Jam Heart Cookies for Valentine’s Day 💖 (Reblog) ~ Fun Recipe for Cooking with Kids

Every once in a while, I stumble across a recipe that’s so charming it deserves a little spotlight of its own. These jam heart cookies are exactly that — sweet, simple, and perfect for Valentine’s Day baking.

• Image created using free AI art tool

This recipe comes from Haley at If You Give a Blonde a Kitchen, a blog I discovered accidentally, while browsing for fun foodie recipes.  It looks like you can find a lot of well-tested baking recipes on this site. Haley's jam heart cookies are a buttery shortbread-style cookie, shaped into hearts and filled with bright raspberry jam. They’re festive without being fussy, and the ingredient list is refreshingly simple.

Newbie cooks or bakers will especially appreciate how clearly this recipe is explained. Haley walks through shaping the dough, filling the cookies cleanly, and baking them so they hold their shape and stay tender. These are the kind of homemade cookies that look impressive on a plate but are totally doable for home bakers.

A little cookie history.  DID YOU KNOW?

Jam-filled cookies like these are cousins of traditional thumbprint cookies, which have roots in Scandinavian baking (you might know them as hallongrotta, or “raspberry caves”). Over time, bakers have adapted the shape and flavors, and turned them into hearts, which feels like a natural evolution for Valentine’s Day.

If you’re looking for a thoughtful homemade treat, a baking project to share with kids, or just an excuse to work jam into dessert (always a good idea), bookmark this.

💖Find full recipe, tips, and step-by-step instructions here: Jam Heart Cookies from If You Give a Blonde a Kitchen

Happy baking — and happy Valentine’s season?💖

A cute, hands‑on Sweet DIY Valentine’s Day Treat!
❤️ https://t.co/qxk2uYejFE
Fun #DIY Cookie Decorating Kit:
🍪 Two heart‑shaped cookies
🎨 Red & white frosting tubes
✨ Heart sprinkles💘 pic.twitter.com/ivqBJ5mnQz

— My Shopping Channel (@goshoppingbees) January 31, 2026

Christmas Traditions: Delightful Treats: The Evolution of the Plum Cake (Not Pudding)

Plum cake can mean a couple of different things depending on where you are in the world 🍰.

🌍 Two Main Interpretations

• British tradition: "Plum" historically referred to raisins or dried fruits, not actual plums. So a plum cake is essentially a rich fruitcake made with dried fruits, nuts, and spices, often served during Christmas.
• Indian tradition: In Kerala and other regions, "plum cake" is a spiced Christmas cake made with dried fruits soaked in rum or brandy, baked into a moist, dark cake. It’s a holiday staple.

NOTE: Modern versions: Some recipes do use fresh plums, creating a lighter cake with tart-sweet fruit baked into the batter.

✨ Common Features

• Dried fruits: Raisins, currants, dates, or candied peel.
• Warm spices: Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom.
• Alcohol soak: Rum, brandy, or wine for depth of flavor.
• Festive association: Often linked to Christmas or weddings.

I'm familiar with plum dessert being linked to the British.  But I found a delightful article published by an Indian writer.

Tales of a Christmas cake | The Hindu

The evolution of the plum cake from porridge and pudding to what it is now.

Origin as a porridge for Christmas Eve fasting

• The plum cake traces its roots back to a medieval English custom: on Christmas Eve, after a period of abstinence, people ate a porridge made from oats, dried fruits, honey (and sometimes even meat) to “line the stomach”. This porridge is considered the earliest ancestor of today’s plum cake. (The Indian Express)
• Over time, that porridge became richer and more complex — evolving into a boiled pudding (or “plum pudding”) and, eventually, to the baked version we now know. (Medium)

Transition in ingredients and cooking method around the 16th century

• In the 1500s, the original meal-like porridge began to be modified: oats and the possible meat were replaced by flour, eggs, butter (or suet), and sugar. This change turned the dish from a simple porridge into a dense, fruit-laden pudding or cake batter. (The Indian Express)
• The cooking method also changed: many people boiled the batter (wrapped in cloth), but wealthier households, who had ovens, started baking the mixture — moving it closer to the modern plum/fruit cake. (Medium)

