Southern Chocolate Layer Cake

It's true. My layer cake looked nothing like the gem that appeared in the New York Times. But, in my defense, that lady has been making them for something ridiculous like 70 years. And even if it wasn't a looker, it sure was delicious.

Since I'm nothing if not ambitious, I knew as soon as I read the NY Times piece on southern layer cakes that I had to try my hand at it. So when my mom asked what we should have for dessert with Christmas dinner, I naturally insisted it should be a 15-layer cake. Naturally.

Sadly, because of operator error (see above) and inexact measurements, I only ended up with a nine-layer cake. But after all, it was just my first attempt.


Eat Rating: Delicious. The thing I liked about this cake is there is plenty of icing the soaks into the layers, but its not overwhelmed by the icing like some cakes are.
Difficulty: Medium to hard. It certainly is a production. Requires three cake pans, sifter, hand mixer (or Kitchenaid) and parchment rounds.

Adapted from The New York Times, Dec. 15, 2009

Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup of shortening (LN: I, stupidly, assumed my mom would have shortening on hand and didn't pick it up at the store. We subbed another 1/3 cup of butter)
5 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups cake flour (LN: I used all-purpose)
2 tsp baking soda
5 tsp baking powder
2 cups milk

Frosting
5 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into pieces
1 15 oz. can evaporated milk
1/2 cup milk (LN: The recipe calls for whole. I subbed 2 percent)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Liberally grease three 9-inch round cake pans, layer with a round of parchment and grease again. (LN: Don't skip the parchment! It really helps because you're going to need to re-use the cake pans and it's much easier than washing them between layers)

Place the butter, shortening and sugar in a bowl and cream with electric mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Gradually add the flour mixture in batches to the cake base, adding 1/2 cup of milk in between each round of flour until fully incorporated.

Beat the cake batter for approximately 5 minutes until it is smooth. Add 3/4 cup of batter to each cake pan and bake for 6-8 minutes until cooked through (LN: in my oven, it was more like 10-12 when I baked all three layers at once).

While the cake is still warm, flip it out onto a paper towel or rack. Re-butter and line your cake pan and stick another set of layers in the oven. You should ultimately do four rounds of layers, end up with 12 total. (LN: Unless you have mess ups like I did, in which case you may only have nine layers).

While the layers are baking, start the icing. Place butter, sugar, cocoa, milk and evaporate milk into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Boil for 4 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer, add vanilla and then cook for an additional 10 minutes. You want the icing to be the consistency of hot fudge sauce. Don't overcook. The icing will firm up some as it cools.

Once the icing is finished, place one layer of the cake on a serving plate. Top with 4-5 tablespoons of icing. Add another layer. Repeat until all the layers have been added. Pour the remaining icing over the top of the cake, allowing to drip down the sides. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Wedding Cake Project: Chocolate Guinness Cake

My friend's camera phone takes surprisingly good photos.

I first made this cake last year for an office birthday. Like most office birthdays, we gathered in the conference room, made chit-chat about how old the person was and what she was going to do for her birthday. Then I told everyone there was a secret ingredient in the cake and passed out slips of paper for everyone to guess. The guesses were funny (someone actually guessed "pot") but no one could guess it was Guinness. It's one of those things that you don't actually taste until someone tells you it's there.

My co-worker Anne loved the cake and asked me every time there was a birthday whether I was making it. So for her birthday, of course, I had to make it.

If you click the link to the NYT recipe, you'll note it has some strange measurements (3/8 cup). I tweaked them a little so they work better with American measuring cups. I recommend trying to find European style cocoa, like Droste (King Arthur sells it also). Sometimes you can find Hershey's European Style Cocoa, but some stores don't carry it.

When you make this recipe, you heat the Guinness up in a saucepan to burn a little of the alcohol off, then mix in the chocolate. As it cooks, the Guinness mellows and ends up adding a nice complexity to the chocolate flavor.

The cake itself is very rich and a little fudge-y in the middle. Don't overcook it or it will come out dry. The recipe makes a little too much batter for a regular 9 inch round. You can either make a 9-inch round and then a smaller cake on the side, use a springform pan (since it has taller sides) or use a 10-inch round. The one pictured is a 10-inch round -- what will be the middle layer of the wedding cake.

