The soft cake with jam is a dessert that is loved for its soft and ethereal texture, but especially for its sweet and fruity heart. This breakfast or dessert cake is a true ode to indulgence, a delight that melts in your mouth offering an explosion of flavors. What makes this cake truly special is the fact that it’s filled while still raw, and by the end of baking, the jam doesn’t sink to the bottom, but remains in the center of the cake, just like in the similar Nutella cake recipe. When you cut a slice, you’ll discover the surprise inside, with the jam maintaining its texture and flavor without mixing with the batter. I filled this soft cake with strawberry jam, but of course, you can use your preferred jam!
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 276.08 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 46.65 (g) of which sugars 31.17 (g)
- Proteins 6.70 (g)
- Fat 8.09 (g) of which saturated 0.79 (g)of which unsaturated 0.96 (g)
- Fibers 0.97 (g)
- Sodium 96.84 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 95 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for a 8-inch diameter soft jam cake
If you are celiac, you can replace the all-purpose flour with the same amount of finely ground rice flour. Also remember that these ingredients must bear the label “gluten-free”: rice flour, baking powder, powdered sugar.
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup cream cheese (Philadelphia, ricotta, mascarpone…)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (for the gluten-free version, I've used finely ground rice flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 lemon (only the grated zest)
- 1/2 cup jam (of choice)
- as needed powdered sugar (for garnish)
Tools
- 1 Bowl
- Electric Whisks
- 1 Cake Pan 8-inch diameter
- Parchment Paper
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Teaspoon
How to prepare the soft cake with jam that doesn’t sink to the bottom
To prepare the soft cake with jam, start by putting the cream cheese – you can use Philadelphia, cow or sheep ricotta, or mascarpone – and the sugar in a bowl (1).
Work it all with electric whisks for about half a minute, until you get a creamy mixture (2). Then add the first egg and continue mixing with the whisks, until it’s perfectly incorporated. Only at this point add the second egg (3).
Beat the mixture with the whisks until the egg is well blended. Then add the flour, baking powder, and grated lemon zest (4).
Continue mixing with the electric whisks for a minute or two, until you get a homogeneous and rather thick mixture (5). It should not be too liquid, or the jam will inevitably sink.
Line a 8-inch diameter cake pan (6). If you don’t have one of this size, consult this guide, which will help you recalculate the ingredient doses proportionally to the size of the mold you will use.
Pour the cake batter into it and smooth it with a spatula (7). It’s time to add the jam! Using a teaspoon, place it in small heaps on the cake’s surface, spacing them a little apart (8).
It’s important that the jam present in each heap isn’t sparse – a heaping teaspoon – and that it isn’t “spread” over the cake’s surface but concentrated in a single point: this way it will have the necessary weight to slightly sink to the center of the cake.
Bake the soft cake with jam in a preheated oven at 180°F (static) for 30-35 minutes. Already after 30 minutes, if the surface of the cake seems golden, check its cooking with a skewer, inserting it in a point where there is no jam: if it comes out dry you can take it out of the oven (9).
Let it cool completely before removing it from the mold, then transfer it to a plate and, if desired, dust it with powdered sugar. You can serve the soft jam cake for breakfast, as a snack, or as a dessert.
Storage
You can store the cake at room temperature for 3 or 4 days, inside a cake container or covered with a glass dome.
The secret of jam that doesn’t sink
The key to achieving a soft cake with jam where the jam doesn’t sink to the bottom is – aside from the right batter consistency – to place it in fairly generous heaps (a heaping teaspoon per heap). The jam must not be overly liquid, otherwise it won’t have the right weight to slightly sink to the center of the batter.
Anti-waste tip
Have you ever had two or more jars of jam open in the fridge, perhaps left over from other preparations? The soft jam cake is the perfect recipe to use up leftover jam! You can fill it with heaps of jams of different flavors, so each slice or each bite has a different taste!
