Canning Sweetbreads, and Cake!!

Good morning! Welcome back to Ridin’ Out the Recession! We’re glad you guys came back to visit with us again!

This morning we’re going to show you all how to can your own cakes, and sweetbreads. I know we’ve been promising showing you all how to do this since day one, but really we’ve had some priorities that I couldn’t turn my back on, so I apologize.

Yesterday Deb asked me, “When are you going to show our friends how to can cakes?” I replied, “Deb, you know I’ve had some very pressing things on my mind!”

She then said, and not too politely, I might add, “DUB, FOOTBALL SEASON IS OVER WITH…Kaput!” I looked at her, really kinda’ shocked, and said, “It is??” Shoot, I thought we were waiting for them to select once again for some more bowl games, or playoffs!

So, I agreed last night to start canning some cakes again, though the whole time my bottom lip was “pooched out,” upon hearing the bad news in regards to football!

I wonder if they’ll be showing the Sports illustrated Swimsuit Edition on the tube anytime in the near future? That’d probably help my football letdown considerably!

Give me a minute or two, I’d drifted off in my mind to a beach somewhere, maybe Bali, surrounded by the S.I. swimsuit models, all clamoring up to me, asking for a piece of banana nut-bread. Me steady slicing cake, just as hard as I could go, finally serving the last slice, then looking down and seeing… I ‘d cut off two of my fingers! Rule #1…pay attention to where the knife is, and not what’s going on around you!

Well, while I was in Miz Judi’s Kitchen this morning, canning cakes, guess who stopped by? None other than the boss, Miz Judi herself. She’s gone again now, but between you and me, she came through here like one of them huuricane-naders! That’s a hurricane and tornado mixed, if you’ve never listened to the great, Jerry Clower before!

You know, I’d been in here cooking, and I do have to admit, that I’m not the most organized cook there is, but you’d think she’d thought a bomb had went off in here! I’m a firm believer in the fact, that it just ain’t good unless you get it all over you, but the way she carried on, I swear she must cook with white gloves over her dern hands!

Dub, says she! Have you ever washed a dish in your life? Look at this mess!

Yes ma’am, yes ma’am, yes ma’m, I know it, and just as quick as Deb gets in, she’ll, I mean we’ll, get it cleaned back up, I promise you, we will.

Dub, do you realize with the messes you make, that if I was paying you by the hour…I’d go flat broke!

I replied that yes ma’am, I do, and I’ll try to do a lot better from here on out, you just wait and see!

Now I’m thinking to myself, pay me by the hour? You don’t pay me at all! Shoot, I could stay at home and get the exact same type of lip service from ole Deb too, God love her…sometimes!

I said, Miz Judi, I been canning cakes this morning, you know, ya gotta grease them jars up, mix that batter, cut up some fruit, spoon all that mess in a jar, I mean it ain’t poppin’ biscuits outta’ the can, and putting them on a cookie sheet!

You know what she said then? Canning cakes? Why, Brian and I were talking just the other night, I’d be willing to bet Dub don’t even know how to can cakes, but he sure likes to talk up that he can. But since you have canned a few this morning, let me see a couple of em!

That woman, I mean the boss, goes over to the counter and starts eyeing them cakes. Now understand, when I can cakes, soups, vegetables, whatever, I check the lids to make sure they’re sealed good…every time! Never, ever, do I not check that. You see, that’s the key to the longevity of your canned goods…making sure they’ve sealed!

Miz Judi starts picking them up and looking them over. What kind is this, Dub?

Why, that one is a Strawberry, Blueberry, and Banana Nut-bread mixed, sure turned out pretty, didn’t it?
How about these two here?

Well Miz Judi, those are Carrot cakes and a Funfetti cake that we did for the grandbabies, don’t they look good?

They look alright she said. Then she went to really looking hard at them. Next thing I knew she says, Dub, I don’t believe this jar of Nutbread cake sealed properly, do you? I told her yes ma’m, it was, cause I’d checked them earlier.

Oh no it’s not, says the boss lady, and sticks it in her pocket! She “lifted” my dern cake! I kept my mouth shut, you know, the boss is always right, no matter what!

She keeps poking around and says, Dang-it Dub, one of these carrot cake seals is busted too, then proceeds to put one of them in her pocket too! Well, I ain’t “the sharpest knife in the drawer,” but I see where this is headed, so I step in and say, I’m gonna make sure these others is sealed good, then put em up, okay?

I think that’s a very good idea, Dub, but are you sure you don’t need me to help you check the rest of these seals? No thank you, ma’am, I’m sure…I’m real sure!

Well she starts out the door, them two cake jars bulging out her pockets, about the same time Brian walks in and hollers, Hello Dub… just a lookin’ at Miz Judi’s “poked out pockets!”

