Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Jam Recipe

A recent trip to the Strawberry Patch left us overflowing in beautiful red organic strawberries. 

I've been dying to try my hand at canning so this was the perfect excuse.  I've made strawberry jam numerous times, but the whole canning thing is a little overwhelming and scary.

  

So I channeled my inner grandma, and got some much needed help from Pioneer Woman and it was a huge success!  Why did I ever doubt myself?  

Thank you Broer's Farm in Monroe, WA. for a fun time and a huge crate of strawberries!

Simple Strawberry Jam

by Ree Drummond - The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Printable

5 cups hulled mashed strawberries


7 cups sugar


4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice


1 49g package powdered fruit pectin

1. Place 8 or 9 8-ounce mason jars in a large hot water bath canner (or pot). Cover with water and bring to a simmer.


2. Simmer center lids in separate saucepan full of water.


3. Place mashed strawberries and lemon juice in a separate pot. Stir in pectin until dissolved. Bring strawberries to a strong boil.


4. Add sugar (measure beforehand so you can add it all at once), then return mixture to a full (violent) boil that can’t be stirred down. Boil hard for 1 minute 15 seconds.


5. Skim foam off the top.


6. Remove one jar at a time from the simmering water. Pour water back into the pot. Using a wide-mouth funnel, fill each jar with jam, being careful to keep the liquid/fruit ratio consistent. Fill jars so that they have 1/4-inch of space at the top.


7. Run a knife down the side of the jar to get rid of air bubbles.


8. Wipe rim of jar with a wet cloth to remove any residue or stickiness.


9. Remove center lid from simmering water and position it on top.


10. Put screw bands on jars, but do not overtighten!


11. Repeat with all jars, then place jars on canning rack and lower into the water.


12. Place lid on canner, then bring water to a full boil. Boil hard for 10 to 12 minutes.


13. Turn off heat and allow jars to remain in hot water for an addition five minutes.


14. Remove jars from water using a jar lifter, and allow them to sit undisturbed for 24 hours.


15. After 24 hours, remove screw bands and check the seal of the jars. Center lids should have no give whatsoever. If any seals are compromised, store those jars in the fridge.

Super Enhanced Cake Formula

from Cake Central

Printable

1 Cake Mix Box (Duncan Heines®, Betty Crocker®, Pillsbury® etc.)

1 cup All purpose flour

1 cup white granulated sugar

1 generous dash of salt

3 large eggs

1/3 cup water

1/4 Heavy Cream

1 cup Sour Cream (8 oz.)

1 cup melted butter

1 Tablespoon of vanilla

1.  For this recipe you are only going to use the actual cake mix powder, do NOT also add the ingredients from directions on the cake mix box. Just ignore any other ingredients or directions listed on the cake mix packaging.

2.  Preheat Oven to 325° and grease 2 8” round cake pans.

3. Mix flour, sugar, cake mix and salt together with fork, set aside.

4. Into Mixer bowl put eggs, water, sour cream, butter, vanilla, and cream.

5.  Add dry ingredients and mix well on (about 2 minutes on low speed).

6. Bake at 325° for 45 - 60 minutes.

Find the American buttercream recipe here.

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