I don’t remember exactly why I first searched for a cake recipe that used preserves, but I’m pretty sure it’s because I used to compulsively make jams and jellies and decided I needed to use the last bits of a jar immediately, and I wasn’t interested in the fuss of tarts or a pie. So a quick Google search yielded this recipe (this was back before it got totally clogged up with walled-garden and AI-generated results no one asked for; I want to say 2016ish) and it worked out very well. Of course, the recipe is paywalled now, but luckily I saved it for posterity.
I never got around to trying this method with other preserves like I initially thought I would, but I don’t see any reason why a thick fruit preserve with a similar texture wouldn’t work. It might look a bit weird depending on the colour and chunkiness, but I don’t usually care how a snack cake like this looks as long as it tastes right.
I’m now aware that European-style cakes tend to use fruit preserves between layers, especially apricot, plum, and berry preserves. But this recipe is an easy one-pan solution to the problem I was trying to solve.
Details
- Yield: 10 servings (950 g total)
- Total time: about 2 hours
- Active: 25 minutes
- Passive: about 1.5 hours (baking and cooling)
Equipment
- Oven
- Stand mixer
- 9”x5” loaf pan
- Parchment paper
- Wire rack
- Rimmed baking sheet
Ingredients
Cake
- 170 g (¾ cup) unsalted butter
- 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 4 g (2 tsp) grated lime zest
- 1 g (½ tsp) grated orange zest
- 150 g (3 large) eggs
- 110 g (scant ⅓ cup) coarse-cut orange marmalade
- 31 g (2 tbsp) fresh orange juice
- 190 g (1-½ cups) all-purpose flour
- 6 g (1-½ tsp) baking powder
- 4.5 g (¾ tsp) table salt
Glaze
- 110 g (⅓ cup) coarse-cut orange marmalade, melted
- 7 g (½ tbsp) unsalted butter
- 30 g (¼ cup) confectioners’ sugar
Method
A. Prepare equipment
- Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F)
- Grease the loaf pan and line it with parchment paper
B. Make the cake
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter, sugar, and zests until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes
- Beat in eggs one at a time
- Mix in the first 110g marmalade and orange juice
- Separately, combine flour, baking powder, and salt, then stir them into the wet mix just until the flour no longer looks dry
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 50 - 55 minutes
C. Glaze the cake
- Remove cake from oven and cool 10 minutes in the pan
- Remove cake from pan and place it right-side up on the rack, with a rimmed baking sheet underneath
- Mix remaining marmalade, sugar, and butter until smooth, and spread glaze on top of the cake
- Let cake cool completely before slicing and serving
Sources
Clark, Melissa. “Orange Marmalade Cake.” The New York Times, 19 February 2014, cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016043-orange-marmalade-cake.