Cake in a Jar or Mason Jar Cakes are a fun, portable, and customizable dessert, perfect for gifts, parties, and holidays!
These adorable mason jar cakes are so fun and the perfect dessert or gift for weddings, parties, and holidays!
This DIY cake in jar recipe will show you how to make these fun mason jar cakes. But, because it's just layers of cake and frosting, there are a million different types and flavor combos. You can really jazz these up however you want.
And, there are a few tips and tricks to get the mason jar cakes perfect each time.
Tools and Ingredients
- Cake and Frosting: the great thing about these cakes is you can use your favorite recipe. I used half batches of 3 different types of cake and frosting. Each half batch got me about 5-6 jars of cake.
Tools:
- Mason Jars
- Parchment Paper
- Sheet Cake or Jelly Roll Pan
- Cookie Cutters
- Piping Bag and Tips
- Paper Towels or Cloth
Types of Jars for Jar Cakes
The main part of mason jar cakes is putting them in mason jars! But really, you can use any clear jar you want.
For the majority of my cakes, I used these jars. They're 12 oz and I think just the right size for a personalized cake in a jar. But you can go bigger or make mini cakes in a jar too. It helps to have wide mouth jars that don't have a lot of embellishments or writing on them, but it's not necessary.
You can see here I used some leftovers in super small mason jars I had on hand and they still turned out super cute.
How to Make
Step 1: Make and Bake Cake
The nice thing about this is you can use your favorite cake recipe! I'm using a basic white cake recipe and adding sprinkles and baking in a 7 x 11 or 9 x 13 inch cake or jelly roll pan. I lined the baking pan with parchment paper and then buttered and floured so the cake wouldn’t stick. Then, prepare cake batter according to instructions and pour into the prepared pan and bake for 8-12 minutes.
Similar to these lunchbox cakes, the smaller the pan the thicker the cake layers. I wanted to have different flavors so I did half batch of 3 different kinds of cake and it make about 15 mason jar cakes.
Step 2: Make Frosting
You can use whatever frosting recipe you like! For the funfetti birthday cakes in a jar, I used a half batch of my basic American Buttercream. It helps to put the frosting into a piping bag, but you can also spoon it into the mason jars.
Step 3: Cut and Layer Cake
Now for the fun part, cutting and layering the cake into the jars. I used these circle cookie cutters and found one that matched the opening of my jar.
Be sure to test the size of your cookie cutters to the size of the openings and if they taper. The jars I have taper a bit at the bottom, so I used a smaller size for the bottom layer.
Then, add your first layer of cake. After that, pipe or spoon in the frosting layers. Add any optional sprinkles, crushed cookies, or whatever else you want to use. Then, repeat the process until you get to the top of your jar, being sure to clean up anything that splatters on the sides of the jar with a paper towel or cloth between each layer so it stays looking clean.
And, don’t waste the extra cake! You can still use it for layers in the jar cakes, but it will have a more rustic look to it, rather than the clean cake rounds from using the cookie cutters. Of course, you can also snack on it instead, or use the leftovers for a few cakesicles.
That's it! Add any optional sprinkles, etc. to the last layer and close up your jar and they're ready to be served, gifted, or stored!
Tips and Tricks
- I've found wide mouth jars work best but you can make these cute jar cakes in almost any type of mason jar.
- Be sure to test the size of your cookie cutters to the size of the openings and if the jars taper. My mason jars tapered at the bottom so I had to use a smaller size for the bottom layer.
- The amount of jar cakes you'll get will depend on the cake recipe, the size of pan you bake it in, and the size of your jars.
CaKe in a JAr Recipe Ideas
I made three different types of Jar Cakes:
- Brown Butter Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- Chocolate Cake with Marshmallow Frosting and Caramel Sauce
- Funfetti Cake with American Buttercream and Sprinkles
But, the great thing about these cakes is they are totally customizable. You can make whatever type of cake pairing you want! Here are plenty of ideas to get you started:
Cake Ideas
- Chocolate Devil’s Food Cake
- Yellow Cupcake
- Yellow Cake (like from this yellow cupcake recipe)
- Brown Butter Cake
- Red Velvet Cake
- White Cake (Like from this vanilla cake with strawberry filling)
- Pink Champagne Cake
Frosting Ideas
- Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Marshmallow Frosting
- Strawberry Frosting
- Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
- Ermine Frosting
You can check out more Partylicious frosting recipes here.
Other Filling Ideas
- Sprinkles
- Cookie Crumbles
- Jams, Jellies and Curds (Like this Easy Lemon Curd)
- Strawberry Cake Filling
- Homemade Caramel Sauce
- Strawberry Crunch Topping
- Nutella or Chocolate Ganache
- Candy such as M&M, Reeses, etc.
- Oreo Dip or Oreo Fluff
Fun Flavor ideas:
- Dirt Cake in a Jar: chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, with crushed Oreos
- Spice Cake: similar to these cupcakes with snickerdoodle frosting
- S'mores Cake: chocolate cake, marshmallow frosting and crushed graham crackers
- Birthday Cake: shown below, funfetti and sprinkles!
