My Chocolate and Raspberry Jam Cake is a chocoholics dream – rich, dark chocolate spiked with sweet berry flavours in a fudgy, brownie-like cake that is almost impossible to resist. The best part is, it simply could not be easier to make.
This is the recipe I turn to when I want a fabulous dessert but I really don’t have much time. It comes together in a saucepan and bakes to rich chocolate gorgeousness while you get on with other things.
One proviso, my Chocolate and Raspberry Jam Cake is not a beautiful cake when it comes out of the oven. Like so many of us, it needs a bit of help to look its best. I always flip the cake over when it is cool and serve it bottom side up. The bottom is smooth from baking in the cake pan and looks so much prettier than the top. Don’t however, be tempted to frost it, unless you have a seriously sweet tooth. In this case go ahead but please don’t say I didn’t warn you!
A little icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar) sifted over top of this Chocolate and Raspberry Jam Cake can transform it, especially if you have some raspberries to put on top. If raspberries are in short supply, this is the perfect opportunity to try using a stencil. Sift the icing sugar over top of the stencil. Then, once the icing sugar has had a chance to settle, lift the stencil off carefully using masking tape handles. I’ve also covered the top of the cake with whipped cream and scattered dried edible rose petals over top. I’ve considered using edible gold or silver sprinkles as well – I think they would be gorgeous.
The recipe began life as ‘Store Cupboard Chocolate Orange Cake’, from Nigella Lawson’s wonderful book,‘How To Be A Domestic Goddess’. I have played with the proportions of the ingredients a bit over the years, not so much as to risk upsetting the alchemy that is baking, but just enough to mean that I can make it easily using cup measures. Weight measurements can be hard to convert. While conversion charts can be helpful, I find that more often than not you end up with awkward measurements – one cup plus 1 tablespoon and a teaspoon – for example. This is far too fiddly for me and honestly, I prefer using cup measures anyway as that was how first I learned to bake. I have ended up using slightly more jam and flour and a bit less sugar but the recipe still works beautifully.
As with so many things, the quality of your results depends on the quality of your ingredients. This may be a simple cake but I urge you to choose a seriously rich dark chocolate. I love to use Cadbury Bournville. I discovered it when my husband worked for Cadbury many years ago and have been addicted to its rich flavour ever since. My late father loved it, particularly the British version, so I also use it in memory of my Dad and of pleasant afternoons spent sharing a bar of Bournville and catching up.
Equally, use a good seedless raspberry jam, fresh free range (pastured), preferably organic eggs and high quality butter. This will make an immeasurable difference to the result.
You could whip up a Chocolate and Raspberry Jam Cake in moments and surprise your family with an amazing dessert tonight. If you don’t have the ingredients, chances are you can find them at your local corner store. Go on, what are you waiting for?
Chocolate and Raspberry Jam Cake
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 4 ounces of dark chocolate chopped or broken into pieces
- 1 cup seedless raspberry jam
- ¾ cup granulated or caster sugar
- 2 large eggs beaten
Instructions
- Preheat to oven to 350°F (180°C or 170°C for a fan oven).
- Butter a 20 cm (8 inch) springform cake pan and line the bottom with baking parchment.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Keep an eye on it, you don't want browned butter!
- Stir in the chocolate with a wooden spoon and continue stirring as it begins to melt.
- Before the chocolate is completely melted, remove the pan from the heat.
- Stir until the butter and chocolate are thoroughly combined.
- Stir in the jam, sugar and beaten eggs, combining thoroughly.
- Beat in the dry ingredients which you set aside earlier. Do this in three additions, beating until the batter in relatively smooth.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. .
- Cool in the pan on a rack for ten minutes before turning out on to the rack to cool.
- You can eat the cake warm if you don't want to decorate it with icing sugar but if you wish to pretty it up a bit you need to let it cool completely first. I suggest carefully turning the cake over before decorating and serving.
- Store in a covered container for up to 4 days.
did you make this recipe?
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If you enjoyed this cake you make also enjoy this Chocolate and Blueberry Pudding Cake.
Comments & Reviews
Good Afternoon April, Oh I have to tell you, I do love a nice chocolate cake. Funnily enough Bourneville Plain chocolate was my father’s favourite chocolate, so I look forward to trying your recipe. I have pinned it to make later in the month.
Best wishes
Daphne
That is a coincidence, Daphne! I hope you will enjoy the cake as much as we do. Please let me know how you get on 🙂
It looks fantastic, and have no doubt – I’m making this cake pretty soon!!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it, Winnie 🙂 It’s such a rewarding cake to make – really easy but very delicious!
