Blueberry Jam Cake by America's Test Kitchen

Blueberry Jam Cake by Christie Moorison at America’s Test Kitchen Wet 1 cup whole milk, room temperature 6 large egg whites, room temperature 2 teaspoons vanilla Dry 2 ¼ cups cake flour 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 12 tablespoons softened unsalted butter Jam ½ cup granulated sugar 2 tablespoons pectin pinch of salt 15 ounces (3 cups) frozen thawed blueberries 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice. Frosting 1 ½ cups confectioners (powdered) sugar 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut in 8 pieces 8 ounces cream cheese, cubed & softened 2 teaspoons vanilla ¼ cup reserved blueberry jam Grease and flour 3 (8 inch) cake pans or 2 (9 inch.)and line with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350° with the rack in the middle position. In a bowl combine wet ingredients and give a stir to incorporate, set aside. In a stand mixer, combine the dry ingredients, turn on low speed to combine. Next, we’re gonna do a technique called reverse creaming where you add the butter into the flour mixture. Turn the mixer on low speed and begin adding butter one piece at a time until all the butter is incorporated. The butter should be about the size of small peas, about 1 minute. Add half the wet ingredients to the dry, mix on medium high speed for about one minute until it starts to look light and fluffy. Add the other half liquid and mix on medium low for 30 seconds. Give a final stir with a spatula to well combined. Add batter evenly to each cake pan. Bake for 18 - 22 minutes. Half way through we’ll rotate & move them around. We’re looking for a nice golden top and for a toothpick to come out clean. Remove pans from oven, let sit on a rack to cool for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, remove cakes from pans to cool completely, about 2 hours. Jam In a fruit processor add sugar, pectin, and salt. Run for about 3 seconds to combine. Add blueberries and pulse 6 times to break down the berries a little bit. Transfer the mixture to a medium sauce pan. Heat over medium heat for 6 - 8 minutes. We’re looking for it to start bubbling. Take off the burner and add lemon juice. Allow to cool. In a measuring cup add 1 ⅓ cup of the sauce to use as the filling between the layers of the cake. Cover and put in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Put the remaining blueberry sauce through a fine mesh strainer. This is going to be used to color the frosting. It does not need to be refrigerated. Frosting In a bowl add powdered sugar, butter, and cream. Mix for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese one piece at a time to well combine. Add vanilla and 2 tablespoons of jam to the frosting. Mix on medium high for a few minutes. Stir frosting with spatula to combine. Transfer ⅓ cup frosting each to 2 bowls. Add 1 tablespoon to one bowl of frosting and 1 teaspoon to the other bowl. Assembly Add ⅔ cup blueberry jam to the top first cake layer. Smooth out from the center almost to the edge. Add the second layer and continue as the first layer. For the third layer, turn the cake layer upside down, so you have a perfectly flat top layer. Add a crumb coat. This is a thin layer of frosting, start with a side and go to the top in case any crumbs into that first layer. Refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to firm up the crumb coat so you can finish the final layer of frosting. Dividing the cake into thirds, starting with the bottom of the cake, use the darkest frosting. Next mid level purple frosting, and finally the top third and top with base frosting. Using an offset spatula start at the bottom and rotate the cake around going all the way to the top should be about six layered swirls. This will give the affect that the cake transitions from a darker purple up to a light purple on the top. Do the same on the top. Starting on the outside, rotate the cake, moving into the center. Place cake in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving. Video https://youtu.be/bGltCOfnG_8?si=BowoD2bUBHFIEUCO submitted by /u/jonlul [link] [comments]