Cake in a Jar

http://sevenclowncircus.com/2011/12/smores-cake-in-a-jar-homemade-gift-for-teachers.html
S’mores Cake in a Jar Recipe

FOR CRUST:

3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter
2 pinches of salt

Melt butter and mix in graham crumbs and salt. Mix until moistened. Spray 4 mason jars with non-stick spray and press graham crust into jars. Press down with whatever you have in your kitchen that works.

FOR CAKE:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
1 cup + 2 tablespoon heavy cream
1 cup butter, melted
4 tablespoons sour cream

For Topping:

1 bag of large marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add milk, cream, butter and vanilla, and mix until combined. Stir in sour cream. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Mix until batter is smooth. Using a 1/4 cup measure, add batter to mason jars one scoop at a time. You only want to fill them up about half way, and the batter should work evenly for 4 jars. Again – don’t worry if it's not perfect. Place mason jars in a baking dish and add about 1 1/2 cups of water to the bottom. Bake for 30 minutes (or longer if needed), or until cake is set.

Remove cake from the oven and press large marshmallows down on top. Brown marshmallows under broiler for about 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown. Don’t burn if you can help it!

Now, the directions say to serve immediately, but I wasn’t able to do that. I did deliver them once they had cooled, but it looked like they are just fine to wait a bit to eat!

*Makes {4} 24-ounce mason jar cakes plus {1} 16-ounce mason jar with a little batter left over.
Decorating the S’mores Cake in a Jar

http://www.beehiveandbirdsnest.com/2011/05/cake-in-a-jar.html
Red Velvet Cake recipe:

1 box white cake mix (“pudding in the mix” variety)
2 Tbs. cocoa
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 whole bottle of red food coloring (1/3 jar of paste or gel coloring)

Mix all the ingredients together on med-high for two minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Grease jars well. Bake at 350º til tester comes out clean. Cool completely before removing from jars.

Cream Cheese Icing:

1 stick butter (1/2 cup), softened
1 8 oz. pack of cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt

Beat butter and sugar until fluffy (about 2 minutes. It will be very dry and then suddenly will come together.) Add cream cheese then beat another 30-45 seconds. Beat in vanilla and salt.


Cake in a Jar

May 5, 2011 · 41 comments

in Baking, Presents, Recipes, School, Why Jennie's tired, Yum

It’s Teacher Appreciation Week! In the past some Room Moms have turned it into more of a Parent Extortion Week with requests for gift cards and hardcover books, but this year we’re keeping it simple. My kids will be doing thank you notes and these lovelies: Red Velvet cake in a jar. Yes, the cake is baked in a mason jar. And eaten from a mason jar. It’s such a cute, fun idea. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that it’s super easy. But it’s not too bad; it’s worth it. Plus these are unique and homemade and that’s my favorite kind of gift to give.

Step 1: Decide on your cake flavor. I made these for five different teachers. One hates chocolate. So I decided on Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting. For the other four teachers I also added a layer of homemade hot fudge. I usually do from-scratch cakes but I decided to make it easy on myself and did a doctored red velvet (recipe at the very end, if you are interested). Whatever recipe you use, please for the love of everything holy, make the frosting from scratch. Frosting is not hard to make and when it’s being put in a jar, the consistency doesn’t even matter. Frosting from a can is horrendous. There is no circumstance I can imagine where I would ever use it. I will get off my high horse now. But I’m serious.

Step 2: You will need glass canning jars. They can be whatever size you like but they must be wide-mouthed (that means they are straight up and down. Don’t even bother using traditional jars with the smaller mouths. They don’t work too well.) I chose pint-sized. I got five cakes out of one batch of cake batter. The half-pint sizes are nice too but are more of a single cupcake size. You’ll get more cakes out of one recipe, though, so think about what your needs are. (This picture shows all three kids of wide-mouth jars compared to a Coke can so you get a sense of size). If you live in Texas, H.E.B. has all three kinds of jars. They’re sold in a box of a dozen for about $7-10.

Step 3: The most important step. Grease those jars! You are going to be hating life if you don’t.

Step 4: Make your cake batter and fill each jar halfway. Bake at 350º for 25-30 minutes for a pint jar (no, they won’t break! Set them on a shelf in the middle of the oven and they’ll bake just fine). A great thing to use for a tester is a piece of uncooked spaghetti. Some people on the internet recommend baking cakes in a jar in the microwave. Actually they don’t taste that bad but the texture is really spongy. They do cook in about 90 seconds but they make the most hideous mess; the batter puffs up and then leaks all over the outside of the jar. It’s better to just bake them in the oven. It saves time in the long run.

Step 5: Remove cakes from the oven and let them cool completely. As they cool they’ll shrink a little bit and if you’ve greased your jars well, they’ll pop right out. While the cakes are cooling, make your frosting. Again, frosting is not hard to make; no excuses (recipe at the end). Once the cakes have cooled, cut off the weird end. (You should probably eat it as a reward for being so selfless by making nice gifts for people.) Cut the rest into two (or more) sections.

