's condition probably 1960-1970; I think they (the paper, that is) went under in the early 70's some time.

According to the article, this recipe comes originally from Mrs. M. G. Hodges of Henderson, Tennessee, who was 82 years old at the time; it was her mother's. Mrs. Hodges explained this cake was baked for special occasions - such as Christmas and when the preacher came to dinner. The recipe was over 100 years old at the time of publication.

The secret to the cake is aging. Make it, then let it sit a couple of days before cutting it. The clipping says that the newspaper's test kitchen let the one they made ripen for five days. Properly wrapped, it should freeze well.

1 1/2 cups butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons soda
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
6 Tablespoons buttermilk
2 cups strawberry jam

Cream soft butter. Add sugar slowly, beating until creamy.

Add eggs (room temperature) one at a time. Beat well after each egg.

Have flour mixture ready. Sift all-purpose flour and measure. Then sift again with soda and spices.

Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk. Mix to blend well. Mixing this cake requires about 25 to 30 minutes.

Last of all fold in strawberry jam. If berries are quite large chop fine.

Brush bottom of four square 8-inch layer cake pans (2 inches deep) lightly with salt free shortening or salad oil. Pour batter into pans. Flour well. Level the batter with spatula. Drop pans several times from height of 4 inches.

Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) about 30-40 minutes or until done. Cool on cake rack 5 minutes, then turn out onto cake rack to cool completely before icing. Frost with Uncooked Caramel Icing.

Uncooked Caramel Icing

1 1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup cream
2 cups dark brown sugar (or more for richer caramel flavor)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioner's sugar (enough to make spreadable consistency)

Melt butter and cream together. While hot, stir in brown sugar. Cool and stir in vanilla. Stir in salt and sifted confectioner's sugar, as needed.