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Southern Plate

Recipes to feed your body and warm your heart.

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Pound Cakes In Jars

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See this year’s Thanksgiving Menu by clicking here. Read my Thanksgiving Note by clicking here.

One of the things I’m proudest of in my latest book, Sweetness, is the abundance of heritage recipes contained inside. Even more special to me is that some of my readers have recipes from their grandmother’s in the book as well.

This special pound cake recipe is from a wonderful woman with a heart full of love for her family. This pound cake recipe has been a double blessing for me because my father in law LOVES pound cake – and is notoriously difficult to buy for. Last Christmas, I presented him with an entire case of jarred pound cakes and let me tell you, he was proud as punch to be on the receiving end of that gift!

But you really have to hear the family story behind these pound cakes, and that is best told by Shay Baugh, who shares the story of her grandmother’s love – and recipe.

Pound Cakes in Jars

~Shay Baugh

It was hard to tell when Granny used to read to me those famous words about living down a “sunny dirt road, deep in bear country” whether she was speaking of my favorite Berenstain Bears or she was talking about her and my Papaw’s house nestled down a long dirt road deep in Locust Fork, Alabama.

Being the quintessential southern grandparents, there were certain things you could always count on at Papaw and Granny’s house:

  • There would always be food, and plenty of it.
  • You were going to have to eat, whether you were hungry or not
  • There would be at least one update on Aunt Helen and her kids, the neighbors who weren’t blood related, but you couldn’t convince any of us that that was true
  • All the good family gossip occurs in the bathroom and if you don’t want to be the topic of conversation, you better get in there
  • Eventually, we would all end up on the front porch rocking in the
  • Rocking chairs or swinging on the porch swing
  • There was always pound cake
  • You would always be taking leftovers home, and hopefully that meant pound cake in jars

Sometime in the mid 70’s my grandmother brought home the recipe for pound cake from her job at the flower shop.  It was an instant staple at her house from then on.  The pound cake tastes excellent all alone, but add some blackberries, strawberries, peaches, or raspberries, and you have a dessert you cannot put down.

The recipe always stayed the same until the late 90s when the grandchildren were going away to college or enlisting in the service. Granny heard that someone had been making bread in Mason jars and decided that that was a great way to preserve her pound cake for her grandson that was leaving for his first tour in Qatar.  She tweaked the temperature, time, and quantities, until she had perfected her craft.  Her final product was her pound cake in wide-mouth pint canning jars that would stay fresh for months at a time.

When Wes packed his duffle bag, he also packed the jars by sliding them into socks and securing them in his combat boots.  They arrived safely in Qatar and brought him comfort in the time that he was away from our family. Since those first days of the pound cake in jars, they have been mailed to Iraq, South Korea, they have travelled with grandkids to college, been given as gifts, and been made on countless occasions to store in our pantries to offer guests when they come to visit.  Wes even had the pound cake as the groom’s cake at his wedding, and small jars of pound cake were made as wedding gifts.  But we can all still count on the delicious pound cake being ready any time we travel to Papaw and granny’s house down that sunny dirt road deep in Locust Fork.

Printable recipe for Pound Cakes In Jars Below

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Pound Cakes In Jars
 
Print
Serves: 9 pint sized jars
Ingredients
  • 3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup Vegetable Shortening
  • 6 eggs
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon lemon or almond extract
  • 8 oz sour cream
  • 9 wide mouth pint jars
Instructions
  1. Mix sugar and Crisco, then add eggs one at a time. Alternate sour cream and flour. Add vanilla, lemon (or almond) extract, salt, and soda.
  2. Spray wide mouth jars with cooking spray and wipe off rims.
  3. Fill the jars half full with batter (no more).
  4. Place jars on baking sheet not touching. Bake at 325 for 1 hour.
  5. When finished baking, remove from oven. Wipe off rims and place on lids and ring. Will “POP”.
Notes
Christy’s Note: I am so grateful to Shay for sharing this recipe because it is one of the most delicious pound cakes I’ve ever had. The batter is just like velvet and it’s so pretty to bake up and deliver in Mason jars! I’ll be making this as Christmas gifts from here on out. As far as storing the cake in Mason Jars, Shay reports that her family has had wonderful luck with this recipe. However, conditions and methods of storage vary it is your own responsibility to determine whether or not a cake stored long term is safe to consume. For best results and safety, if you would like to store these long term, I recommend placing the sealed jars in your freezer.

