Kentucky Blackberry Jam Cake is covered in caramel icing. This southern cake is a special dessert any time of year and it is very popular for Christmas.
What makes this cake so special is the Blackberry Jam that’s mixed into the cake batter. It gives the cake a sweet and slightly tangy flavor that is accentuated by the ultra-sweet caramel icing.
In addition to blackberry jam this cake is also flavored with chopped walnuts and lots of spice: cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.
More traditionally, Kentucky Blackberry Jam Cake have three layers, but it is much easier to make a 2 layer cake and you need one less cake pan. 🙂
If you like spice cake and you like caramel icing, you will love this cake.
The cake layers are fabulously moist from all the jam added and the spices are so fragrant in every bite.
This is a distinctly southern cake that I believe has its roots with German settlers. It is very popular not only in Kentucky, but Tennessee as well.
Some Kentucky Jam Cakes use pecans so feel free to use them instead of walnuts.
More Southern Cakes
Kentucky Blackberry Jam Cake
Ingredients
Cake Batter
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup blackberry jam
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Caramel Icing
- 10 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- walnuts for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with baking spray and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy, 3 to 5 minutes.
- Beat in eggs one at a time, scrapping down sides of the bowl in between additions.
- Add the buttermilk, baking soda and jam and beat until incorporated.
- Whisk together flour, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon. Add to butter mixture in batches, beating just until combined. Stir in walnuts.
- Divide batter evenly between the two cake pans. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until they feel firm when pressed down on. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes and then turn them out on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Prepare Caramel Icing. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add brown sugar, bring mixture to a boil and simmer, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
- Stir milk in and transfer mixture to a mixing bowl. Use electric mixer to beat mixture while gradually adding powdered sugar.
- Place bottom cake layer on a cake stand or serving platter. Gradually pour about half the icing on top. You want the icing to have cooled enough so that it all doesn't run off the sides. Let the icing set up some and then place second layer on top.
- Pour remaining icing on the top layer. Decorate with walnuts if desired.
Notes
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Recipe adapted from Nashville Eats
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
I’m originally from KY, my mama made our jam cake about 2 weeks prior to Christmas, wrapped in cheesecloth and stored in a big lard can. This was always such a treat for us during Christmas. She also made a cake for many family and friends, no charge for her making the cake, they just bought the ingredients! My mama was the best cook in Barren County Kentucky. Mama gained her angel wings with me holding her closely as she took her last breath, with a beautiful look of peace on her face, as the angels whisked her away to her eternal home at age 96!
I’m originally from KY, my mama made our jam cake about 2 weeks prior to Christmas, wrapped in cheesecloth and stored in a big lard can. This was always such a treat for us during Christmas. She also made a cake for many family and friends, no charge for her making the cake, they just bought the ingredients! My mama was the best cook in Barren County Kentucky. Mama gained her angel wings with me holding her closely as she took her last breath, with a beautiful look of peace on her face, as the angels whisked her away to her eternal home at age 96!
I have made this cake twice and every time it turn out dry. The icing turns out well. The cake has good flavor but I am so disappointed by the dryness. I could not find the jam cake recipe that I used last year, so that’s why I thought I would give this one a try again but once again it’s a no go.
Next time use some applesauce in it. That’s what I do and you can’t taste it either. In fact you can use applesauce in all cakes they will be so moist. Give it a try. Happy Baking 😊
A great jam cake baked 2 all ready better than my mom’s
My Mom always made this cake it was wonderful
can this cake be made in a bundt pan. how would it change the cooking time?
thank you, judy
My family always made this cake as a single layer in a tube pan. The tooth pick method is used to test if the cake is done. On one occasion the cake came out and cooled but was not done. The next day it was but back in the oven to complete the baking process. It turned out just as if it had been completely baked the first time. It is a very resilient cake and keeps well when frozen.
Found a recipe for this in an old Kentucky cookbook and eager to try it. Any thoughts on how to reduce fat a little without sacrificing tradition and taste?
The best way to reduce the fat is to follow the recipe but cut a smaller slice if you can. The cake keeps well if you slice it and up it in the freezer. Take our a slice from time to time and enjoy the succulent flavor all through the year. Thus, you can reduce the fat by expanding the time which you enjoy it.
Using this method you can enjoy extended flavor and reduced fat. Jim
My Aunt Ruby (born 1907) received a very similar recipe from her grandmother. It was called Casey Creek Jam Cake and was named for that area of Kentucky. I have been enjoying this jam cake with caramel icing since I was a little boy. I was born in 1942. In our family it was not and is not made as a layer cake. It is a single layer baked in a tube Pan. The icing recipe is a little different but it is still caramel. The hand written note on the recipe states, “recipe over 100 years old – since civil War”, My daughter now makes this cake. Seven generations of our family have been enjoying this treat at Christmas. My Great Grandmother, who began the tradition, was born on a ship coming from Ireland in the 1800’s. Thanks for the Memories.
I love this story Jim. My maternal grandmother was an excellent cook and she baked and cooked from scratch all the time. I was in my teens when she passed and never thought of trying to ask for recipes. Although so many of her baked goods I think she did with a little bit of this a little bit of that! I would love it if you would share your family recipe. It sounds wonderful.
This cake was a big hit for Christmas this year. It’s easy to make and a beautiful, tasty delicious end result!
Can I make this with a seedless blackberrry jam? I am unsure if there is a texture difference between seed in & seedless? Thank you
Nope on the blackberry pie filling but you could use strawberry but it will be a very different cake. Cake freezes well and also keeps well unfrozen for quite some time sealed in a cool tin. Mother put grape juice in hers about 1/3 cup but you can use liquor. I suggest a very sweet grape wine or even a blackberry cordial. Also I make them with Pecans since the hickory nuts mom used to put in them are hard to find now. Mother’s recipe also has molasses and more spice. She made 50 to 100 of them each Christmas for gifts.
I could’ve not been more pleased at how this turned out😊😊
How would it be to use blackberry pie filling instead of the jam?
Can the sponges be baked in advance and frozen to be decorated at a later date? If so how long for?
Thank you
My mother’s Jam cake recipe had a minimum of 9 layers and a few more ingredients. This recipe was from her grandmother. I’m going to try this one, but my mom swears any jam cake recipe worth its salt, had to be 8+ layers.h
Could strawberry jam be used in place of blackberry?
This is a good, dense, old-fashioned cake with an easy to make frosting. I used one recipe to make two smaller cakes (6-7″), split them in half and frosted them with 1 1/2 batches of the frosting. One was used for a 93 year old’s birthday and the other was for a luncheon.
Can I add bourbon to the batter?
My mother made this every Christmas. She made it about 2 weeks ahead and wrapped it uniced, in foil. Every couple of days she’d pour a little bourbon over the layers and then re-wrapped it.
She kept in in a cool, dark place and iced it just before Christmas.
I love this cake, and had it often when growing up in Kentucky.