Wish me luck, my hubby is deployed and he and the other guys have a real hankerin' for some home baked goodness, it seems to take about 5 days for packages to get to them from here so I'm going to bake them and seal them in the small bell jars and hope for the best. I decided to play on a halloween theme and do candy flavors, Snickers, chocolate cake with layers of crushed peanuts, carmel and topped with chopped up mini Snickers. Also thought I'd try Mounds, Whopper and a Peanut Butter cup. Hmm, let me know if you have any other ideas, I'm excited to try, hope they come out good! Andrea
Have you ever tried baking your cake in a canning jar? I have done it several times for gifts. Make a quick bread recipe like banana or pumpkin bread. Sterilize one pint canning jars in hot water ( I run mine through the diswasher). Spray the jars with non-stick spray and fill half full with batter. Set jars in a 13x9 pan (easier to take in and out of the oven). Place pan in oven set at recommended temperature and bake till done. Remove and immediately screw on sterilized lids. Use a kitchen towel or oven mitt, the jars will be hot. As they cool you will here the seal "pop". After they have cooled make sure they hve properly sealed. They will stay fresh until the jars are opened and the seal is broken. I sometimes make them weeks ahead of time and store them until I am ready to give as gifts. It might work for what you want to do.
Oh My Love the way they look. That is a wonderful idea! How did you do it? Did you bake then put in the jars-decorate? Oh please let me know. I would love to do something like that.
They are just beautiful and I sure hope they get to the ones who really deserve them. Tell hubby we are all so lucky to have him and the rest of the troops working and risking their lives for us. 
Thank you all so much for the positive thoughts and well wishes, you all are so great 
Well there have been lots of questions and pm about these so I'm going to try to answer all of the questions all at once.
First of all this is not an original idea of mine, I was inspired by a big discussion we had going about cupcakes in a jar back in April. They are really cute and fun and I hope they make the trip, I will let everyone know 
I got the Kerr/Ball widemouth 1/2 pint mason jars at Albertson's grocery store for $10 for 12. I will see if I can find them cheaper at Wally world next time I'm there.
http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/canning-pantry_2019_5426044
I baked the cupcakes in liners and then cut them all in half (top & bottom) and just layered them in the jars with whatever candy, nut, frosting, topping combo. I used 3 cupcake slices per jar to get a good fill. Next time I'm going to bake in the jumbo cupcake pan as I think they will fill the jars better, the normal size cuppys were a lot smaller round than the jars, but still worked.
I tried boiling the jars before filling, just like with canning jams, in hopes that the hot jars would seal the lids, it just melted the frosting so after that I let them cool before filling. I also tried putting one in a hot water bath after putting on the lid to see if it would seal before cooking the insides, that didn't really work either 
So I just screwed the lids on tight. I tied a spoon to the top of each with ribbon.
I send cookies and brownies, but these are a bit more perishible. I always mail priority and it takes 5 to 7 days for stuff to get there from here, keeping my fingers crossed! I will be making these for friends/family in the US, they are too cute not to. Thanks for looking Andrea
i remember that discussion! (patent pending LOL) anyway, those cuppies look delicious. i love the ribbons and the spoon is just a great idea. crossing my fingers for you that they get there safe.
They are wonderful. I want to try them. I have seen the jars that you are referring to at Wally World. I might try the Dollar General store to see what they have. Another CC member posted a website that she bought her jars from. i think it's further up on the thread.
I so hope they got/get them ok ! I just did the bake a cake in a jar! They turned out perfect! Im not sure how I want to send icing along with it though ?
But a dessert bread/cake will be perfect, Im wanting to add these to my Holiday gift baskets. I did a strawberry cake so It will look xmasy. I think a fruit cake or something colorful would look very pretty, Yours turned out awesome!
Project Cuppys to Qatar was a Success!! They made it safe and sound and fully edible I am so happy! Thanks for all the well wishes, here's a direct quote from my hubbys email...
"We got the cupcakes today. They were very good and everyone loved them. The only thing you might be unhappy about was the frosting had melted to the bottom of the jars, but no one cared about that. I told everyone to go get to work and they don't get lunch because they had cupcakes!"
Just in case anyone is wondering they took approx 5 days to get there I sent them in a large Priority Flat Rate box (I love those) So happy it worked Andrea
Andrea.. Way to go ! Im sure they are already looking for the next ones 
Just had a brain storm...would this idea work with a cookie layered in the middle? Here is the link I have been following for doing this with a cake. I think it's possible.
http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=601531&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0
I know this is an old thread, but I've done these lots more times and figured out a pretty good system in the process, I've come a long way from my first effort I have tried to answer questions via PM's over the years, but figured I should just go ahead and post my tips and tricks with the original post hope this helps!
The CC's in a jar make such a cute and fun gift, people really feel special when they get them.
I tell people for best taste eat them within a few days or put the in the refrigerator for up to a week and just let them warm to room temp before eating.Or freeze them and thaw to room temp before eating. When I ship them I tell them to refrigerate or freeze as soon as they arrive.
I got the Kerr/Ball wide mouth 1/2 pint mason jars at Albertson's grocery store for $10 for 12. http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st......19_5426044
The first time I made them (http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-606603-jar.html ) I baked regular sized cupcakes in liners and then cut them all in half (top & bottom). I used 3 cupcake slices per jar to get a good fill; they were a lot smaller round than the jars so there was still room around the outside, which accounts for some of the filling spilling down the sides and getting messy looking.
