Cake in a Jar

Cake is powerful food. It brings people together.

Jim Gaffigan

In honor of a cake post, here is a bit about cake. You're welcome.

Jim Gaffigan 2013 Cake 2013 Beyond the Pale 

So I saw this recipe and thought it would be a cool project for No T.V. Tuesday

It's pretty simple and fun, and if Pastor Ryan can do it, so can you!

Here is what you need:

• 1 box white cake and ingredients to make according to box
• food coloring, neon is best, but use what you have
• 3 one pint glass jars
• one can frosting (we didn't have any on hand, so i whipped up some cream cheese goodness)
• sprinkles (my son jack's favorite part)

Here is what you do:

Preheat oven to 350F or 175C I would assume for you metric folk. 

Wash and dry the jars inside and out and spray with a non-stick cooking spray. Set aside

Divide into 5 bowls, which is a little more than half a cup each.  Choose your colors and mix.

Spoon around 2-3 tablespoons of the batter into the jar of each color, making sure you dont go more than 3/4 of the way up the side. We tried for a rainbow effect, but it is more of a tie dye effect!

Place jars in a baking dish and add around a 1/4 inch of water to the pan. Or 6 millimeters for you metric junkies out there. Bake for around 30-40 minutes depending on your oven and location. If you have one of those Pampered Crook ahem Chef cake stick checker things you can check to see if there are done. If not you will begin to smell the cake and you can see if the edges are browning. 

Remove, let cool, scoop a bit of cake out if need be and apply frosting and sprinkles. 

Enjoy.

Thanks for checking out Pastor Ryan's first Bean's Blog entry.

I think next time we are going to try red velvet cake and nutella frosting...

Banana Cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream Frosting

I found this recipe online and had to try it for my husband who loves anything banana. It is a lot like banana bread...just lighter...and sweeter...

cake recipe 

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2 egg yolks
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
3 crushed bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites, beaten

• Mix sugar and butter and beat on low speed until completely combined.

• Add egg yolks and beat on high speed until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. 

• In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk thoroughly.

• Alternate adding dry and wet ingredients (milk), beating each time until just mixed in. Start and end with dry. When you’re done, you should have a nice, soft, fluffy batter. 

• Mash bananas and add to batter.

• Whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.

• Carefully fold the egg whites into the batter, trying not to deflate them too much.

• Pour the batter into 2 greased and floured round pans.

• Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.

• Remove cakes from the pans and let cool. 

frosting recipe

1 cup milk
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1½ cup brown sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 teaspoon salt (if you use unsalted butter)

• Stir milk and flour together and mix over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until it thickens. It changes suddenly, so don’t walk away from it.

• Set the milk aside to cool. Very important to make sure this cools completely otherwise you will have a gravy for your frosting.

•  Combine sugar, butter (room temperature) and vanilla in a mixer.

• Beat on medium speed for around 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved, for the most part.

• Add the cooled milk mixture to the butter mixture and stir until smooth. Once you do this any remaining graininess from the sugar will pretty much dissolve. 

• Frost cake. It is a pretty soft and light frosting so if you want it to set up at all you will have to put it in the fridge for a bit.