I have a lot of jam made with all kinds of berries – are there any bakes that would use some of it up?
Anne-Lies, Gouda, the Netherlands
“Jam is at the heart of many great British puddings and cakes, so there are never too many jars in my house!” says Emily Cuddeford, co-founder of Edinburgh’s Twelve Triangles bakery. Her first thought, though, would be to tip a jar of the sweet stuff into a buttered ceramic baking dish and top it with sponge: “Make a classic, equal-parts mix scaled to your dish by creaming, say, 180g butter and 180g sugar, slowly beating in an egg and a dash of vanilla or lemon zest, and finishing with 180g self-raising flour.” Spoon that on top of the jam and bake at 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas 5 until the sponge “bounces back” and a skewer comes out clean. Serve warm with cream or custard, and job’s a good ’un.
You’ll also want jam to fill or top cakes. “Obvious things are a Victoria sponge, but that doesn’t use much jam,” says the Guardian’s own Benjamina Ebuehi, so she’d be more inclined to spoon buttercream over the top of a coconut cake, for example, make a dip in the middle with the back of a spoon and pop some jam in there: “That’s a nice way to decorate a cake and it also uses up a decent amount of jam.” It wouldn’t hurt, either, to use berry jams to finish a classic school dinner traybake sponge: “Once it’s out of the oven, top with jam then scatter with desiccated coconut.” Otherwise, Ebuehi says, joy can be found in a nostalgic jam tart or Italian crostata (look out for Ebuehi’s blackberry version next week).
Of course, jam is a great friend of biscuits, too, with Cuddeford and Ebuehi agreeing that thumbprint cookies are the way to go here. Cudderford opts for jamaretti: “Whisk egg whites with sugar, ground nuts and lemon zest until firm enough to roll into balls, then toss in icing sugar.” Make an indent in the centre, spoon in the jam and bake: “They’re delicious, chewy and keep well in a sealed container for a few weeks.” Darcie Mahler, owner of Lannan bakery in Scotland, meanwhile, would go for shortbread: “Make a simple shortbread by beating icing sugar and butter, then add flour – I use a mix of plain and spelt – cornflour, salt and vanilla paste.” Pipe that into discs, make a thumbprint, fill with jam and bake until the edges are lightly golden.
A dollop of jam also gives breakfast an instant zhoosh. For Ebuehi, that means porridge or yoghurt, while no sensible person ever refused a twice-baked croissant, Cuddeford says. “Split croissants in half and spread with jam. Cream 80g butter and 80g sugar, add an egg and 80g ground almonds, then spoon into your jammy croissants, and spread some on top, too.” Sprinkle with flaked almonds, then get them in a 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas 5 oven for 20 minutes for a very good morning.
There are, of course, only so many baked goods you can eat (well, in theory, anyway), so also consider spreading the love: “Put a nice bow on the jars and gift them,” Ebuehi says. “Everyone loves an edible gift.” Alternatively, get a gang over, mix a teaspoon of jam into cocktails – “with gin, lemon juice and tonic,” Cuddeford suggests – and keep that summer spirit alive.