Old-Fashioned Strawberry Jam Cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans.

Mix sugar, pecans, strawberry jam, butter, eggs, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a bowl. Mix baking soda into buttermilk; add to the batter. Add flour a little at a time, mixing well, until combined.

Pour batter evenly into the prepared cake pans.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen. Invert carefully onto a serving plate or cooling rack. Let cool, about 30 minutes.

While cakes cool, beat sugar and butter for filling together in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy. Add heavy cream, raisins, and pecans. Transfer to a pot and bring to a boil. Do not stir once syrup begins to boil. Heat to 240 degrees F (115 degrees C) or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from water and placed on a flat surface.

Spread between and over the top of the cooled cake layers, letting excess drip down the sides.