PLEASE NOTE that these are stored in the freezer for long term, in fridge for up to a week (or two), and on the counter for a few days. These cakes are not “canned”, even if the lid seals.

“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right, then, have it your way.'” ~C. S. Lewis

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Comments

Comment Policy: Comments welcome, manners required.

  6. Your posts are always on time! I have had Sweetness since they shipped, but for many varied reasons, haven’t been able to sit down and read it. Email and social media to the rescue! I wanted a different jar gift, and here it is! Thanks for sharing and being a blessing, Christy! God bless!

    reply to this comment >

  11. I’m guessing that this cake is deliciously moist. However, if it is moist and you put the sealed jar into a freezer, won’t the moisture expand and crack the jar?

    Also, my google search on long-term storage of cakes in canning jars indicates that recipes for cakes are often low-acid and high-moisture, making them very susceptible to botulism spore growth… maybe not a great idea? That’s why I want to freeze them. Has anyone tried it?

    Thanks!

    reply to this comment >

    • Hey Lisa, I don’t recommend storing them at room temp in the jar for long term (see my notes in the recipe). I store them in the freezer. When you freeze things in jars they recommend leaving an inch head space to allow for expansion but this doesn’t have liquid in it either way, once it is baked. Moisture will be fine and absorb into the cake. You would, of course, cool them fully first though 🙂

      reply to this comment >

  13. How long will these last in the jars? Could this be a “long term” storage item? Would love to always have this on hand!!! Thank you for your wonderful recipes and family stories! It really makes it even more special!
    Lori

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  21. Thanks Christy and a blessed thanksgiving to you and your family.MY FAMILY LOVE POUND CAKES. Thanks SHAY WONDERFULY READING. I spent a lot of time with my family on my uncle and aunties farm in north carolina where I was born. these will make nice gifts. Thank for sharing with Christy and the rest of us,

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  23. I love these! I’ve made them twice and they come out great! Bake time exactly 1 hour when halfway full. Love the cake circles when sliced. Spray the inside of the jar with nonstick spray, slide a sharp knife around the inside of the jar to loosen and the cake slides right out. I made them for gifts for my friends and found blue canning jars and blue lids! Thanks for the cute idea!

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  24. I have eaten these little cakes in a jar and they are fabulous. Shay’s mothers is my office co-worker so I’ve been blessed to get my very own jar a couple of times. They are simply devine.

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  25. Hi Christy…I’ve tried this recipe twice and they are absolutely adorable. My daughters gave them out to their teachers as Christmas gifts and they were all very appreciative. However, I do have a question: I used the wide mouth pint size jars and my cakes didn’t come to the top like in the picture. Did you have this problem too? Maybe I didn’t beat enough air into the batter to make them rise. Thanks for your help! Merry Christmas 🙂

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  27. Hi Christy, Baking anything in jars always catches my eyes so I was so happy to find this recipe. The cakes turned out absolutely delicious. I shared a few with friends and they loved it too. I even used one cake as the base of strawberry shortcake. It was amazing. A definite winning recipe for sure.

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  28. Hello! I bake these pound cakes in a jar all the time! I make lemon, almond, orange and cherry flavored regularly. As a military spouse I take care of lots and lots of deployed folks by sending them these cakes (which they LOVE by the way) and I was hoping for maybe a little change and I was wondering if chocolate could be added in some way to make a chocolate pound cake?

    Thanks so much for your time!

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  29. Aww this story made me so nostalgic, and I never had grandparents like that , but always wished I did but I had several dear older people who loved me and I them dearly in my childhood and young adulthood and they are sorely missed. I have so many great memories of Mrs. Perry, Mrs. McKinley and the lady I cant remember her name but she always had lemon drops and Persian rugs and we were allowed to lay on those rugs and eat whatever she had for us to eat including those wonderful lemon drops. I wish I could remember her name but my mom died in 2005 and she is the only other person who would remember that sweet lady’s name. Anyway they made my childhood and young adulthood so much sweeter and loving. Thank you for bringing these memories back for me.

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  30. Christy, Thanks for the wonderful recipe. It has been given to several friends, and they all loved it! Want to send some to our grandson who is being deployed tonight. Do you think it would make it to him fine?
    Thanks in advance, Hugs, Ruth

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  31. Just, made these pound cakes, they are AMAZING 🙂 I used mini loaf pans (7)… baked 40-45 minutes… some were done at 40, a couple at 45 minutes. Thank you so much for this recipe )

    reply to this comment >

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