Duff Goldman's Pumpkin Spice Jack-in-a-Jar

"I love that you can take an ordinary jar and bring it to life!" says the pastry chef and owner of Charm City Cakes.

Photo: Greg DuPree

“I love that you can take an ordinary jar and bring it to life!” says the pastry chef and owner of Charm City Cakes.

Duff Goldman’s Pumpkin Spice Jack-in-a-Jar

1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. kosher salt
1¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground ginger
⅛ tsp. ground cloves
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
⅓ cup whole buttermilk, at room temperature
½ tsp. vanilla extract
⅔ cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 cups buttercream frosting
10 (8-oz.) wide-mouth jars with lids

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9-inch square pan, and line with parchment paper; grease parchment. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a large bowl; set aside.

2. Whisk together pumpkin, oil and sugars in a separate bowl. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; whisk until combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes; transfer to a wire rack, and cool completely. Cut into 1-inch cubes.

4. Spoon or pipe ¼-inch frosting in bottom of each jar. Top each with 4 cake cubes, lightly pressing together. Repeat layers until jar is filled ½-inch below rim, finishing with frosting. Seal jars. Draw jack-o’-lantern faces on jars with permanent marker (or cut and paste black construction-paper shapes). Store in fridge up to 1 week.
Serves: 10
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Food Hack! “A fun thing to do is to combine different orange-colored candies inside the jars with the cake and buttercream to create different flavors and textures,” says Goldman.