Cake on the Go!

This week we are appreciating our teachers.  Every year this week rolls around and I always want to let my kids teachers know how valued they are.

Isaac, basically, has one main teacher (he also has a t.a., a music teacher, art teacher, science teacher, p.e. teacher, etc), Eli now has 6 teachers and Levi has 5 teachers.  In the past I baked, I packaged, I labeled, I exhausted myself.  I couldn’t do that this year.  I had to simplify without sacrificing the message.

A few weeks ago, I participated in the All American Bake Sale, raising money for Share our Strength.  A fellow baker/blogger ( A girl with a Curl)  brought the cutest thing, ever!  “Jar Cake”.  I was looking for a way to recreate this impressively, packaged morsel of sweetness and it dawned on me that Teacher Appreciation week would be the perfect time to do that.

As I was contemplating what I was going to do for the teachers, I was reading my May issue of Bon Appetit mag and came across a recipe for Blueberry Cornmeal Cake from Huckleberry, a cafe in Santa Monica.  I have eaten at Huckleberry a number of times and although I like it, I am not crazy about their attitude as well as the lack of menu choices for my little Levi.  The positives are as follows; the pastry counter makes the corner of mouth drool.  If you are watching your calorie intake, stay away.  It is way too tempting!

I felt this recipe would work perfectly for my “cake in a jar” gifts.   And it did.  I also made a few “larger” cakes in these cute paper cake pans I found at Surfas.  They were a great alternative for the office staff ( I could not envision, 3 office staff ladies, sharing one jar and one wooden utensil).

This concept can be done with almost any cake, cupcake, or coffee cake.  If the cakes do not require frosting, close and seal the mason jars right away.  If they do require frosting, let cool completely before smothering with your favorite garnish!

 

I only had a little taste of some crumbs.  The distinct taste in this cake is the cornmeal.  I liked it, I liked it a lot!
 

Huckleberry’s Cornmeal Blueberry Cake


Ingredients

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup yellow corn meal
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
6 Tbls. vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 Tbls. vanilla
1 tsp. honey
10 Tbls. unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup plain yogurt  ( I used greek)
3 cups fresh blueberries

Instructions

• preheat oven 325*.  spray jars with vegetable spray.
• whisk flour + next three ingredients in a medium bowl.
• whisk oil, eggs, vanilla, & honey in another bowl
• using your electric mixer, beat butter, 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar, + 1 1/2 tsp. salt in large bowl until creamy.  Add egg mixture, beat to blend.
• beat in flour mixture to blend.
• add ricotta + yogurt, beat on low speed to blend
• pour half the batter in prepared pan or jars, sprinkle some blueberries over.  spoon remaining batter in dollops then scatter remaining blueberries over (for the jar method, I used a 1/4 cup scooper for the batter.  scooped into jars, scattered a few blueberries, topped with another 1/4 cup of batter, blueberries then sprinkled some sugar on top.  fill jars 2/3 full)
• bake until golden brown.  this cake takes a long time to bake regardless if done in a 10″ pan or the jars. the jars took about 50 -60 minutes.  about 35 minutes into it, cover jars with foil to prevent from over browning (mine were a little overdone).

The Urban Baker / SusanSalzman.com

Showing 11 comments
  • Anonymous
    Reply

    you always come up with such great ideas. and i agree the the dessert section at huckleberries is way too tempting.

  • jocelyn
    Reply

    you are always so creative. i am very impressed with where you find the time to cook, bake and read. thanks for your inspiration.

  • Anonymous
    Reply

    love, love, love! are the jars from surfas? i bet the teachers love having you in their class!from, kim

  • Jess1971
    Reply

    Love it. Where did you find those little wooden spautals? Ive looked everywhere.

  • The Urban Baker
    Reply

    Hi Jess 1971, the spoons are from Surfas in Culver City. I also found some on line, however I have to find the bookmark. Do you have an email address? Thanks and glad you enjoyed the post!

  • The Urban Baker
    Reply

    Hi Jess 1971, the spoons are from Surfas in Culver City. I also found some on line, however I have to find the bookmark. Do you have an email address? Thanks and glad you enjoyed the post!

  • Jennifer
    Reply

    Love this idea! I was wondering if you had any more “in a jar” recipes? My husband is currently deployed to Afghanistan and I think they would ship over to him nicely. 🙂

    • Susan
      Reply

      Hi Jenny! What a great idea to send these to your hubby overseas. I think almost any cake would work. However, with shipping, I would stick to some sort of coffee cake
      or muffin (nothing with a a frosting). These blueberry muffins (https://susansalzmancreative.com/blueberry-mini-muffins/) are a household favorite and would probably work
      well. If you don’t want to use the fresh or frozen fruit, maybe think about dried fruit. It may transport better and have a little bit longer of a shelf life. Let me know what you decide and how they turn out. All my best to you and your husband….stay well.

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