Peanut butter and jam are great friends in a sandwich and are even better in this cake. Here, sweet and tart raspberry jam is swirled through a perfectly tender peanut butter and sour cream cake. I love using raspberry jam and some fresh raspberries here, but blackberries would be delicious, too, or even grapes when Concord grapes are in season (just seed the grapes first). Use creamy conventional peanut butter like Skippy or Jif for the best texture.

　　If you’d like to bake a larger PBJ cake, make a double batch of the batter and double the fresh raspberries (if using). Bake in a 9 × 13-inch sheet pan until puffed and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.

　　This recipe was excerpted from ‘Snacking Bakes' by Yossy Arefi. Buy the full book on Amazon. Get more of our best easy cake recipes→

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What you’ll need

　　Chevron

　　Chevron

　　8-Inch Baking Pan

　　$24 At Amazon

　　Vanilla Extract

　　$20 At Amazon

　　Creamy Peanut Butter

　　$5 $4 At Amazon

　　

Ingredients

Makes one 8 by 8-inch cake

　　¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar

　　2 large eggs

　　¾ cup (173 g) sour cream

　　½ cup (125 g) creamy conventional peanut butter

　　8 Tbsp. (113 g) unsalted butter, melted

　　2 tsp. vanilla extract

　　½ tsp. fine sea salt

　　1½ tsp. baking powder

　　½ tsp. baking soda

　　1¼ cups (160 g) all-purpose flour

　　⅓ cup (90 g) raspberry jam

　　½ cup (70 g) fresh raspberries (optional)

　　

Step 1

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350ºF. Coat an 8 × 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray or brush with butter. Line the pan with a strip of parchment paper that hangs over two of the edges.

　　

Step 2

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs until pale and foamy, about 1 minute. Add the sour cream, peanut butter, melted butter, vanilla, and salt and whisk until smooth and emulsified.

　　

Step 3

Whisk in the baking powder and baking soda. Fold in the flour with a spatula and mix until well combined.

　　

Step 4

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, then dot the top with the jam. Use a skewer or thin knife to swirl the jam through the batter. If desired, scatter the raspberries over the top.

　　

Step 5

Bake the cake until puffed and golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. This cake can be tricky to test for doneness, so try to choose a spot without jam to test.

　　

Step 6

Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for about 15 minutes, then use the parchment paper to lift the cake out and onto the rack to cool completely. Store loosely covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.

　　Flavor Variation:

　　For peanut butter and jam cake with blackberries, substitute blackberry jam and fresh blackberries for the raspberry jam and raspberries.

　　Recipe excerpted from Snacking Bakes, copyright © 2023 by Yasameen Arefi-Afshar. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. Buy the full book on Amazon or Penguin Random House.