Why “plum cake” doesn’t usually contain real plums

• Despite the name “plum cake” (or “plum pudding”), these cakes traditionally don’t contain fresh plums. Rather, the word “plum” in medieval English referred broadly to dried fruits — raisins, currants, prunes, etc. So the “plums” in “plum cake” likely meant dried fruit, not the modern understanding of plums. (Wikipedia)
• As a result, many classic plum cakes are more akin to what people now call “fruit cake”: rich, dense, with dried fruits and spices, and sometimes soaked in alcohol — a far cry from a simple plum-based dessert. (India Today)

(Primary Source: Krishna, Anubhuti. “Tales of a Christmas Cake.” The Hindu, 25 Dec. 2014, https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/Food/evolution-of-the-plum-cake-from-porridge-and-pudding/article6725141.ece.)

Pandhal Cake Shop’s Mattanchere Spice #Eggless Matured #PlumCake!
🎄 https://t.co/gkDQmf2z2O
🍰 Richly spiced, perfectly matured, completely eggless — this 850g delight - tradition with a twist.
🌿 Authentic Mattanchere spices.#holiday #gifts #foodgifts #Festive #dessert pic.twitter.com/xGDbLooW25

— My Shopping Channel (@goshoppingbees) December 9, 2025

Box Cake Mix or Cake From Scratch - Throw Down!

American TV personality Martha Stewart is the richest and most famous housekeeper/homemaker diva in the world.  Various reports put Ms. Stewart's occupation as “Businesswoman”.  It should say “Phenomenal Businesswoman par Excellence”.  In 2011, Forbes.com reported her net worth at $638 million; and in 2017, it was $970 million. 

Image found on Pixabay.

On her Martha Bakes TV series, Ms. Stewart teaches you how to make all sorts of wonderful culinary delights, especially cakes, from scratch.

Jill Nystul, not as well-known as Ms. Stewart, but a diva in her own right, shares her tips on how to enhance a basic cake mix and turn your efforts into Crave-Worthy Cakes.

Stewart versus Nystul?
I'm in Nystul's corner.  ♥

Others Who Agree With Nystul: Related Articles:

* * *

Let "em Eat Cake! Cake Loving Finds on My Instagram (and elsewhere on the web)

One good thing leads to another. Started my day scrolling through posts by Tumblr bloggers that I follow. One blogger who loves French inspiration and French-inspired things led me to a vintage picture of Petit Fours. From there the web opened its doors and I found these gorgeous cakes.  But since some of my Food Ways subscribers don't follow me via social media, I'm resharing the content here. Please enjoy.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Oho Cake (@oho.cake)

https://pretty-sweet-vintage.tumblr.com/post/172834963196/petit-fours

Chocolate Daffodils | The Cake Blog https://t.co/8bKLJoGb3Z pic.twitter.com/D3w6gLw3mT

— Everyday Exotic Spices Presents Food Ways (@EverydaySpices) January 23, 2025

Cupcake Cafe is a classic cake experience, the go-to for gorgeous buttercream flower-embellished cakes. I love the cluster of blooms against the solid color of the cake. They are delicious and breathtaking.https://t.co/t8gFSN5G2C pic.twitter.com/uG05ySL929

— Everyday Exotic Spices Presents Food Ways (@EverydaySpices) January 23, 2025

Foodie Friday: Upside Down Cakes

Do you remember when you first learned how to cook?  Do you remember when you made a dish or a dessert that you thought was impossible to make with your limited culinary skills but when you followed the recipe you ACED IT!!  

I remember when I made my first Pineapple Upside Cake. 

