You are having a party....unstress... Iw as going to say "it's Christmas" then I remembered...so I'll say " it's chanukka" LOL!
Make 2 of those little Jiffy cake mix layers...add 1 T of butter to each package and some real vanilla...
So now you have 2 layers of not too bad cake...
Take that thick jam and melt it with some sort of booze....Triple sec....sherry wine, marsala, port..rum southern comfort...not too much booze just enough for the jam to get thin enough to spread.
Pour a little of that jam/booze over each layer and let it soak in...
Then put it all together with whipped cream and serve....dress with chopped nuts or perhaps grated orange peel and some shaved chocolate.
Good luck.
Remember....when you have something less than stellar add booze or current jelly or whipped cream...it all works!
Linda C

I have used my peach and nectarine butters (no pectin, though) as a substitute for the pumpkin puree in my pumpkin bread recipe with great success. Do you have a fruit quick bread recipe you like? I would add some juice to the jam and blend it to make it a better consistency and add it as an equal substitute for mashed bananas or whatever. Bake a bundt cake or loaf and then melt some more jam and use as a glaze if you like.

Oh yeah! Add some booze to the glaze!

It's Christmukah at my house!
:)

Any recipe that calls for 2 9" layers can be baked in a 9x13 pan. 2 9" layers would be 12 cups (same as a large bundt pan) and a 9x13 can hold up to 14 cups, so there's plenty of room for frosting.

This is a blackberry jam cake, but with the spices it should work well with the plum also. With the buttermilk it should be moist and keep well.

If you don't want to fiddle with the caramel frosting, you could use a glaze or LindaC's cake gravy. There are lots of options.

If this is too large a recipe, you could bake it in a 9x13, remove (use parchment, wax paper or foil in the bottom), cut in half, frost one half for a small cake and freeze the other half.

Or make the recipe and use batter in a cupcake pan. Then again, you can frost only the number needed.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Blackberry Jam Cake with Caramel Icing

What about making it in my 10 inch springform and then using whatever batter is left for cupcakes. How many cups for a 10 inch springform?
I like the idea of cupcakes because then I could freeze what I don't eat at the party and use for another party. It will just be the 3 of us at the party. It would also be easy to take cupcakes into work.
Carol have you ever made jam cake? I've never heard of such a thing, but if they are good, then I could become the jam cake queen with all the jams I end up having around the house.
Will the plum jam be OK if I thin it with more brandy? I'm wondering what effect all that pectin will have on the cake's texture. Seems like cake would be moist made with the no pectin kind of jams, but unfortunately, this jam is LOADED with pectin!

Here's a good sponge cake that's made in a 9 X 13 pan. I often make and use this for fruit shortcakes. You could remove it from the pan, cut it in half and then split the two halves horizontally and spread with the jam for a four-layer torte and frost it.

BUTTERSPONGE CAKE

4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
2/3 cup milk
2 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9 X 13 inch baking pan.

Beat the eggs and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until light and foamy. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and butter until butter is melted. (I put the milk and butter in a Pyrex measuring cup and microwave until better melts.) Alternately
mix the milk mixture and flour mixture into the egg mixture. Add vanilla and mix until well blended.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (**It may be my oven but the cake usually tests done in about 30-35 minutes.) Cool on a rack.

LPink, a traditional jam cake will not work in a springform pan, at least not the two recipes I have used. It requires a very tall pan, enough room for that hot jam batter to boil up before it settles back down. The bundt pan will not work either; ask me how I know. The sugar in the recipe will fill your house with smoke when it boils out and spills over. Again, ask me how I know, lol. Jam cakes are wonderful, but you need the right pan.

My recipes call for blackberry jam. I'm not sure if your plum orange with brandy would be the right texture. But that combination sounds fabulous!

If I were you, I would look at some of the other great ideas above.

I have made jam cake, though it's been a while. AFAIK, it's an old Southern recipe, almost a pioneer recipe. It's one of my "go-to's" for excess jams or jam's that have been on the shelf a little longer than I like.

My Southern Heritage Cakes cookbook has a Heritage Jam Cake, which uses grape jam and a fruit filling between the layers; a Blackberry Jam Cake with a powdered sugar glaze over a 10" bundt; and a Church Jam Cake with strawberry jam and an Eggnog Icing with 1/4 cup of bourbon (rather funny for a "church" cake - someone had a sense of humor).

