West Virginia Jam Cake Recipes

WEST VIRGINIA BLACK WALNUT CAKE

Steps:

• Melt butterscotch morsels in water; cool.
• Sift together flour, salt, soda and baking powder; set aside.
• Add sugar gradually to butter, creaming well.
• Blend in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
• Blend in melted butterscotch morsels, mix well.
• Add dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Blend thoroughly.
• Fold in black walnuts.
• Turn into two (9-inch) round layer pans well greased and floured lightly.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. Cool.
• Filling: Combine sugar and cornstarch for filling in 2 quart pan. Stir in milk, water, butterscotch and egg yolk. Cook over medium heat. Stirring constantly, until thick.
• Remove from heat and add butter, coconut and black walnuts. Cool.
• Spread butterscotch filling between layers and on top to within 1/2-inch of edge.
• Frosting: Cream butter in bowl with wooden spoon until very soft. Slowly add sugar, mixing thoroughly; add a drop of milk at a time as mixture gets too stiff. Flavor with 1/4 teaspoon vanilla.
• For chocolate butter icing, add 1/2 ounce melted chocolate. The yolk of one egg will make yellow icing. Strong coffee instead of milk will make mocha icing. Using, of course, only one flavor at a time.
• Frost with Butter Frosting around sides and on top of cake to meet the filling.

HOECAKE ~ WEST VIRGINIA STYLE

Steps:

• 1. Stir all the dry ingredients together, then add the crisco. Mix it together with a pastry cutter or a big fork, like the meat fork* from my tableware set)that is never used except when I'm cooking. *It's the giant fork on the left in the picture.
• 2. When you have something resembling small gravel, slowly add the milk, stirring unti it makes a soft dough.
• 3. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray, if it's not non-stick. Pour the biscuit dough onto the sheet.
• 4. Sprinkle the dough with a little flour so it won't stick to your hands, then pat the dough fairly evenly to about 1/2" or so.** **This will raise, but if you like a thicker biscuit or if you've doubled the recipe, take a sharp knife and divide the dough lengthwise, then separate the halves. Mom also made a few shallow cuts across the dough to allow it to cook evenly.
• 5. Bake at 425 degrees F for about 8 minutes, then check for doneness. The hoecake should be golden brown & done on the bottom. Depending on how thick you made it, it might be done or it might need another few minutes. Just watch it carefully so you don't overcook it, which would dry the hoecake out. (If you do, just add LOTS of butter and no one will notice. Don't ask me how I know this.)
• 6. Remove the hoecake from the oven when it's ready and put it on a cooling rack, just long enough to cool it so you don't burn your fingers as you break off the pieces. Silly JAP photo settings would only show about 3/4 of the hoecake. Imagine it about 25% bigger...
• 7. Now the fun part... A traditional hoecake sandwich would be stuffed with whatever was left over from supper the night before or breakfast that day. Fried ham & tomato sandwiches are a personal favorite. Or, as seen here, a hoecake to go along with the final tomato from the garden, with butter & a few drops of honey. =^..^=

WEST VIRGINIA BLACKBERRY CAKE

Steps:

• Icing (recipe follows) using the last 4 ingredients
• Cream sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat eggs and add to creamed mixture, beating well.
• Combine flour, spices, baking soda and baking powder; whisk well. Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, in three additions each, beating until smooth. Fold in berries.
• Pour batter into three greased and floured, 8-inch-round layer pans. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, or until the top springs back when gently touched. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks. Stack layers, filling and frosting with icing.
• Icing-Combine ingredients and beat until smooth, adding coffee if necessary to achieve a spreading consistency.