I was a teenager and I was trying to teach myself how to prepare meals for my family, including dessert. I was quite proud of my cake even though I used a cake mix. I had not realized that the part of the recipe I thought was the most difficult ~ that is, getting the pineapple on the bottom to be on the top.  It was so easy! Once I learned what to do I started thinking: 'I can probably do this same recipe with fruit other than pineapple.'  I thought that but I've never done it! I'm not sure what fruit I would substitute for the pineapple.  Although I have seen a cooking videos upside down cakes for other than pineapple.

Below is a link to a great recipe for pineapple upside down cake, if you have never baked one.  And ...???  I'm just curious.  If you have already made such a cake, have you ever made an upside down cake with a fruit other than pineapple??  Mango? Nectarines? Peaches?  Bananas? Apples? Rhubarb?  Some exotic fruit that grows in abundance where you live?

Pineapple Upside Down Cake - Sally's Baking Addiction

RELATED VIDEOS:

Food Blog Spotlight: Honey Chai Cake Recipe | Arabic Food (Reblog)

Are you curious about global flavors?  You have wanderlust but can't wander too far because your travel budget is extremely limited?  Describing myself, of course.  My travel adventures are accomplished mainly through the Internet and television.  Was watching a TV cooking show and the host asked one of his guests who was a world traveler, which part of the world had the "best food" (in his opinion).  He said he enjoyed food prepared in the Middle East.  

Image credit:  Arabic Food I, photo by Victor Maia, found at Flickr.com



Connecting the dots.  

Several months back, began using the Google+ collections feature to maintain a collection of posts and links related to World Cuisine.  In the process, stumbled across the Arabic Food Recipes blog.  My husband and kids are turned on to chai tea. Even though I am a coffee fiend, having been encouraged by them to try a cup, it's very easy to understand why they are chai tea lovers.  At the aforementioned food blog found a cake recipe and thought to myself:

• 'Chai tea is delicious. Why not chai cake?'  

(See link shared below.)

Here is another thing to note about this blog.  When many of us are enjoying the holiday season, we say "Happy Holidays" to others.  Why?  It's not to be anti-Christmas.  America is a diverse nation.  Some folks do not celebrate Christmas.  But they do celebrate a holiday!  This blog has holiday recipes for Christmas, EID, and Ramadan.  Cool huh?

Honey Chai Cake Recipe

Honey Chai Cake Recipe

A delicious honey cake with tea, covered with vanilla and white chocolate icing, no one can resist it! Shaikha - founder of "When Shaikha Cooks" blog - prepared for you this unique recipe, to prepare it easily, especially for when you're expecting friends.

Slow-roasted lamb shoulder with flavours of shawarma recipe

“There’s nothing worse than being stuck in the kitchen on Christmas day while all your guests are enjoying themselves outside, so this DIY lamb shawarma recipe is the perfect solution. ...”

Slow-roasted lamb shoulder with flavours of shawarma recipe

The Arabic Food Recipes Kitchen (The home of Delicious Arabic Food) invites you to try Slow-roasted lamb shoulder with flavours of shawarma recipe. Enjoy the Arabic cuisine and learn how to make Slow-roasted lamb shoulder with flavours of shawarma.

Eid Kaak with Dates Recipe

Eid Kaak with Dates Recipe

Cooking time: 20 minutes servings: 100 Ingredients Dough: 2 cups very hot margarine7 cups flour2 tsp smell of kaak (special kaak spices)2 tbsp toasted sesame1/2 cup warm water1 tbsp yeast 1 tsp sugar1/2 cup milk Stuffing: 500 grams Ajwa (dates)1 tsp cinnamon For garnish: Fine powder sugar Directions 1.

Eggplant With Lamb, Tomato and Pine Nuts Recipe

“ … this traditional Lebanese dish is made for celebratory meals and gatherings.

Eggplant With Lamb, Tomato and Pine Nuts Recipe

With its layers of golden eggplant, cinnamon-scented lamb, and sweet tomato sauce topped with melted cheese, this traditional Lebanese dish is made for celebratory meals and gatherings. Even better, it's just as good served warm or room temperature as it is hot from the oven.

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How To Promote Diversity And Inclusion During A Month Of Multicultural Holidays

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