The recipe also calls for a cream cheese frosting. You're supposed to swirl it on top to make it look like the head of a pint of Guinness. I'm not very good at swirling, though. If you want the cream cheese frosting, don't try to substitute something else for the cream. That gives you frosting that's way too thin. According to Gourmet and the guys at The Bitten Word, it's also lovely with a peanut butter frosting.

The last piece.

Adapted from Nigella Lawson

Cake:
1 cup Guinness Stout (LN: use the can! it's so much better than the bottle.)
10 tbsp. butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking soda

Frosting:
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour your cake pan (see above for info on what cake pan to use).

In a small saucepan, heat the Guinness and butter until the butter is melted. Remove from heat and add in the cocao and sugar, whisking until well combined. Set aside.

In the bowl of a Kitchenaid (or in a medium-sized bowl, using hand mixer), combine the sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Mix for 2 minutes or until well combined. Add in the Guinness mixture (if using your Kitchenaid, put on the splash guard so it doesn't get everywhere when you turn on the beaters). Gradually add the flour and baking soda, mixing between each addition until fully incorporated and you have a nice medium-thickness cake batter.

Pour into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. I recommend baking 45 minutes, then checking every five minutes until a toothpick tester comes out clean. You don't want to overbake or the cake will be dry. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack in the pan.

Once the cake is cool, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in a bowl and beat until well combined. Gradually add in the cream, beating until desired consistency.

Remove cake from pan and frost, swirling the frosting on top so it looks like the head on a pint of Guinness. Serve with a tall glass of milk or refrigerate until needed, then remove about 30 minutes before serving.

Gingerbread Cake with Pears

Gingerbread, studded with chunks of pear.

This was in the October 2008 issue of Gourmet. I must have missed it, because when I saw someone post on it the other day, it immediately jumped to the top of the "Cakes to Try" list.

The recipe calls for one pear. I used two and I think that worked better. Make sure to check on it every few minutes as it nears the end. The recipe calls for it to bake for 35 minutes. Some other reviewers said it took less time, more like 30, in their ovens, but in mine it took 45. I really think I need to get that oven recalibrated.

From Gourmet, October 2008

Eat Rating: Delicious. Very subtle flavors of ginger, molasses and pear.
Difficulty: Easy

1 1/2 cups flour (LN: I used 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1 cup all-purpose)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
3 large eggs
1/4 cup peeled, grated fresh ginger (LN: I ran out of fresh ginger, so instead used 3 tbsp of ginger paste)
2 Bosc pears, peeled, cored and chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9-inch round cake pan.

Combine the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, spice and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the water and butter until the butter is melted. Set aside

In a large bowl or Kitchenaid, beat brown sugar and molasses until well combined. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition. Gradually add the flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time, beating well. Add the ginger and melted butter. Beat again just until combined.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan, then sprinkle with the chopped pears. The pears will sink to the bottom of the cake while it cooks.

Bake for 35 minutes, checking frequently as it nears the end by inserting a toothpick. Once baked, remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pan, cool completely. When ready to serve, you can warm slightly by placing in the oven for 5 minutes or serve at room temperature.

Carrot Cake

The cake only looks like its flying.

A carrot cake is a difficult thing. Invariably, half the people at any given party or dinner won't eat any because they hate carrot cake. And the other half is probably judging you. Or your cake anyway.

So I was a little nervous when one of my co-workers requested carrot cake for her birthday. I figured I'd just use my favorite recipe but then I remembered that involves a layer of strawberry jam in the middle with the frosting and sometimes purists react badly when you mess with dessert staples. (Just ask me about the pumpkin pie I brought to Thanksgiving one year.) So instead I used this one from Alton Brown. He's never led me astray. Even that one time he insisted I could not make an apple pie without buying an expensive bottle of apple whiskey.

My cake turned out a little bit on the dry side, probably because of the white whole wheat flour. If you want to use whole wheat, just sub out 1 cup and use the other 1.5 cups of all purpose.

Adapted from Alton Brown, The Food Network

Cake:
2 1/2 cups shredded carrots
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (LN: I subbed white whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup vegetable oil (LN: I used peanut oil, but canola would work as well)

Frosting:
1 8-oz. block of cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour one 9-inch round cake pan.