- Unicorn Cake: pastel rainbow cake layers with sprinkles and vanilla frosting
- Pina Colada: vanilla cake with coconut frosting
When to Serve
These portable and storable Cake in a Jar are so fun for parties! They make great party favors for weddings, showers, birthday parties and other events.
They're also a great make ahead and single serving dessert for holidays like Halloween, Easter, Christmas and Valentines. And let's not forget gifts! They make great homemade Christmas or birthday gifts for your friends and family!
Make Ahead and Storing
These cakes in a jar follow the same storing rules as regular frosted cakes. Cake with buttercream frostings can sit out at room temperature for up to a day. If you’re filling the cakes with anything perishable such as fresh fruit, chocolate whipped cream, homemade lemon curd, vanilla pastry cream, etc. they should be stored in the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature before serving.
The assembled cakes will last 3-5 days in the fridge and up to a month in the freezer.
Looking for more unique cake recipes? Check these out!
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Cake in a Jar Recipe
Equipment
- Parchment Paper
- Sheet Cake or Jelly Roll Pan
- Paper Towels or Cloth
INGREDIENTS
Cake
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbs cornstarch
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large egg whites room temperature
- 2 tbs canola oil
- ⅓ cup milk room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ cup rainbow sprinkles
Frosting
- 1 stick unsalted butter omit added salt if using salted butter
- 1.5-2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream
- Pinch salt
Sprinkles
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease a 9x13 or 7x11 inch jelly roll pan with butter or vegetable shortening and line with parchment. Then re-grease and flour the parchment lined pan. Set aside.
- Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl.
- Using the beater attachment of a standing mixer, or using a hand held mixer with a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar 3-4 minutes. It should be light and fluffy and pale yellow.
- Add egg whites one at a time, fully incorporating between each egg white. Then, mix in the oil and vanilla.
- With the mixer on low, alternate adding the dry ingredients in 3 additions and the milk in two additions, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Mix until the flour is just incorporated. Do not overmix or the cake can get dry/tough.
- Using a spatula, gently fold in the sprinkles.
- Pour the cake into the prepared pan and bake for 8-12 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean when piercing the center of the cake. Let cool completely.
Frosting
- Using a standing mixer or a hand held mixer in a large bowl, whip the butter 3-4 minutes until creamy and pale yellow.
- Add powdered sugar and vanilla mix on low until it looks crumbly.
- Turn up the speed and mix another 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Mix in milk or cream until desired consistency is reached. Add to a piping bag fitted with a large tip.
Assembling Cakes in a Jar
- Once the cake has cooled, use circle cookie cutters to cut out circles that fit the size of your jars. Be sure to check for tapering or jars that are smaller or wider at the top and cut out circles accordingly.
- Alternatively, you can just break off pieces of cake and place in layers in the jar for a more rustic look. This also a great way to use the extra cake from cutting out circles.
- Then, add your first layer of cake to the jar. Carefully pipe a layer of frosting on top of the cake. You can also spoon the frosting into the jars. Be sure to keep the inside of the jars clean by whipping off any excess frosting or cake crumbs from the insides of the jars with a paper towel or cloth after each layer.
- Add a layer of optional sprinkles, crushed cookies, caramel or whatever else you want to use. Then, repeat the process of layering cake, frosting, sprinkles, etc. until you get to the top of your jar.
- That’s it! Add any optional sprinkles, etc. to the last layer and close up your jar and they’re ready to serve, gifted, or stored!
Notes
- This recipe makes 5 to 6 twelve ounce jar cakes. The amount of jar cakes you’ll get will depend on the cake recipe, the size of pan you bake it in, and the size of your jars. The recipe can easily be double and baked in two pans.
- These are totally customizable and you can also use your favorite cake or frosting recipes. Typically a half batch of most cake recipes works perfectly for a 7 x 11 or 9 x 13 inch cake or jelly roll pan.
- I’ve found wide mouth jars work best (like these) but you can make these in most mason jars.
- Be sure to test the size of your cookie cutters to the size of the openings and if the jars taper. My mason jars tapered at the bottom so I had to use a smaller size for the bottom layer.
- These jar cakes can last up to a day at room temperature (provided there are no perishable fillings such as fruit, whipped cream, etc.). They’ll last 5-7 days in the fridge or can be frozen up to a month.
Sherry says
Has anyone made Halloween decorated jar cakes ?
Siaris says
I just made the frosting recipe and it’s so yummy! Loved all the ideas of flavors combinations. Thanks for sharing.
Angie says
I Love these cake jars and to make some. What price would you charge for 1?
Also, about the confetti cake you used a homemade white cake, but when I tried that, and stirred in the sprinkles, it made my batter blue. Do you just stir once after you put in the sprinkles? Great ideas! I also want to check out your candy dipped strawberry recipe:)
Cindy says
Love this! I can’t wait to make these. What are the two chocolate frostings with the yellow cake? I’m going to send these to my daughter in a care package and she loves chocolate. 🙂 Thanks!
Sophia says
Hi, they’re chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream and chocolate ganache!