Jen's Icelandic Iced Prune Jam Sponge Cake

I got Iceland as my country, and during research, the one cake kept popping up. It was a layered sponge cake sandwiched with prune jam. I wasn't confident about making a cake with so many layers, so I thought I would compromise by making a basic sponge cake with prune jam added to it. Bit of a cop out, but it was my first club meet.... ;)) 


So, this recipe is based on Sticky Orange Marmalade Cake from 'The Great British Bake-off' book, which I love, and a traditional Icelandic Vinaterta Prune Cake.

For the prune jam:

500 g dried ready-to-eat prunes

250 g sugar

juice of one small lemon

1 tsp dried cinnamon

Chop the prunes in to small pieces. I didn't, and found the prunes congealed together in the saucepan as one sticky mass; this made it difficult to spread the finished jam on to the cake, but produced a pretty cool effect with the icing!

Heat the prunes for 15 minutes on a low heat in a saucepan. Add the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Cook for approximately 1 hour, stirring frequently, and then transfer to sterilised jam jars (these quantities fill 1.5 jars).

For the sponge:

175g unsalted butter, softened

175g of caster sugar

3 large free range eggs, at room temperature and beaten

175g self raising flour, sifted.

¼ tsp baking powder

3 tbsp prune jam

2 tbsp semi skimmed milk

To finish:

3 tbsp dried prune jam

100g icing sugar, sifted (1/2 cup)

2 tbsp warm water

Cream butter and sugar, gradually add the eggs and the prune jam. Fold in the flour and baking powder then add the milk. Spoon mixture in a 20 cm springform cake tin (base lined with baking paper) and bake at 175 degrees for 45 mins - this time is shorter than stated in the original recipe but any longer I find the edges get too brown. I also cover with foil for the last 10 mins of cooking time so that the top stays a nice golden colour and doesn't get too dark.

When just out of the oven, cover the top of the cake with the prune jam and leave to cool completely. Then make the icing and pour over the cake randomly. I found dripping from a height works pretty well!

The finished cake!