Let me begin by simply saying I did not invent this.
I got the idea from here.
Which I found through Pinterest.
Which is addicting and fabulous all rolled into one.
I hate to give you more excuses to waste spend time on the internet, but Pinterest just be be awesome enough to make the exception.
My point is that I want to give credit where credit is due…although I would guess that that person probably didn’t invent it either. :)
I remember being really surprised that you could bake cake IN a mason jar.
Except that…duh…I bake using Pyrex dishes all the time…so why couldn’t I bake in a glass mason jar?!
Here’s whatcha do:
-Boxed white cake mix (I used 3 boxes)
-Divide evenly and dye using wilton icing colors
-Spray the heck outta the inside of your mason jar with Pam stuff.
-Layer colors.
-Set the filled jars in a lipped baking dish with 1/4″ of water in the bottom.
-Bake 350 degrees 35-40 minutes.
-Done.
See how the cake kinda grows a little mountain at the top?
No fear! Just scoop it out, give it to your kids who are begging to have cake NOW and once you cover it with frosting no one will ever know!!!
So that wasn’t groundbreaking.
Nor did I tell you anything that the link I provided above didn’t already tell you.
But…
Here are some tips for you now that I’ve made this myself:
I made two sizes. The larger jars are pint jars. The smaller ones are something else I’m too lazy to go look up.
From now on I will only use the smaller jars for a variety of reasons:
-it was MUCH easier to pour the layers evenly in the smaller/straight sided jars
-the straight sides of the small jars encouraged the layers to lay flat and bake more horizontally. the larger jars and their curved sides kinda caused more of a wavy effect.
-the large jars didn’t seem to cook all the way through. they were a little under done at the very bottom. (although a few more minutes in the oven would probably solve that problem!)
-the smaller jars make for better portion sizes. the large ones are BIG “slices” of cake!
One box of cake mix will get you about 4-5 small jars of cake. So keep in mind that this is probably a project best saved for smaller gatherings. That works out to A LOT of cake! Luckily, it’s just boxed mix so it’s easy.
Don’t be lazy like me and not wipe the drippage from pouring layers from the mouths of the jars. Or else, you’ll end up with brown baked on ugliness. Boo.
I used Meg’s Cool Whip Buttercream frosting. Which is now hands down my most favoritest frosting recipe ever.
Adding Cool Whip to the buttercream gives it such a light texture, it’s yumm-o. Promise.
I made you a cute little recipe card. Mainly because I just wanted an excuse to use my cute little printables. :)
Because you just use a dollop of frosting on the top (which I applied by putting it in a big ziploc bag and snipping a corner for lazy girl’s piping), you have a lot of leftover frosting.
Which actually turned out to be a good thing because you end up eating most of the frosting with the first few bites of cake since it’s all on top.
Leaving you with naked cake halfway through.
No good my friends. No good.
So I just plopped the extra frosting into a cute bowl and people helped themselves to frosting refills as needed!
I honestly think I’ll be doing mason jar cake a LOT from now on.
It was so fun and a lot less messy for the kids to eat.
Remember, you don’t have to do rainbow…
*pink and purple for a princess party
*red, white, and blue for the 4th of July (!!!)
*different shades of blue (or pink) for a baby shower
*red and green for Christmas
*your husband’s favorite sports team colors for big games (purple and gold! laker love! represent!…sorry. i’ll never do that again. too much.)
*how cute would the rainbow be for a 70’s themed party?!
I could go on for a while here, but you get the picture.
Happy mason jarring!!!
If you plan on doing this, what color scheme/party theme will be the maiden voyage of your mason jar happiness?
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This looks like great fun & I am not sure what flavor I will be doing, but rest assured I will be doing it soon (and I know you were totally stressed not knowing if I was going to do it or not that is why I added that whole rest assured…LOL)
I believe I am totally going to try this for my boys’ birthday party this weekend. I love the rainbow look, it’s just so pretty. Thanks so much!!
thanks for the buttercream frosting recipe. i love the little printable! ;)
pinned it! thanks!!!
I saw your link for rainbow cake @ Pleated Poppy Art Party.