Looks delicious, I would love to try it for kids, as they love chocolate and jam. yum
Thank you! I hope your little ones enjoy it, Swathi!
What a lovely dessert, April!
Thank you, Nancy 🙂
The cake sounds just perfectly delicious and it looks beautiful. I love the raspberries.
Thank you, Joanne 🙂
April, to me combining chocolate with raspberry is like a match made in heaven! Your cake looks absolutely mouthwatering…a must-try very soon!
Thank you so much, Linda 🙂
This cake is so pretty! It’s simple and elegant. Love it.
Thank you so much, Patty 🙂
Chocolate and raspberry are always a delicious combo! This cake looks scrumptious!
Thank you, Abby! It’s one of my favourite combinations. I love chocolate and orange too!
Oh my Goodness!!! That Cake looks absolutely amazing!!! I have never thought of adding jam directly to the cake dough! I gotta try this must be so good!!!!
XOXO
It really is delicious, Cami! And thank you 🙂
April! I saw your pic and had to click to the recipe because my bf’s birthday is coming up in mid-Nov and I’ve been thinking what kinda cake to bake him! I might very well make this! Thank you so much for the inspiration – plus, the jam in the cake is genius!
Thank you so much, Felicia. If you do make it, please let me know how it goes 🙂
Chocolate cake is always a good idea. And I’m a huge fan of raspberries, so you can’t go wrong with this lovely cake 🙂
Thank you, Del 🙂
I love this. So pretty and the addition of the jam is sure to make it moist and flavorful. I always love your cakes, and this one is sure to please!
Thank you so much, Debi 🙂
Looks beautiful, stunning! Love the raspberries on top!
Thank you so much, Florian!
My favorite combination, chocolate and raspberry. This looks lovely!
Thank you, Peter 🙂
April, your chocolate and raspberry cake sounds absolutely divine! I’d love to have a big slice 🙂
Thank you, Nicole! I wish I could send you one 🙂
What a fantastic looking chocolate cake, April! So pretty.
Thank you so much, Cindy 🙂
Oh I used to love this Storecupboard cake recipe and have tweaked it in a similar fashion myself although not lately. My favourite thing about the recipe is that you can actually mix it all in one go if you use a heatproof bowl or double boiler to melt the chocolate. Thanks for the reminder!
PS I wonder whether you lived near Bournville. I used to go the art college there many moons ago – you could smell the Cadbury’s chocolate in the air most days!
I’m glad my post reminded you about this wonderful recipe, Sarah! And yes, when we were based in the Midlands I didn’t live all that far from Bournville – although sadly not close enough to smell the chocolate 🙂
My kinda cake! Love it!
Thank you so much, Suzy!
Oh just the kind of cake I like, chocolate cake has to be good and moist!
Thank you, Kavey!
April, WOW! This cake looks and sounds so perfect!!!
Thank you so much, Angela 🙂
oh this cake is so lovely. I love just the dusting of powdered sugar so it’s not too much, just right. This cake sounds divine.
Thank you so much, Erica!
yummm! Looks like a delicious cake! I will have to try it one day soon.
I hope you enjoy it, Agata. It really is tasty!
Just the title of the dish makes me salivate. I am a big time fan of any chocolate cake and this one looks to be super yummy. Beautiful pics 🙂
Thank you, Revanthi 🙂
I love the look of this delightful cake — no fuss or muss — and not a ton of time dedicated to frosting and embellishing! My kind of dessert! Beautiful!
Thank you so much, Lisa! Cake decoration isn’t my strong point, so I love low effort decoration that looks pretty 🙂
I’m a big fan of Nigella and have made the recipe from HTBADG quite a few times. I loved that you used raspberry jam instead – it sounds delicious! I might try that next time. Thanks for the inspiration!
I’m a big Nigella fan too, Thanh. Thank you, I’m glad you liked my variation!
this cake look absolutely delicious! It would be the perfect dessert to end a Valentine’s Date in!
Thank you so much, Megan. It really is lovely for Valentine’s Day!
Hi April,
Is there any way you could send me the UK measurements in pounds and ounces, I’m not sure how to measure out cups.
