Birthday Cake in a Jar

Posted by Lori:

I'm really excited about this recipe because the possibilities are endless!  These little individual jars would be cute decorated and given as birthday gifts or when someone has been sick.  They would be great for Christmas homemade gifts, school parties (when homemade goodies are allowed) and even fundraisers.

A couple of months ago, a family friend sent me a link for "Rainbow Cake in a Jar".  It was so cute and my plan was to make it some day.  However, I never had the time to do it, but kept thinking about the idea.  Since my son, Jacob, was having a birthday last week, and another son asked me to buy a Pillsbury "Funfetti" cake mix, I decided to make a Birthday Cake in a Jar and try it out for the birthday boy (it ended up being 'in addition to' his birthday cake - not 'in place of' his birthday cake!

Instead of pint jars as the rainbow cake had mentioned, I decided to get smaller 1/2 pint jars.  They are the perfect size for one serving.  To begin, remove the caps and rings from the jars.  Wash jars and dry them.

Place all 12 jars on a baking sheet. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix cake mix (desired flavor) per package directions.  Pour approx. 1/3 cup of mix into each jar.

Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out mostly clean (a few crumbs is what I prefer so it's really moist).  Mine took 28 minutes.  Take cakes out and allow them to cool.  Now either top them with the caps and rings them until ready to use or freeze until ready to use.

Top with icing and sprinkles.  I used homemade butter cream.  Canned would work, too.  I used a 10 M Wilton tip to decorate the top with icing. Note: You could do a small amount of icing before putting the rings and lids on then they would be ready to give to someone.  The only thing is that the icing wouldn't be as generous of an amount as I've shown here.

This one is topped with squirt-type whipped cream and sprinkles.

Another friend mentioned making Neapolitan cakes using strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate cake mixes.  Wouldn't that be cute??!!  And, how about chocolate and strawberry making the very-popular pink/brown party ideas??  Of course, some may want to use the bigger pint jars for some of these other creations.  I definitely want to do the rainbow cake some time.  I may have to teach Noah in Bible class soon!  That would be so much fun for the story of the rainbow!

On this GRATITUESDAY, I am grateful for a friend telling me about cakes in jars.  It's such a fun idea for your own family, but also a great way to brighten up someone else's day!  I am grateful for new ways to have fun in the kitchen!

Let me know what creations you think of making!

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

And....join us for GRATITUESDAY at Heavenly Homemakers!