It's a Donut, Remixed: Swirled Jam Bars

Four days after I made Yossy Arefi's amazing Powdered Donut Cake, I made her "Swirled Jam Cake" from the same cookbook (Snacking Cakes). As I starting making the jam cake, I quickly realized that it's almost the exact same recipe as the donut cake. To be more specific, if you start with the donut cake, remove the nutmeg, swirl jam into the batter before baking, and add 10 minutes to the baking time, you get the swirled jam cake.

 

I doubled the recipe to bake it in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan. When it came time to select a jam for my swirls, it turned out that I had an open jar of strawberry jam and an open jar of black raspberry preserves in the fridge, so I went halfsies with the jam flavors. I didn't mix them, but used the strawberry on one half of cake and the black raspberry on the other. Before and after baking, the two different halves of the cake were clearly distinguishable because of the differences in the colors of the preserves. But after I sprinkled powdered sugar on the cooled cake, it was difficult to tell which half was which until I cut it to expose the jam inside.

Because this is essentially the same recipe as the donut cake, I expected it to be very similar. To my surprise, the two cakes were totally different and I would never have guessed that they were generated from nearly identical recipes. The absence of nutmeg and the addition of jam changed the flavor significantly, of course, but for me the biggest difference between the two cakes was the texture. While the donut cake had a remarkable dense and downy-soft textutre, the swirled jam cake had a texture that was not as soft, more granular, and well -- just ordinary. I assume the difference in texture is created from the longer baking time required due to the inclusion of the jam. And as a side note, my two jams acted quite differently (as you can see in the photo above) -- the black raspberry jam generally to the bottom, but the strawberry jam stayed more evenly distributed. 

I personally preferred the black raspberry jam side of this cake for its more dramatic flavor, but both sides were tasty. This was a very good cake. However, having made the donut cake just a few days prior, I couldn't help missing its extraordinary texture. If I had to limit myself to just one cake, I would opt for the donut. But I wouldn't want to dissuade anyone from making this cake -- instead, I would encourage people to try both recipes!

Recipe: "Swirled Jame Cake" from Snacking Cakes my Yossy Arefi. 

Previous Post: "A Cake So Good You Can Literally Feel It: Powdered Donut Cake," January 4, 2021.