Step 6: You’ll want your jars to be nice and clean. Either wash them or get out a few more from the case that are already clean. Either way, place a piece of cake at the bottom. Top with some frosting. I suggest putting your frosting in a ziploc bag and snipping off the corner. It’s a lot neater and easier to fill up the jars this way instead of using a spoon. (I’ll leave the amounts up to your discretion.) Repeat again. If you happen to have some matching sprinkles, add some to the top frosting layer before you put on the lid.

Step 7: If you’ve completely screwed your jars up and they look terrible, don’t worry. Now is the time to pretty things up. Ribbons and bows cover a multitude of sins.

http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/cupcake-monday-lemonade-cupcakes/
I also love these Pink Lemonade Cupcakes in a Jar and thought I would share the recipe I spotted on Family Kitchen!

Pink Lemonade with Lemon Curd Filling Cake in a Jar

What you’ll need: Makes 6 individual servings

1 box of white cake mix {+ ingredients to make cake}
1 tablespoon pink lemonade mix {I used Crystal Light}
6 tablespoons
lemon curd – divided
zest of 2 lemons – divided
8 ounces whipped
topping

What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 6 – 8 ounce mason jars with cooking spray and place
them into a deep sided baking dish.

2. Into your mixer add ingredients per cake box instructions, plus the pink lemonade mix. Mix well to combine.

3. Pour approximately 1/4 cup of batter into each mason jar. Top with 1 tablespoon of lemon curd. Top with additional 1/2 cup of batter. And a sprinkle of lemon zest to each.

4. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes OR until it passes the toothpick test.

5. After removing from oven, allow cakes to cool completely. Once cooled, top with whipped topping and lemon zest.
YUM!

http://www.mommyknows.com/how-to-rainbow-cupcakes-in-a-jar/

{preheat oven to 350f}

You’ll need:

1 boxed white cake mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1 can of white frosting (I used Betty Crocker)
variety of Wilton icing colours
12 125ml (4oz) canning jars
Sprinkles

Make the white cake as per the instructions on the box. Then divide the cake mix up into portions (you don’t have to be exact). Add colouring to the cake mix. I used: No Taste Red, Lemon Yellow, Teal, Royal Blue and Violet (most of the colours of the rainbow).

Add about 1 tsp of each colour into the canning jars. Place the canning jars on a cooking sheet with about 1/4″ of water on it. Bake in the oven at 350f for 25-30 minutes.

Tip: Only fill the jars about 1/2 full. I think mine were too full and many ended up way to big!

Remove from oven and let them cool completely.

Once cooled remove the tops of the cupcakes to make room for frosting. Ice the cakes with the frosting and top with sprinkles.

Enjoy!

http://showtellshare.blogspot.com/2011/09/mini-grasshopper-pies-in-jar.html

Mini Grasshopper Pies in a Jar
by Lor

I love the combination of mint and chocolate any time of the year, but especially so during the holidays.
Since they're so yummy and portable, individual grasshopper pies are a big hit with our friends, teachers, and colleagues.

This is one of the easiest recipes I've found for grasshopper pie. Ingredients are Oreo cookies, butter, Marshmallow Creme, peppermint extract, Cool Whip, and green food color (not pictured.)

To make the Oreo crust, pulse the cookies until crumbly and reserve 2 Tablespoons for the garnish. Then add the melted butter while processing.

I found adorable little 4 oz. jelly jars (made by Ball) at my Kroger store. These would be great for any kind of little holiday gift, but they are just the perfect size for our little pies.

Drop a couple of heaping scoops of crumbs into a jar and press the crust firmly around the bottom and up the sides. I used Mint Oreos this time, which made fewer pie crusts. Regular Oreos usually make about a dozen pie crusts. Put the jars with crusts into the freezer for half an hour or so to firm up before filling.

For the grasshopper filling, whip the Marshmallow Creme, peppermint extract, and food color together. Fold in the Cool Whip.
Spoon filling into the frozen crusts and smooth off the top. If the crusts are frozen, the cookies will not stick to the filling as it is spread around.

Sprinkle the reserved crumbs lightly over the tops as a garnish. These could (and have!) been eaten just as they are at this point, but I think they're even better frozen. Freeze for several hours, and then let sit at room temperature for a few minutes before serving.

A festive ribbon and tag finish off this treat! These little cuties can be made now and kept in the freezer until ready to be gifted, hopefully reducing my holiday stress by several degrees. Or so I hope...

Happy Holidays

Mini Grasshopper Pies

Crust:
1 package (39 cookies) Oreo chocolate cookies
1/2 c. melted butter

Filling:
1 tub (7 oz. so) Marshmallow Creme
1 teaspoon peppermint extract (or more if stronger flavor is desired)
6 drops green food color
1 tub (8 oz. or 2 cups) Cool Whip