Sunday Night Jam {Cake} Session

For us, Sunday is filled with sleeping in, blog-post writing {me}, car maintenance {Thom}, laundry {us}, and dinner-making, followed by quality time together at the end of the night usually watching a movie or show.

Tonight I thought we’d end the evening with a jam session.  A Jam Cake session that is.  This recipe begins by folding whipped egg whites into a batter mixture making for a lovely, light, and, airy base.  Fill with jam or preserves and drizzle the baked cakes with a confectioners’ sugar glaze and you’ve got yourself a sweet ending to Sunday night {or any other evening for that matter}.

Individual Cherry Jam Cake with Vanilla Bean Glaze
makes six

1/2 cup {1 stick} unsalted butter, at room temp, plus more for tin}
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs separated
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
6 tbsp cherry jam or preserves

Glaze
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1-2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a six cup standard muffin tin {I used a large size muffin tin and had enough};  set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg yolks, one at a time until creamy; set aside. Into another bowl, sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture and milk in alternate batches to butter mixture; set aside.

In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks {I used a hand beater}; fold into batter. Divide half this batter into muffin tins.  Using the back of a floured tablespoon, make an indentation in the middle of each; fill with 1 tablespoon cherry preserves. Top with remaining batter.

Bake until a cake tester inserted in the top cake layer comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  Transfer cakes to a rack to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk confectioners’ sugar and milk {start with 1 tbsp and add more as needed to desired consistency. If you need to thicken, add more sugar}.  Add vanilla bean paste.  Place rack over parchment paper {or a cookie sheet}; drizzle cakes with glaze.

Notes-  You can substitute vanilla for the vanilla bean paste.  Also-I would have added a bit more cherry jam/preserves.