Saint Patrick’s day is next week and I have a recipe for an adorable and festive cake in a jar that is sure to please! It is really simple to put together but it looks amazing and tastes even better. This is perfect if your are lacking in the cake presentation department, just whip up a batch and people will be calling you Martha! Need to impress your guests? These will knock the socks off of partygoers and have them begging for your secret.
St. Patrick’s day cake in a jar
This recipe is extremely easy. It is great as a last minute party idea, a cute gift for birthdays or to let someone know you are thinking about them. It is also a fantastic activity to do with your kids, your girlfriends or for a bridal shower. You can even set up some empty jars and a decorating station to have your own cake bar! How genius is that?! I made these in honor of St. Patrick’s day but they can easily be personalized for any occasion. You can play around with the jar size to fit your needs, I used these because they were already in my kitchen. One box of cake mix makes two large jars or four small to medium sized jars.
Here is what you need:
- White cake mix
- Eggs
- Water
- Oil
- Gel food coloring
- Cream cheese icing
- Mason jar
- Green sprinkles
- Chocolate chips
First mix your cake batter. I am not one of those awesome people who make their cakes from scratch, but if you are then go ahead and skip ahead while us non bakers catch up! I would love to be able to make beautiful baked goods from nothing, but it just isn’t my strong suit. Pretty much every dessert I make begins in a box and I change it up to make it my own. So, getting back to our recipe, make your cake. Combine your cake mix, eggs, water, oil and gel coloring (Wilton’s gel colors are made specifically for cooking with).
Pour the batter into a pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. It doesn’t matter how thick your cake layers are, but I wanted mine about an inch thick so I chose a large pan over a regular cake pan. Don’t worry about it being perfect, and if you accidentally cook the bottom a little too long (like I did) it will still be awesome! After your cake is finished cooking set it aside to cool for 15-20 minutes (we don’t want our icing melting!) and prepare your decorating station. For these cakes I am using some yummy cream cheese icing, chocolate chips and green sugar sprinkles. The Pillsbury icing can is ideal for this because I don’t have to get messy and fuss over icing bags and it allows me to reach down into my jar with it as well. Once your cake is cooled, flip it upside down onto a cutting board. Use the lid from your jar as a cutting guide and cut a loose circle around it. If you don’t have a lid you can just set the jar on top and cut around that.
Put your first layer in the jar. Make sure to lay it flat so the rest of the cake doesn’t get wonky. If the cake is bigger than the jar opening just do a little folding to get past the rim. Add some icing on top. I like to keep everything from smudging by refrigerating my icing 30 minutes prior to this step but you don’t have to.
Add your second layer of cake, then icing, then cake and so on until you’ve built up enough layers to meet the jar rim. I like to finish with a good amount of icing on the very top, but not so much that there is no room to sprinkle goodies onto.
Top it off with some yummy sprinkles, chocolate chips or whatever else you like! A few other options that would be great with this cake are chocolate sauce, nuts, coconut, rainbow sprinkles or even some crushed up Andes mints. You could even add some goodies in between the layers.
Don’t you just want to lick the screen? I know I do! I made two mini jars for Judah and my husband (I had to fight to keep them away from mine!) with the left over cake. For those I did a single layer of cake and topped it with icing. Can’t finish it in one sitting? Share it with your sweetie or screw on the lid and save it for later. If you are giving this as a gift, dress it up with some cute ribbon.
What are you waiting for, grab a fork and dig in!
[…] Cake in a jar […]