Not to mention the olive oil in the tomato sauce and the flour thickening in the relish.

I hope you offered more than your two cents. This looks like a dollars' worth at least!

Carol

I told them they needed to do their research before publishing these sorts of things and to contact a Food Preservation expert at the state's university extension. I realize they will think I'm an alarmist so I wanted them to confirm with a official "source". It makes me wonder about the rest of their stories and how well they are researched in general...

~Cindy

Sounds like they are all from a new cookbook - unless the "adaptations" are the unsafe parts, someone should let the publisher know.

I can't believe keeping a cooked cake in a jar for a year would be in a cookbook! When I read it, I thought it was just a novel way of baking the cake, but then the last line got me!

Yikes is right! Why would anyone want to keep a cooked cake in a jar? My local library thinks that I am an alarmist, they have so many outdated books with unsafe information. Finally they agreed to put a warning sticker in the front cover of the book. I wish they would just get rid of them all.

The cake-in-a-jar thing has become popular among my mother's quilting group. It's like the new Amish Friendship Bread. She ate the one they got for christmas and loved it. I'll have to warn her about eating the others -- just like she's always warning me to make sure my canning jars are really clean and that all the jars seal.

I also thought it was just going to be a different way to get individual servings of cake. Or that they would be stored in the freezer. Cake out of the freezer is good. I really was shocked though. Obviously it bothered me enough to post here and send in a letter to the newspaper. First time I've ever written to a newspaper. I'm glad to hear you share my concerns. Makes me feel less like an alarmist.

I realize I'm a safety nut and even worry about properly pressure canned chicken stock I use for soup. I just couldn't imagine if someone served this to friends/family and caused any illness. Hopefully nothing like that will happen but in the continuum of risks this one is pretty high.

~Cindy

You really need to complain !! Those things keep popping up every now and then. Just when it seems to have stopped, then someone posts it again !!
You really should send them the info from the Univ. of Georgia on cakes in a jar , things about no thickeners like that, etc. I would sent printed copies !!
You can always let me send them emails, too !
Trust me, you are not an alarmist. You are being wise.

I realize I'm a safety nut

No such thing! Not when it comes to safety in home canning. :)

Sadly, there are far too many who refuse to recognize that fact.

Dave

Oh my goodness,

Ladies, for a long time I have been searching for a way to make something like the cake in a jar published in the article. However, I realized it was not safe, and I really didn't want to be sending cake that was possibly filled with bacteria to my boyfriend.

Over the last 6 months, I have been working on making Cake in a Jar safely. Instead of sending pre-cooked cake. I have devised a way to allow someone to just add water, stir, and microwave to get a moist, delicious, and light piece of cake.

Please check out: www.CourageCakes.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CourageCakes

Here is a link that might be useful: CourageCakes Cake in a Jar for US military