Thank you,
Maura
Hi Maura,
I’m so sorry, I don’t have the measurements in pounds and ounces. For cups, all you need are a set of measuring cups like this https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-stainless-steel-measuring-cups-set-of-4-silver/p3859109 They are available nearly everywhere now, and most are quite reasonable. This is a more expensive set, but I chose the link as the picture was clearer. I’m about to write a blog post on recipe measurements as I feel that if the recipe is written in weights, you should use a scale, but if it’s in cups, you should definitely use the cups.
If you do use cups, be sure to measure everything as a level measure. So, scoop flour or sugar into the cup and then level it with the flat side of a knife. Having said that, I did adapt this recipe and part of that involved converting it to cups from a recipe originally in grams. Although there are online tools available, sometimes the conversions are not very accurate, so I prefer to do any conversion manually through testing in my own kitchen.
The gram measurements (which are slightly different from my recipe, but which I know will work as this was the recipe I made first, before I adapted it) are 125 g butter, 100 g chocolate, 300 g of preserves (I used jam), 150 g caster sugar and 150 g flour. I hope this will help a bit! Don’t forget the salt, eggs and baking powder – those measurements won’t need converting though.
I hope this helps a bit. Please let me know how you get on 🙂
Best wishes, April
Overall, good chocolate to raspberry ratio. Needed an additional 15-20 mins to cook through (even in an convection oven). Will make again with alterations.
Isn’t it crazy how radically oven temperatures vary, Chrissy?! I always look on timings as a guide, even though I regularly test my oven with a thermometer. Really glad you liked the flavour.
Have you ever made this with any other jam other than raspberry, I’m wondering whether cherry would work?
I have made it with strawberry jam and I am certain cherry would work too. Chocolate and cherry are a lovely combination. Please let me know how it goes!
Hi – I wondered how the cherry jam worked for you? I was thinking of trying it with sour cherry jam.
It worked really well. I made it as a surprise for my fiancé’s birthday as he loves cherry and chocolate cake, he loved it! 🙂
Thank you so much for letting me (and SP) know, Danielle! I’m really glad you and your fiancé enjoyed the cherry variation. 🙂
Cherry jam worked really well. It gave the cake an almost ‘Black Forest Cake” vibe (without the cream element of course). My cake was fairly sweet though, sour cherry jam will add a bit more tang. If you like a dark chocolate sort of flavour I think it would be good. Please do let me know how it goes if you try it 🙂
Why seedless jam? Seeds are integral to jams, no?
I actually plan on making it with our home-made gooseberry (home grown) jam. Sounds weird, but we have so much jam on hand.
It’s a personal preference, Marlene. I don’t like raspberry seeds in chocolate cake. They seem tougher than other seeds to me, I don’t know why. By all means feel free to use raspberry jams with seeds if you prefer.
You can substitute any flavour jam in this recipe. I love the idea of using homemade jam and I think gooseberry and chocolate could make a really lovely flavour combination. Please do let me know how you get on.
Made this cake after seeing the 5 star reviews which were actually given by people who didn’t make the cake! Sorry to say, I will not make this cake again, it didn’t have much flavor and the raspberry jam made it dense but not in a good way. I usually don’t post reviews but I felt it necessary since I don’t want anyone else to see the 5 star reviews and think it’s a good recipe. Sorry April, guess you win some and lose some! Thank you.
I’m sorry you didn’t like the cake, Annmarie, but it is unfair to dismiss it as a bad recipe based solely on your experience. Whilst it is definitely a bad recipe for you, everyone has different tastes. I have been making this cake for years with extremely good results – indeed I am often asked to make it for dinners and celebrations with family and friends.
As I said in the blog post, this is a “brownie like” cake – ie. dense, not light and fluffy. It is impossible to say as I was not there, but there is also the possibility something went wrong in the process of making the cake. Recipes are also affected by the quality and age of the ingredients, weather, altitude, oven temperatures and how long you baked the cake. (Timings for baked recipes are always only a guide as ovens vary so radically.)
Again, I’m sorry you did not like the recipe. However, I think it is unreasonable to expect me to dismiss it based solely on your experience, when I have years of compliments and happy memories of it behind me.
Well this is five stars from someone who did make the cake!
It was really easy to make and the flavours were good. It was a dense cake, exactly as intended, with a lovely soft fudgy texture. I have much lighter chocolate cake recipes that I use when I want a light fluffy cake but this was gorgeous. Both served warm with a little ice cream and cold the next day.
Thank you for taking the time to post recipes
Thank you so much, Valerie! I am so glad you enjoyed the cake. I love sharing recipes and your comment means a lot to me. 🙂