He watches Miz Judi walk out the door and says, I guess from the looks of her pockets Dub, there musta’ been some seals busted on your canned cakes this morning, am I right?

You see, I’d told Brian last night, I was canning cakes this morning. I then looked at Brian and winked, and said, C’mon and grab a chair, I believe there just might be one more busted seal on one of these jars…ya’ wanna piece of cake?

Finally…how to can cakes, and pictures too!

Home Canning Sweetbreads and Cakes:

Last night Deb and I canned 16 pints of cakes. We did 7 pints of Strawberry, Blueberry, and Banana Nut Bread mixed. We took a box of blueberry muffin mix, and mixed it thoroughly. It had its own little can of blueberries that you drain. After mixing the blueberry mix up, we then added the banana nutbread mix and mixed it together with the blueberry mix.

We then added the canned blueberries, we also took about three good handfuls of fresh blueberries, and cut up about ten good sized fresh strawberries, and stirred all this into the mix, making sure they were all evenly distributed.

We canned this batch first, then canned a carrot cake, and funfetti cake as well.

I gotta’ tell you, I tried the strawberry, blueberry, banana nut cake this morning, good gracious, it was absolutely delicious!
Let’s get started!

Preheat your oven to 350.

First, in regards to the Strawberry, Blueberry, and Banana Nut Bread Cake, you need to grease the insides of 7 wide-mouth, pint, Mason jars. (Pic. #1)

I spray just a little Pam in the jar, then Deb takes a paper towel and wipes it around, seeing that the whole jar, inside, is greased well. Do not flour, as Miss Bonnie in N.C. cautions.

Then you spoon your batter into the jars, filling no more than HALFWAY! (Pic. #1 (right))You now want to take care and wipe off any batter from the outside of the jar, paying particular attention to the jar rims. Get off ALL batter from jar rims. This could cause contamination of your cake inside.

Place jars on a baking pan, and cook for 35-45 minutes. Last night ours took 45 minutes, but oven temperatures may vary. When you think they may be done, pull one jar out and insert a knife. If the knife comes out clean, they’re done.

After you see the cakes are done, pull jars out one at a time. Place your seal and ring on the jar and set on a wire rack, or folded towels on your countertop. Repeat process until you’ve sealed all jars.

Be very careful, the jars are very hot.

I hadn’t done this before, but Miss Bonnie says to put your lids (seals and rings), in a pot of hot water, but not too hot where the water starts boiling. If you get it this hot, it may damage the seals themselves.

What I did was I got my water to a boil, set it off the burner, and added several cups of tap water. I did this until I could stick my hand in the water to retrieve my lids, but just barely could stand doing it. Call me stupid, but it worked for me! I’m sure you can use your own judgment in regards to what’s best for you.

You don’t have to dry the lids thoroughly, just shake em off good, then screw them onto your jars.

Picture #2 shows the whole batch of nutbread we made, while picture #2 (right) shows a couple with me attempting to show you the fruit in it.

Picture #3, shows the funfetti cake on the left, we did this cake for the grandbabies. The cake sitting beside it on the right, is a carrot cake.

Picture #3 (right), is the nutbread cake, taken the morning after, showing how they look and standup after cooling overnight.

Picture #4, is the nutbread cake sliced up, showing you all the fresh fruit inside that had been added to the mix. Again, this turned out really, really good!

After canning these cakes, you know, I feel it is my duty to taste test these things prior to sharing these recipes and “how-to” procedures. I don’t want to steer any of you good people wrong…we literally consider you our friends.

With that being said, and with my duty being showing you guys, to the best of my ability, the right ways of doing this, and taste testing them as well, I have to confess that tonight, I may not sleep as good as I normally do. The reasoning behind this…a “sugar buzz!” It’s a tough job…but somebody’s got to do it, and it might as well be me!

In regards to the funfetti and carrot cake, Deb and I canned both these batches together, and it took 9 wide-mouth, pint jars. Just watch your cooking time closely, and remember, DO NOT fill your jars up more than halfway.

I believe you guys will really enjoy these, plus your kids can get involved in this with you. Teach em how to do things like this, I believe you’ll be surprised at the interest they’ll show.

One other note, these cakes will last on your shelf in the pantry 4-5 years easy. Just be sure after cooking, and cooling down a while, the lid’s sealed up good. Just take your finger and press down on the top. If it doesn’t give to the touch, you’re good to go!

While they’re cooling, you’ll probably hear the pop or ping of the jar sealing itself, so keep an ear out!

Thank you all so much for coming again this morning! We hope you enjoy canning your cakes, we sure do.

Please come back again, and God Bless you all!

Dub and Deb