Which looks great….
But THIS???
SUPERB!
Thanks for the DIY.
I love this! I don’t have kids of my own, but I DO have friends with kids and nieces and nephews! Ok, let’s be honest- I think most of the adults I know would like this, too. I’m so excited to find a reason to make these:-).
Can’t wait to make these! I’m doing a 50s themed bbq at the end of summer, and going to have to do something like this for it!
I believe the little jars are pint jars and the larger are quart jars as I can and that is what I use having the same items. Thanks for the idea find! We made rainbowe cake for St. Patty’s day but this seems way more fun!
Love this idea!!
Awesome! Can’t wait to make these for the 4th of July! St. Patrick’s Day with orange, white + green would be cute too.
Amazing!! Would love to try!
Okay your super mom for sure! This was such a great idea that I put this link as my FB status! Hopefully you’ll get a few new readers!!
Ps. sorry for being such a lurker! Only time to read lately! :)
Loving this! I just added it to my recipe box – can’t wait to try it out with my bake-crazy 5-year old!
love these. k’s 8th bday party sleepover is fri night, rainbow theme. hello, perfect match! totally making them. WITH that frosting. :)
amazing and CUTE! and that frosting is crazy good lookin’.
XO
Thank you so much for sharing this!! Can’t wait to try it with my kiddos next week. My daughter wants dark puple, lime green, light blue, and teall. Sounds like a 70s lava lamp to me LOL!
I made these too when I saw them on pinterest. I love that site. I spend hrs on it while at work. Shh. :) Whats your username? I’d love to follow you on there too.
i am SO doing this!
thanks for the tutorial, jeannett!
I love these!! Can’t wait to try them out!!
These look super Yummy! I never thought of the cake in the jar thing either. This would be so cute for a teacher, or Daycare provider. A little sweet something just for “1.” Although you didn’t invent the idea, thank you for sharing these pretty pics of your success.
A previous poster was right…your small jars are pints the larger are quarts. You can find straight sided quart jars, but you have to look. You can also bake quickbreads like pumpkin, banana, etc. For this I use the straight-sided quarts. I use the lids with a round of cute fabric between the lid and the ring. Makes a great teacher (or anyone really) gift!
They turned out gorgeous! I wanted to let you know that I featured you in my Rainbow Ideas round up at: http://printabelle.com/?p=2268 If you would like a featured button, I have one here on my About page: http://printabelle.com/?page_id=724
I made these last night for a birthday gathering today. However, I have to redo them again this morning!!! Overnight the cake shrunk and now I have odd little mountains that only fill half of my jar. :( I followed the directions to the letter, so I am not sure what went wrong.
4th of July!! Red, White and Blue! ;-)
How do we remove this to eat it?
Such a great tutorial! Me and my roommate are doing a desert camo theme one for her man overseas! Well just have to send the icing in a separate container :)
For the frosting issue you have, you could always use a filling tip and pipe frosting down in the middle, that way you don’t have to refil.
I made these as end of year gifts at work a few years ago and then again the next year at a new school (which I still work in). The problem is I have people who ask me for them constantly..I mean DAILY! I made the really little ones last year for the day before Christmas break for all of my 8th graders. They were a big hit. I also did bluntness with blue frosting and sprinkles for a baby how’re and put the theme o the shower to match the invites on the lid. (Wow that makes me sound super crafty but I definitely did as little work as possible). I Have done different flavors/color combinations/etc.
tips I have found helpful:
make sure to get the straight mouthed jars because the smaller jars come in both as well as it’s not as easy to eat out of the rounded ones. Also tie a colored spoon on with some ribbon and it makes it perfect for gifts. Also I found a site that suggested adding a touch of vinegar to he cake with the coloring and that intensifys the colors. It worked well but I haven’t done it that way since the rainbow ones. The first time I did it I mixed the colors in paper cups and poured it in using those… The paper cup bends and forms a pour spout making it less drippy.
Still trying to come up with a solution to the missing frosting at the bottom..thinking for this years I may actually core out the middle and pipe frosting in but then that’s a lot o frosting!! .