Place the carrots in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl (or your food processor) mix the dry ingredients -- flour, baking powder, baking soda and spices. Add the flour mixture to the carrots and stir until combined.

In the bowl of the food processor, whiz the remaining ingredients until smooth. Add the wet mixture to the dry, then stir just until moistened. Pour the batter into the cake pan. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, then reduce heat to 325 and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow cake to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge, then remove from pan and let cool completely.

Once cake is cool, combine cream cheese and butter in a bowl. Blend with a hand mixer until smooth. Add the vanilla and blend again. Gradually add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until it is completely incorporated into the frosting.

Using a large, serrated knife, cut the cake into two layers. Place the bottom layer on a plate and spread half the frosting on top. Gently add the top layer and then frost with remaining cream cheese mixture. Garnish with walnuts, if desired.

Keep the cake in the fridge until ready to serve. Allow the cake to sit for about 10-15 minutes out of the fridge before serving.

Frances O'Neal's Fig Cake

Frances O'Neal's fig cake

In this month's Gourmet, they had a feature on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I've never been and never really thought anything of the place (although those "OBX" stickers on the backs of cars are irritatingly ubiquitous). Apparently they have good food, though, lots of seafood, hush puppies and barbecue. I now somewhat want to visit, if only to eat Hatteras clam chowder. Fig trees are also, apparently, plentiful in Outer Banks, so they featured this fig cake recipe from the Back Porch Restaurant and Wine Bar on Ocracoke Island. There, it's served as a layer cake with cream chese icing. Gourmet turned it into a bundt cake, more like a spice cake with little bits of fig and nuts, a good cake for the fall season, I think. But definitely tasty and worth the effort. Next time I might try with cream cheese frosting, though, because that would definitely be yummy.

Figs

A note on finding preserved figs: You want a jar of figs in water or syrup, not dried. I found them at Whole Foods. The mag also recommends buying from the Ocracoke Community Store (thecommunitystore@yahoo.com) or Lee Bros. Broiled Peanuts Catalog.

Eat Rating: Delicious, although I think it would be better for fall rather than spring because of all the spices evoke apple and pumpkin pie to me.
Difficulty: Easy-to-medium

Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, April 2009

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp clove
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup preserved figs in syrup, drained and chopped
1 cups walnuts or pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 35o degrees and generously grease a bundt pan. I mean generously grease. Otherwise your cake will stick (mine did a little on one side). Combine flour, salt and spices in a medium sized bowl. Mix well.

Beat eggs in a large bowl with an electric mixer (or Kitchenaid) for 2 minutes until the eggs are foamy. Add sugar and beat 2 more minutes. Add oil and beat one additional minute. Your mixture should be a pale yellow. At low speed, add flour, alternating with buttermilk until both are fully combined.

In a small bowl, mix baking soda and warm water. Stir into cake batter, along with vanilla, fig chunks and nuts.

Pour into pan and bake about 50 minutes to 1 hour. Cool completely in pan, about 2 hours. Garnish with powdered sugar, if desired, and serve with a generous dollop of whipped cream.

See, I meant generous...

Orangette's Lemon Yogurt Cake

In case you hadn't figured it out already, I really like cake. I was once reading an interview with Duff the guy who runs Charm City Cakes in Baltimore and he said he eats at least one piece of cake every day for "quality control purposes." At that moment, I seriously questioned my commitment to journalism. The only problem with cakes is that so often they involve a lot of butter, so I always like to find cakes that have different bases like oil or yogurt. I've been reading Orangette's new book, A Homemade Life, and the cake that found her a husband is such a cake: French-style Yogurt Cake with Lemon. I have to say, it's pretty damn good.

Difficulty: Easy, does require a zester though
Eat Rating: Awesome. The cake is really light and fluffy. Really great if you like lemons. I might try it with Meyer Lemons next time though, since they are a little sweeter. The recipe says you can also substitute orange or tangerine.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 cup plain yogurt (LN: he says you have to use whole-milk, but mine turned out fine with nonfat)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup, plus 3 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan. Line the bottom on the pan with wax paper or parchment paper and grease the paper.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. In a separate large bowl, add yogurt, sugar and eggs, stirring until well combined. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine, then add the oil and mix until you have a pale yellow batter. Pour into pan and bake for 35 minutes.

