It reminds me of my grandmother.

She always, always made fudge, a coconut cake for my grandfather, and jam cake.

And while we tended to like all of them, she was never satisfied.

A square piece of the Easy Jam Cake on a pnik an white plate, with a piece of the corner cut off with a fork, also on the plate with some frosting still attached to the fork

Simply Recipes / Photo by Julia Gartland / Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne

I think my grandmother was picky about her jam cake because it reminded her ofherchildhood.

Its so-named for the jam stirred right into the cake batter, most often blackberry.

For the uninitiated, it can seem like a strange combination.

A white baking dish with the a baked white spiced cake, with swirled with dulce de leche frosting

Simply Recipes / Photo by Julia Gartland / Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne

Just trust me when I tell you it is delicious.

Most recipes youll find are in old church and community cookbooks.

The frosting is often a boiled caramel icing, which is delicious but also easy to mess up.

A closeup of a square serving piece of the Easy Jam Cake on a pink and white plate, with a pice cut of the corner with a forl

Simply Recipes / Photo by Julia Gartland / Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne

No one wants to do all of that work and end up with a grainy, oily mess.

I set out to make the ultimate easy version of Kentucky jam cake.

I naturally swapped the homemade cake for a boxed spice cake mix, saving lots of measuring and mess.

Jam getting swirled into cake batter in a white baking dish for the Easy Jam Cake recipe

Simply Recipes / Photo by Julia Gartland / Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne

I also baked it in a 9x13, so there is no precarious stacking required.

I love that you get little pockets of sweet-tart jam.

For the frosting, I took a very delicious shortcut: store-bought dulce de leche.

Jam beautifully swirled into the batter of the Easy Jam Cake recipe in a white balking dish

Simply Recipes / Photo by Julia Gartland / Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne

It has all of the flavors shed look for in a jam cake with a fraction of the effort.

Make the cake batter according to the package instructions.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Frosting for the Easy Jam Cake in a clear bowl

Simply Recipes / Photo by Julia Gartland / Food Styling by Samantha Seneviratne

Take a butter knife and gently drag it through the spoonfuls in one direction, then the other.

Be careful to only poke the knife about halfway down into the batter.

Move to a cooling rack and let cool completely before frosting, at least 1 hour.

Bowl of nutella puppy chow next to a smaller bowl with more on a counter with some pieces of puppy chow scattered around

Add the dulce de leche and salt and beat until well combined, about 1 minute.

Scrape the bowl, then add the powdered sugar.

Spread the frosting on top of the cooled cake and serve.

Close-up: honey popcorn (filling up the entire photo)

Bring to room temperature before serving.

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