There are tons of jam cake recipes out there. You don't have to use the one I've linked to. You might want to do a search and see what else is out there. Some are akin to fruitcakes. In fact, my mother's old dark fruitcake calls for plum butter as one of the ingredients (along with a good amount of whiskey).

Honestly, I've never had a problem with boiling over as the previous poster described. But we may have used different recipes or it may be a difference of ovens or pans.

I see it as basically a moist spice cake which falls into the carrot cake or applesauce cake class. It only has 1 tsp. soda as the leavening, so I'm not seeing where the boiling up would come from as long as the pan has sufficient capacity to allow for a reasonable rise.

A 10" springform is 12 cups, so again, that's the same as two 9-inch pans. But you could certainly use less batter to be more conservative and then bake the excess as cupcakes. Or do one 9" pan to frost for company and the remainder as cupcakes.

I have to admit you have me on the pectin. I don't normally use it except for pepper jelly. If I were to guess, I'd speculate that pectin, like lecithin, will inhibit aging and staleness (which is not a bad thing). It may change the texture slightly, but since this is a heavier moister type of cake anyway, I doubt it will be an issue.

I do think, though, that unless your plum jam is quite tart, you could cut back the sugar by 1/2 cup or so. (If you like the recipe you might try cutting more on a future baking try, but for now that could be a good start.)

I wouldn't thin with more brandy. I'd just use water to get the plum jam to a "normal" texture. It's cheaper, it will do the job and have no additional effect on the flavor.

In fact, you might be able to salvage that jam for other uses by stirring in a warm Tablespoon of water per 8 oz. jar or by gently warming the jam in the microwave on low and stirring in water, however much is needed. It can't do any harm and may counteract some of the rubberiness.

[Not that I've ever had to salvage a jam experiment gone wrong, LOL.]

Carol

Great ideas everyone. I am game for some experiments! I have four half pints of this jam, that's four cups worth, so I may try a few versions over the winter.

OMG Yum!!
I made the recipe from the link Carol posted. Except I experimented . . . a lot!
First, I made a half recipe and baked it in a 9 inch square pan. Was the perfect size.
3/4 cup sugar instead of 1
2.5 eggs, which is two eggs and one egg white
I used 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice instead of all the spices, since I had it, it was easy, and I want to use it up.
I used 1 cup unbleached flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour just because I like to mix in a little whole wheat.
I used walnuts instead of pecans, dried cranberries instead of raisins.
Sour cream instead of buttermilk since I didn't have any buttermilk.
And I put a struesel topping on it because I didn't want to fuss with frosting, and struesel says more "coffee cake" anyway.

It turned out fabulous, the plum jam is PERFECT for this kind of cake. I thinned it with hot water until it got more traditionally jam-like in consistency.
However, due to my stove timer deciding to spazz out, the cake is a little burned around the edges, I didn't realize I had a problem until I started to smell it getting "brown." Is fine if you cut off the edges, but not really nice enough for company. Will be perfect for breakfasts or coffee breaks this week.

Here's the recipe as I followd it.

Lpink's Jam Cake

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs and 1 egg white
1 cup + 1/2 TBLSP unbleached white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or use all white)
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sour cream or buttermilk
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup craisins
1/2 cup diced walnuts
1/2 cup plum jam

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease well a 9 inch square cake pan.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. In a separate bowl, combine sour cream and baking soda. Add to butter mixture. Mix in spices, salt, craisins and jam. Fold in flour and walnuts until just well mixed.

Pour batter into pan and spread around evenly with a spatula.

Top with struesel topping mix: 1/4 cup softened butter, 1/4 cup instant oatmeal, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1 TBLSP whole wheat flour. Mix these ingredients together until the mixture is like coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle evenly over cake.

Bake for 35 - 40 min. Check after 35. Is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Watch closely to prevent burning at the end.

Eureka, lilpink. I'm so glad it worked out for you and that the changes were successful.

These old recipes are so forgiving; they're just great back-ups for all kinds of occasions.

Carol

Lpink, would you kindly send me a jar of that jam, lol? It sounds wonderful. Glad it worked out well and have fun at your dinner party!