Cake Baked in a Mason Jar

Cakes baked in Mason jars are made by pouring cake batter into jars and baking them in the oven. These Mason jar cakes are popular to give as gifts at Christmastime.

Ingredients

1. Basic ingredients for a cake baked in a Mason jar include eggs, cooking oil, vanilla, all-purpose flour, baking soda , cinnamon and salt. Other ingredients can be used depending on the type of cake being baked.

Preparing and Baking

2. Mix wet ingredients together in a bowl. Add the dry ingredients and mix. Grease the inside of the Mason jar. Pour batter into the jar and bake in a preheated 325-degree oven. Quart jars should bake for about 50 to 60 minutes, while pint jars should bake for about 30 minutes.

Bacterial Growth

3. According to the University of Georgia, bacteria, such as Clostridium botulinum, can grow on cakes baked in mason jars. This bacteria can cause botulism, a fatal illness. For this reason, it is not recommended that consumers bake cakes in Mason jars.

Jar Breakage

4. According to Penn State, Mason jars are designed for use in hot water baths or pressure canners, not dry ovens. Use in dry ovens can result in jar breakage that is caused by thermal stresses.

Alternative to Baking

5. Steaming jar cakes is a safer alternative for making cakes in Mason jars. After pouring the cake batter into a jar, cover the jar and place it into rapidly boiling water for about 35 minutes.




Banana Nut Bread Baked in a Jar

• 2/3 cup shortening
• 2 2/3 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups mashed bananas
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans


1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease insides of 8 (1 pint) straight sided, wide mouth canning jars.

2. In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, bananas, and water. Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Add to banana mixture. Stir in nuts.

3. Pour mixture into greased WIDE MOUTH pint jars, filling 1/2 full of batter. Do NOT put lids on jars for baking. Be careful to keep the rims clean, wiping off any batter that gets on the rims.

4. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Meanwhile, sterilize the lids and rings in boiling water.

5. As soon as cake is done, remove from oven one at a time, wipe rims of jars and put on lid and ring. Jars will seal as cakes cool. Place the jars on the counter and listen for them to "ping" as they seal. If you miss the "ping", wait until they are completely cool and press on the top of the lid. If it doesn't move at all, it's sealed.

6. Jars should be eaten immediately or kept sealed in refrigerator for up to a week.

Using this for teacher gifts. Was planning on using my favorite recipe from the Fanny Farmer Baking Book for the bread, but noticed that the ingredients were almost identical so I used this one instead. I omitted the cloves (don't like them much) and after reading from another reviewer that the bread had tasted a little too spicy. Cut back a little on the cinnamon too. I also used cooking spray to grease the inside of the jars. After filling half-full I placed the jars directly on the rack (as another person suggested). They came out perfect and the recipe is delicious! If when taking them out of the oven you noticed that they've popped out of the jar a little you can carefully (with gloves of course) press the top of the bread down gently so that the sides are away from the seal. I made sure that the rim was clean and even with them being quite full they all sealed perfectly. Found the pint-size wide mouth jars by where I live for only 5.99 for a dozen at Big Lots. Plan on decorating them with 7" round pieces of material with ribbons and will print out gift tags to attach with a note to heat for less than 30 seconds in the microwave so they will slide right out and be ready for slicing. Will definitely make them again, plan on buying more mason jars and storing them for holiday baking

I've made these 5 times! Very moist but the real key is to NOT bake them on a baking sheet. Carefully put the jars directly on the oven rack for more even baking. Baking on the sheet causes the middle to be not cooked with the top being too cooked! I got so many compliments from everyone I gave these as a gift to

I just made these with 8 ounce Jelly jars and they turned out perfect filling with 1/2 cup of batter. I will put these jars in inexpensive mugs with a packet of hot cocoa mix. wrap with cellophane and ribbon for a cute little gift. Thanks for the recipe and gift idea!!!