Since then I switched to the Jumbo size cupcakes and when cut, filled and layered they fit in these jars perfectly!!! I use a LARGE scoop to fill each Jumbo size liner. Oh my gosh, what a difference the jumbo size made! I cut each in half and layer them in the jars with whatever candy, nut, frosting, topping combo.. I use sleeve filling and buttercream to try to keep them as shelf stable as possible because I mail them. I boil the jars and lids and let them cool before filling.Once assembled, I just screw the lids on tight and I tie a spoon to the top of each with ribbon. (I use Torani flavored syrups to enhance the different buttercreams, just play around with the flavors its fun)
Some of the flavor combos Ive done;
Snickers: Chocolate cake/ Caramel (sundae topping)/ Chopped honey roasted Peanuts/ Buttercream (peanut butter syurp)/ Chopped bite sized Snickers on top.
Mounds: White Cake/ Toasted Coconut/ Dark Chocolate Chips/ Buttercream(coconut syurp)
Dipped Strawberry Shortcake: White Cake/ Buttercream(white chocolate or chocolate syurp)/ Strawberry Sleeve filling
Peanut Butter Cup: Chocolate Cake/ Buttercream (peanut butter syurp)/ Chopped-Up PB Cups
Red Velvet: Red Velvet Cake/ Buttercream (cream cheese syurp)
Black & White: Triple Chocolate Cake/Buttercream/ Chocolate Jimmies
Pumpkin: Pumpkin Spice Cake/ Buttercream (cream cheese syurp) or Chocolate Buttercream
Bliss: Lemon Cake/Buttercream / Raspberry Sleeve filling
Boston Creme: Chocolate Cake/Barvarian Cream Sleeve Filling/ Chocolate Buttercream
Just curious... Can you make these and freeze them? I love having a sweet treat every so often but I would have to make a whole cake since I'm the only one who would be eating them. TIA!!!!
I tell people for best taste eat them within a few days or put the in the refrigerator for up to a week and just let them warm to room temp before eating.Or freeze them and thaw to room temp before eating. When I ship them I tell them to refrigerate or freeze as soon as they arrive.
[quote="andpotts"]Since then I switched to the Jumbo size cupcakes and when cut, filled and layered they fit in these jars perfectly!!! I use a LARGE scoop to fill each Jumbo size liner. Oh my gosh, what a difference the jumbo size made! I cut each in half and layer them in the jars with whatever candy, nut, frosting, topping combo.. I use sleeve filling and buttercream to try to keep them as shelf stable as possible because I mail them.
I need help...I'm a little confused...do you bake a jumbo cupcake and also line the jar with a jumbo liner?? 
Thanks!
Have you tried just baking a sheet cake and using a round cutter the same size as the jar instead of baking cuppies? Would that work?
I use a food saver machine with a mason jar attachment to seal chocolate and other things that might melt in jars, do you think it would also work to seal these cupcakes?
Thanks for getting back to this thread. I'd never heard of this before now, and today they're all over the place! I love the idea. Just a suggestion: it seems to me that the second post in this thread, suggesting that the cakes be baked in the jars to start with, is right on the money. It does just what canning normally does: starting with a sterile jar, adding contents and cooking and sealing immediately with a sterile lid, you end up with a jar filled with something sterile and isolated from outside contamination. Done this way, these cakes should last indefinitely. Of course, if you want to decorate them or layer them, that's another problem... Even so, I'd bake them in the jars, because it would be so much less work. I'm dying to try some of these!
I'm with Marianna with the sterilization and baking in the jars.
I'm going to try this with the bakeable fillings from http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df4f9hbq_46cs9f28fs (which is from Help, Gourmet flavors here on CC).
Then pack a bunch of those little condiment cups with lids filled with a basic buttercream and they can add that when they open the jar cake.
PLEASE do not consider these cupcakes to be storage safe!!!
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/uga_can_breads.pdf
Canned breads and cakes are not recommended for home cooks or canning;
choose cake or bread recipes that you can freeze. Many cake and quick bread recipes
contain very little or no acid and thus have the potential for supporting the growth of
hazardous bacteria, such as Clostridium botulinum, if they are present inside the
closed jar. C. botulinum causes an often fatal foodborne illness, called botulism. Given
that many of these bread and cake recipes have been shown to be low in acid, the
major barriers to prevent microbial growth are limited to: (1) the dryness of the product
and (2) the lack of oxygen inside the closed jar (because of vacuum seals). Recipe
variations such as the addition of fruit, zucchini, liquids, etc. all contribute to available
water for microorganisms to use. In addition, lack of oxygen alone does not prevent the
growth of all harmful bacteria. The vacuum seals do not remove all oxygen, so some
would still be available to the bacteria which do need it.
-
Research at Kansas State University, reported in the Journal of Food Protection
in October 1994, showed that heat-stable microorganisms can survive the baking
process and multiply in the breads during storage. Using their own banana-nut bread
recipe, the researchers at Kansas State University baked the bread in glass jars and
sealed them following methods consumers are typically using. A heat resistant
microorganism that is often used in tests to determine when a canning process is
adequate to produce a safe product was added to the batter for some of the jars. In the
breads that had the test microorganism added, it survived all baking and storage
treatments. Vacuums in the jars (an indication of oxygen removal from the headspace)
were good, but apparently not good enough to be the only control; microbial growth still
occurred since enough moisture was available. Underbaking was found to be another
serious problem. The Kansas State researchers also looked at a range of baking times
that still produced acceptable bread to taste panelists. Those breads baked at the
shorter times even showed that microorganisms that were naturally present could
survive in the baked breads
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