Cool the cake on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then remove from pan. Invert the cake onto the rack so it sits with the dome-side up.

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Whisk until smooth and spoon the syrup over the top of the cake, allowing to soak in and dribble down the sides. Cool the cake completely.

Once cooled, combine the remaining 1 cup of powdered sugar with the 3 tbsp of lemon juice to make an icing. Spoon icing over the cake and serve immediately.

A slice of lemon-y deliciousness

Orangette's Chocolate Bourbon Cake

Friday was one of my favorite editors' last day at the office. It was one of those really bittersweet days. She had been with the company for 12 years, the sort of person who everyone loves for their friendliness and optimism. But she got offered a better job with another news org, so you couldn't really blame her for leaving.

As a going-away present of sorts, I offered to bake her something. She requested chocolate. I had been saving this Orangette recipe -- a whisky-soaked dark chocolate bundt cake -- on the list of "Cakes to Try" for my birthday. But I felt this occasion trumped my birthday.

The cake takes an enitre cup of whiskey. I used Knob Creek Bourbon because it was what I had on hand. Like Orangette suggested, I made the cake a day ahead of time to let the alcohol-taste mellow. But even with the extra day, it was super intense. The middle of the cake is rich and fudgey, almost like a gooey brownie, and this is where the alcohol seemed to settle. As one coworker noted, after she ate a piece it felt almost like she had taken a shot. So after trying a piece, I had a thought: This is a cake for whiskey lovers; if you don't like whiskey, you probably wouldn't like it, and that's too bad because dark chocolate and whiskey are a good combination.

So Friday night, after all the drunken after-work merriment, I decided to try again and make one for CCO, who always complains that it's not fair when I make cakes for work because he never gets to try them. I didn't really need another whole 10-cup bundt cake, so I halved it. And halving the recipe seems to be the magic touch. Because the cake itself is smaller, that center of whiskey fudginess is also smaller and less overwhelming.

Eat Rating: Awesome, even for non-whiskey lovers
Difficulty: Easy to Medium (special tools: Espresso maker -- or two shots from a coffee shop)

Half-size Chocolate-Bourbon Cake, from Orangette, via the New York Times

1 stick butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 oz. dark unsweetened chocolate (LN: I used 72% E. Guittard)
2 shots of espresso
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 cup bourbon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using butter or spray, grease and flour a bundt pan. Over a double boiler, melt chocolate. Set aside.

Place cocoa in a glass measuring cup (Pyrex). Add the salt and two shots of espresso -- this should be up to about the 1/2 cup line. Stir until blended. Add bourbon. Set aside.

Cream butter, then add sugar until combined, light and fluffy. Add the eggs, then vanilla, baking soda and chocolate, beating well between each addition. Add about 1/3 of the whiskey-chocolate sauce and beat until combined. Add 1/2 cup of flour, beat again, then alternate between whisky and flour, finishing with the whiskey mixture. Scrape into pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool of wire rack for 15-20 minutes, then remove from pan. Sprinkle a little more whiskey/bourbon - 2 or 3 tbsp - on top of the cake and then sprinkle with powdered sugar if you like.

Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Cake

When C was a kid, his mom would make him a chocolate chip sour cream cake every year for his birthday. So this year, I tried to recreate the cake, using this recipe from the Boston Globe.

Eat Rating: Awesome. The cake itself is very moist from the sour cream. Two suggestions, make sure you mix the cinnamon and chocolate chips well or you'll end up with splotches of cinnamon rather than a consistent layer. Second, the cake is rather large. If you're making it for just a couple people, you might try halving the recipe.
Difficulty: Easy to medium. The hardest part is separating the eggs and whipping the whites.

Blood Orange Chocolate Cake

So earlier this week, it was once again a coworker's birthday. I showed her the list of "Cakes to Try" and she picked out a Blood Orange Cake I had found in Cooking Light. It took me a couple of tries, but I eventually found blood oranges at Giant.

Blood oranges from Giant

I initially tried to make this recipe from Cooking Light magazine in December 2002. I noticed when I was putting together the ingredients for the cake that there was no leavening agent, but I figured maybe they knew something I didn't. Anyway, I was right. Without baking soda/powder, the cake did not rise and instead I had a thick, flat ugly pancake thingy. C even took a bite out of it, but found it inedible and gross.

