Vanilla Berry Jam Cake

grain-free & refined sugar-free

This cake surprised me in two ways. It was possibly the easiest recipe I’ve made this year, and it was REALLY good. I am admittedly not a cake person. Besides the fact that I am savory-first, when I do have a treat, I’m reaching for ice cream, cookies, brownies, etc. Cake feels involved, and cupcakes are mostly frosting (too often stale and sickly sweet). A bad piece of cake will ruin your day. But a bad cookie? You’re FINE. Ultimately, the margin for error in the cake family just doesn’t sit right with me. Hence why it took me so long to take the leap.

I made this cake for my Mom’s birthday. I decided at the late hour of 2pm to order ingredients on Instacart and make it for that night. I knew I probably had my work cut out for me, but rarely do I have a reason to bake a whole ass LAYER CAKE. I was blown away to discover it was literally (pun intended) a piece of cake to make!!! Largely, I suspect, due to the small list of ingredients and virtual 2-step process.

Adapted from Sweet Laurel’s vanilla cake, but with the addition/option to enhance the recipe with dairy (yay) if it works for you. The base cake recipe is endlessly adaptable, and you can use any frosting or toppings your heart desires!!!!

This recipe makes one 8” round cake, or two 6” rounds. I used 8” cake pans and tripled it to make three 8” layers. Double or triple to your liking based on what size group you’re serving. Three 8” layers feeds 16, two feeds 10-11, and one feeds 5-6. If you have 6” cake pans, two layers feeds 5-6, and so on.

TOOLS:

• 8” or 6” round cake pans (one for every layer you want) — stainless steel is preferred to avoid heavy metals

• unbleached parchment paper rounds are helpful, or you can use regular sheets and trace/cut yourself

• Not required, but helpful to have cooling racks (I just used a few half sheet pans)

INGREDIENTS:

makes ONE 8” round cake (or two 6” rounds), feeds ~6. I tripled everything for 3 layers!