I like cake, and I like putting things in Mason jars, so the thought occurred to me that I should pair these things together. Come the holiday season there is a lot of sharing of baked goods, mostly cookie swaps. I figured that this year I would do mini-cakes and bake them right in their packaging, seeing as I don't like to wrap things, and could avoid a trip to the dollar store by using some really nice antique Mason jars I had sitting around the house. So was born my Jarcake, a Mexican Chocolate Cake with Eggnog Frosting.

(Photo credit: Bev Wooding)

This is a super simple process that will work with any recipe you have, you just need to figure out the actual baking time, my cakes ended up in the oven at 350 for just over an hour. 

• Thoroughly wash and dry the jars in hot water
• Let them come to room temperature
• Grease up the inside
• Pipe in the batter (about 1 cup for a medium sized jar) and off you go
• If you want to have the jars seal, just make sure the rim is clean after baking and place on and tighten. They will seal as they cool

I based my Mexican Chocolate Cake on this recipe I found online, but I tweaked it to my own specs. I added some melted Green and Black Maya Gold and used my own spice blend. Play around, and be original because you don't need to follow recipes, as long as you get the science and flavour combinations down. Also, I iced my cake with a butter cream that I added some Harmony Organic Eggnog to. 

I think I am going to play around with this a bit more and try an apple cake, and banana bread, also. It is like a "to-go cake", and what could be bad about that?

P.S. I forgot to mention my jar rule. If I give you a jar you need to put something in it when you are done, and either return it to me or pass on the love. Give it a try.