Lettie's Lightning Cake with Strawberry Jam

Instructions

Butter an 8-inch round cake pan.  Line the bottom with parchment paper.  Preheat an oven to 350F.

In a saucepan, warm the milk and melt the butter together.  In an electric mixer, ribbon the eggs and sugar until light in color and smooth, about 3 to 4 minutes.  Sift the flour, baking powder and salt onto the top and fold in with a rubber spatula just until mixed.  Add the warm milk mixture and vanilla extract and fold just enough to mix all of the ingredients thoroughly.  Do not over mix. 

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

When the cake is cool, with a serrated knife, score  ½-inch around the outside of the cake.  Place a string, larger than the circumference of the cake, on the score line and cross it so that when you pull the two ends, you cut the cake into 2 equal halves.  Alternately, using a serrated knife, cut the cake evenly into 2 equal pieces.     

To assemble, spread the jam on half of the cake and top with the second half.  Dust the top with powdered sugar.

WILD STRAWBERRY JAM

2 pounds wild strawberries or cultivated strawberries, hulled
4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Crush the strawberries and measure 4 cups.  Place the crushed berries in a saucepan over medium low heat, add the sugar and lemon and stir until dissolved.  Bring to a full boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly until an instant read thermometer registers 220F.    Remove from the heat and skim the foam.

If you are using the jam right away, there’s no need to process the jam, just refrigerate it.  Ladle into sterilized jars leaving ½-inch space, cover and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Let cool.