Thick, flat, ugly pancake thingy

So, I had already juiced my blood oranges and frantically searched the internet for a new recipe. I came across this recipe on a fellow food blog for a blood orange and chocolate cake and figured I'd try it. I'm reprinting it here simply because the blog entry has all the ingredients in metric.

From anapestic, Feb. 25, 2006

Difficulty: Easy to moderate (it requires both zesting and juicing, which were not difficult for me because I have several zesters and an electric juicer but would be irritating if you did not have those things)
Eat Rating: My coworkers were generally positive, but not overwhelmingly so. I thought it was pretty great, though, considering the dire straights I was in during the baking process

3 blood oranges
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup cake flour
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms of two 9-inch cake pans, cut rounds of parchment or wax paper to place in bottom, then grease the rounds.

Zest the oranges (the zest came to about 2 tbsp per orange) then mix with sugar in a food processor.

Blood orange zest mixed with sugar

Squeeze juice from oranges, place in glass bowl and microwave for three to four minutes or until reduced. Place in freezer to cool down.

In a separate bowl, mix eggs, 1/4 cup of milk and vanilla extract. In another bowl, place flour, baking powder and zesty sugar. Mix. Add butter. Mix again. Add 3/4 cup milk and mix for about three minutes. Add reduced blood orange juice. Mix again. Add egg mixture gradually, mixing between each addition.

Split the batter between the two greased cake pans and bake for about 35 minutes. Let cakes cool for 15-20 minutes in pan, then cool completely on a wire rack.


Anapestic said the ganache was a little too intense for the cake, so I made a chocolate buttercream frosting instead.

Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tsp triple sec or other orange liqueur
3/4 cup cocoa powder

Cream butter in a small bowl. Add cocoa powder and mix completely. Add triple sec and whipping cream and mix till consistent throughout. Gradually add the powdered sugar until desired thickness.


I frosted the cake, then peeled the remaining oranges and garnished the top with segments. After awhile, I got tired of removing the pith from the various segments, so instead of a circle, my coworkers got a smiley face.

My coworker, J., with her cake

Creole Icing

I found this cookbook stuck inside a box in a store room at my parent's house. This is the revised and expanded 1934 Hershey's cookbook, printed in 1971. I needed a good chocolate frosting recipe for a cake, so I pulled it out.

Difficulty: Easy
Eat Rating: Awesome. The coffee flavor is more intense than the chocolate, but it gives it a nice mellowness.

1 tbsp butter, softened
1/4 cup black coffee
3 tbsp Hershey's cocoa
pinch cinnamon
3 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Combine butter, coffee, cocoa and cinnamon and beat until blended. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until desired consistency.

Makes 1 3/4 cups icing.

I wanted a thinner frosting, so I only added 2 cups of the powdered sugar.


Because it was thinner, I just had to push it over the edges of the cake to frost the sides. It firmed up a little bit in the fridge later one. Here's the finished result:

Blackberry Jam Cake

If you know anything about me, you probably know I love cake. I always bake a cake for my co-worker's birthdays, mostly because I like eating their birthday cake. I also keep a running list of cakes I want to try. This one is out of Cooking Light Magazine, the May 2003 issue which had a section on low-fat baking.

Difficulty: Easy. (However, not recommended for transporting on the bus!)
Eat rating: My co-workers gave this one of thumbs-up. The cake itself is not very sweet. The cinnamon is the most distinct flavor. But because the cake itself is less sweet, that lets you taste the subtlety of the blackberry jam.

Cooking Light, May 2003

1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tbsp vanilla
3 eggs (LN: I used Eggbeaters)
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 cup seedless blackberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans with cooking spray, then lay wax paper in the bottom and spray again. Beat butter, granulated sugar and vanilla in a bowl until well-blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well. Add flour mixture and milk into the sugar mixture, alternating a little of each until completely combined. Pour batter into pans and cook for 25 minutes (LN: My oven took more like 30). Cool in pan on wire ran and remove from pan. Cool completely.

Place jam in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Place one cake on plate and spread half the jam mixture on top. Place other cake on top, then spread remaining jam on top layer. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. (Note: Don't put the powdered sugar on until you are ready to serve or the jam will soak through it, leaving you with strange purplish spots)