Trends

Food Served in Jars … Discuss

Bar Tartine's pickles.
Bar Tartine’s pickles. Photo: Brian Smeets/Grub Street

Many of you have likely noticed the now prevalent trend of serving desserts — especially budinos, puddings, mousses, cheesecakes, and even pies — in canning jars. Recent examples we’ve seen have been at Plum, Marlowe, and then there’s Bar Tartine’s pickle service, Hog & Rocks’s pimiento cheese, and sometimes Frances’s chicken liver, also in jars. We’ve always thought it was cute, but now that it’s a full-fledged trend, pastry chef and writer Emily Luchetti admits on the Scoop that she’s really not that into it.

In particular, pies cooked in jars, she says, don’t turn out that well. It’s more about the cute presentation than it is about making a good crust. And don’t even get her started about cupcakes in jars, even though she won’t name any names of those responsible.

I have seen them without paper liners, a definite improvement, but the proportions of frosting to cake are still off and they still require a spoon. This negates one of the best things about eating a cupcake—using your fingers.

Certainly pickles and spreads make perfect sense served in jars. But we doubt this trend is here to stay for too long — the cuteness and novelty factors are already wearing thin.

Why I Hate Desserts in Jars [Scoop]

Food Served in Jars … Discuss