Birthday in a Jar
As the resident baker of my friends and family, it suddenly became my job to make the cake any time a holiday or special occasion arises, and that means I make a whole lot of birthday cakes. Multi-layered masterpieces, humble 6-inch rounds, and of course those ubiquitous cupcakes, each request was as fun to fill as it was to deliver and see the recipient’s happy face. In the days of commuting to school by train, this was no problem, as a cake in a box was no hassle to carry for those short 15 minutes in transit. More recently though, it hasn’t been nearly so simple; As more and more friends are “met” though blogging, keeping up with all of the dates is one thing in and of itself, but the issue of giving a treat to someone hundreds of miles away is no picnic either. Sure, cookies travel well, but who’s heard of a birthday cookie? It’s all about the cake and you know it.
As luck would have it, I happened to stumble upon Angry Chicken while blog-hopping a month ago, and this particular post really hit a chord. Although the Christmas gifts were already packed and on their way, this page was quickly bookmarked for future reference, as such a brilliant idea would surely come in handy sooner or later. Turns out this assumption was correct, as there I found myself, poking through my closet in search of a decent jar with a lid (And in my mess of craft supplies and forgotten junk, that’s not as easy as it might sound, by the way.) Washed, cleaned, and full of batter, I tossed that jar into the oven just like any other cupcake, and watched with great delight as the contents rose perfectly to the top.
Luck must have smiled on me here, as I was in one of those rebellious “I don’t wanna measure anything because I’m sick of keeping these meticulous notes all the time!” sort of mood. Fully expecting this thing to start spewing chocolate goo all over the insides of my oven, the results were a wonderful surprise, and I hoped they would also prove delicious! To make sure that it didn’t dry out in transit, a generous splash of Kahlua was in order right before packing it up, and then I could just hope for the best. Thankfully, it sounds like the birthday girl that this was intended for had a wonderful day, and if my cake could play any role in that happiness, then this is definitely a practice worth keeping.
