Three Chicks and Canned Cake

Before we hit December, I wanted to share the latest escapades from the Three Chicks and a Canner.  We joined up this time, two days before Thanksgiving, to try out some dessert recipes.  The day started with this recipe for Pumpkin Pie in a Jar.    I found the recipe on the website, A Farmgirl's Dabbles.   The recipe is adapted from a Kraft recipe that's been around for some time.  This no-bake pumpkin custard is layered into a four ounce jelly jar.  Absolutely scrumptious!  Since it is already printed out on A Farmgirl's Dabbles and numerous other sites, I won't reprint it here.  Follow the link and she even has a print button on her recipe.  I want to get that print button someday.  I just think its a good to have buttons. 

Next we moved to the most fascinating project ever, Canned Cake!  Katie, from Maple Grove and one of my fellow bloggers on Farm Girl Chit Chat had posted a recipe about baking a cake in a mason jar.  When they come out of the oven and you put the two part lid on the jar when it is very hot right from the oven, the lid seals and your cake is preserved in a vacumm sealed jar.  Amazing.  The vacumm seal would enable you to store the cake for up to a year. 

This was the perfect way to end the canning season so we jumped right into it and baked up Katie's recipe for Pumpkin Cake.  The only thing I changed was to add a half cup of chocolate chips and omit the nuts.  I always try to add the chocolate chips to a recipe.  I'm that kind of Farm Chick.

Pumpkin Cake in a Jar  From Katie at Maple Grove

8 wide-mouth pint size canning jars
2/3 cups vegetable shortening
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups canned pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Bring water in canner to boil. Sterilize 8 wide-mouth pint jars for 10 minutes
3. Grease the insides of the jars, being careful not to grease the top rims.
4. Cut 8 circles of wax paper a little smaller than the jar lids.
5. Cream the shortening and sugar together.
6. Beat in eggs, pumpkin and water
7. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, spices, and baking soda together.
8. Add sifted dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix well.
9. Stir in chopped nuts (optional).
10. Spoon batter into jars, filling half full. (If you didn't add the nuts, you will only use 7 jars.)
11. Wipe the top rim with a damp cloth.
12. Bake jars set upright on a baking sheet for about 45 minutes or until done. (Cakes are done when you touch the top lightly and it springs back or when a cake tested inserted comes out clean.
13. Remove from oven.
14. While still hot, place a small circle of waxed paper inside the jar and on top of each cake.
15. Wipe the rims again and put the lids on the jars.
16. As the cakes cool, the lids will ping as they are sealing.
17. Cakes will slide out easily when they have cooled. (Because the sides of the jars were greased, the cake will pull away slightly from the jar and have darker and lighter colorations.)
18. To serve, remove the lid and the cake will slide right out of the jar.
19. Slice into round pieces. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
20. If the jars seal properly, they should have a shelf life of up to a year. (I'm guessing they won't last that long.) Check the seals often and check for mold when opening. You can also store them in the freezer.

Katie  has one of those cool print recipe buttons too if you want to print this recipe out.**

In the meantime, the kids played with my kids old toys and ate peanut butter and honey sandwiches.  My friends and I enjoyed another day of cooking together.
 And the cake?  Well, lets just say there was very little need to preserve this batch of cake.  We cracked those jars open within a couple of hours, with our families.  Maybe the next batch can be stored longer than two hours.  You can use any cake recipe for this cake in a jar, too.

The canning season has come to a sweet end.  We are blessed to have plenty of tomatos, salsa, apples, and a variety of pie fillings and jams for the winter.  I still love to can fresh food but was also happy to pack up the canner and supplies and get the house cleaned up for Thanksgiving. 

Yes, indeed.  I put the canner away, packed up the rest of the empty canning jars, lids, pectin and here comes my son with a 5 gallon bucket of cut up apples.  He wanted me to make applesauce again.  I am blessed.  Six quarts of applesauce later, I again packed up  the canning stuff.  Will it stay put this time?  I don't know.  But I do know we have plenty of tasty food to share with friends and family this holiday season.  



This post was shared on  Friday Farm Girl Blog Fest