Muscadine Preserve and Brown Sugar Sour Cream Cakes

Muscadine Preserve
2 pounds washed muscadine grapes
½ cup water
1 ½ Tablespoon lemon juice
¾ cup sugar (Use more or less depending on how sweet you want the jam.)
1 teaspoon pectin (Gelatin sheets work great as well.)
Pinch of salt

To Make:
Place your muscadines, water and salt into a large pot, and allow the muscadines to cook down until very tender. Since we are not removing the seeds, you will want the muscadines very soft. Cook on medium-low heat for about 1 ½ hours, give or take depending on how big of a batch of jam you are making. This will take longer if you are doing a large amount.

Once your muscadines have turned very soft, put the muscadines and liquid through a food mill. Passing the muscadines through the food mill will help remove the seeds from your jam, but it will also allow a small amount into the jam which will help to thicken it. Next, pass your muscadines and liquid through a fine mesh strainer. You will see not all the seeds will pass through. This is normal – discard what doesn’t pass through.

Once you have your muscadines that have gone through the food mill, place them back into the pan.

Mix your sugar with your pectin. Slowly add the sugar/pectin mix, whisking it into the jam. Allow this to simmer for about 2-4 hours on low heat until you reach your desired consistency. Now, add your lemon juice at the end. Once you cool the jam, it will thicken slightly more. You can always add more pectin to your jam to make it thicker if you like. At Three Sisters, we prefer to have a looser jam, not as thick as you would receive at the grocery store.

Brown Sugar Sour Cream Cake
1 pound all-purpose flour
6 ounces brown sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 ½ ounces melted butter
18 ounces milk
3 (each) whole eggs
6 ounces sour cream
Pinch of salt

To Make:
Melt the butter.

Mix your dry ingredients together. Separately, mix your wet ingredients together, minus the butter.

Combine your wet ingredients into your dry, and slowly drizzle in the melted butter.

You can use pan spray or melt butter on a hot skillet to prep for cooking. We like to use a 1-2 oz. ice cream scoop to pour the batter into the pan to keep the cakes even. Once you have bubbles forming in the center of the cake, you are ready to flip! Once the cake is slightly firm to the touch, it’s finished cooking and ready to enjoy.

Place four cakes on top of each other, top with a spoonful of preserves, and finish with crushed candied pecans.

Candied Pecans
6 ounces pecans
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon kosher salt
15 grams egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To Make:
Mix all ingredients together. Bake on a silpat at 350 degrees until golden brown. Stir throughout the baking.

Allow to cool. Once cooled, chop the pecans until desired size.