Gifting made delicious by me

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
(from scratch of course) in a jar.

Earlier in the week I got a call from a friend asking me to whip up some of my gift cakes for her.  She wanted to send some special 'Thank You's' to a few people.  (L) asked for yellow cake with chocolate frosting "because really, who doesn't like yellow cake and chocolate frosting?"  Well for starters, me.  My first thought was 'BORING'... Then, I realized that I am the one baking this and I can make it not boring if I want.  To shorten the story and move onto the recipe, my initial reaction was WAY off and these turned out to be delicious.  This recipe is designed for 6 pint jars, each holding 2 servings.

Yellow Cake (Well the cake part is still pretty plain, but just wait until it's frosted)
2 cups 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick or 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, well-shaken

Heat oven to 350°F.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.  In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy.  Beat in vanilla.  Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each.  At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined.  Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.
Split batter evenly between 6 glass pint jars (the jars should be clean, dry, and lightly oiled).  Tap each jar lightly on the counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 22 to 27 minutes. Cool in jars on a rack 1 hour.

Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
8 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 single pkg of instant coffee
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp corn starch

This is where this recipe gets good (and by good, I mean gooooooooddddd, mmmmmmm).  I'll admit when I first saw the use of sour cream in frosting I was a little, er, reluctant to try it.  Let me tell you that I did not know it would become one of my favorites.  No egg whites, no white sugar, no butter; but unbelievably good. Set the cup of sour cream out and let it come to room temperature.  In a double-boiler heat chocolate until melted, add instant coffee and stir well.  Remove from heat and let cool until it just begins to thicken.  Whisk together sour cream, corn syrup, vanilla extract, and corn starch until well combined.  Pour chocolate into mixture slowly.  Stir quickly until mixture is uniform.  Cool in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until cake is cooled to room temperature.  Put frosting in frosting bag (only fill to about half full) and add frosting directly on top of cake in jar.  It looks best if frosted in a swirl increasing in thickness toward the center.

At this point you put the lid on and if you have a vacuum sealer, use it; if not no worries.  This cake should be eaten within 5 days and due to the sour cream frosting should remain refrigerated until ready to eat.

Yum