This single-serving cake in a jar is the ultimate dessert for parties and gatherings! Simply add mini cake layers of any of our bakery-tested cake recipes, then top with your favorite frosting and toppings. Seal and serve with a sample spoon for easy eating. They're mess-free and require no extra plates or utensils, ideal for a low-mess baby shower, birthday party, and more!
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Equipment Checklist
If you have a bunch of pint-sized wide mouth jars on hand, those are a great option. However, they can be hard to find and more expensive, so I usually like to use plastic jars that can be recycled after use. This is cheaper and works just as great.
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Note on jar size: There are various sizes of plastic cake jars on Amazon. Pictured are 6 oz jars that are 2.8 “ wide and 2.6 inches tall, which perfectly fits two layers of cake.
I used plastic jars, which fit the cake rounds perfectly. You can use other sizes and types of jars, but keep in mind that the amount of cake rounds will vary per batch.
Make sure you have a cake cutter that works for the jars you're using! If you already have cake rings or round cake cutters, you may already have something the right size.
Why You'll Love These Mason Jar Cakes
- Less clean-up - Since you don't need to slice any cakes or pass out little plates, there's minimal clean-up. This is fantastic for restaurants, but also birthday parties, baby showers, anniversary parties, Christmas time, and more.
- Stay fresh - The sealed jars keep the cake fresh longer, which means you don't have to use up all that cake quite as quickly. Prep your desserts a couple days before you need them to save time on the day!
- Perfect gift - Especially since you can customize the flavors, these mini jar cakes make the most adorable and thoughtful gifts. You can even color-coordinate the washi tape for a completely personalized cake.
Ingredients
Unlike our other recipes, this is more of a technique than a recipe. You can use any of your favorite cake recipes from the blog, plus your favorite cake fillings, frostings, and decorations.
This also means that there are genuinely infinite variations - any kind of cake, any kind of frosting, and any decorations! You'll need:
- Your favorite cake
- Cake filling (optional)
- Your favorite frosting
With my cake recipes, you can get 6 jar cakes out of a 1x batch in a ¼ sheet pan, or 12 jar cakes in a 2x batch out of a ½ sheet pan. If you use larger or smaller jars, those quantities will vary.
Pro Tip
Since we only bake moist cakes, it's much, much easier to cut the cakes from frozen.
Variations
There are truly endless different ways to make these little individual cakes! These are some popular variations we think you'll enjoy.
Birthday Cake in a Jar
To make a simple funfetti cake, I folded jimmies into my vanilla almond cake batter right before baking. They're layered with vanilla buttercream and topped with extra sprinkles.
Red Velvet Cake Jar
To make red velvet cake in a jar, you're basically going to do the same thing you'd do to make our red velvet mini cakes. Slice the red velvet cake, then layer with cream cheese frosting. For extra color, crumble pieces of leftover cake on top.
Chocolate Cake Jar
First, start with our ultra-moist chocolate cake. Then, fill the cake with:
Top with a swirl of chocolate buttercream and some chocolate shavings!
Carrot Cake in a Jar
I love making mini carrot cakes and for the holidays and carrot cake jars are a great dessert for Easter. Layer with cinnamon buttercream and enjoy!
Storage
Once sealed, the cakes can last in the fridge for about 3-5 days (unless there is a perishable fresh ingredient, like berries, which can only last a couple of days).
Allow the cakes to come to room temperature before serving for the best texture and flavor.
Pro Tips to Remember
- Please note that we are not baking the cake in canning jars. They're actually not rated for that, so please don't try it! Instead, we're baking individual cakes, then using circle cookie cutters to cut out perfectly round shapes.
- By cutting the cake out with a cookie cutter, your cake jar has a crisper visible edge than cake cups using cake scraps. I find it to be a little faster to assemble than cake cups using cake scraps.
- I highly recommend cutting and layering these cakes from frozen, so that the cake doesn’t crumble or fall apart.
- Fill a piping bag with your favorite frosting to make filling and decorating really simple.
Aren't these jar cakes absolutely adorable? Although we've been fans of trifles, parfaits, and cake cups for a while, this mini dessert really takes it to the next level. They'd probably do great in the bakery, too!
If you love learning new baking tricks and techniques, be sure to follow along on social media and subscribe for email updates. We'd love to see your creations, too, so tag @amycakesbakes on your favorite platform. Happy Baking!
Related Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Easy Cake in a Jar Recipe (Mason Jar Cakes)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1x batch your favorite cake (completely chilled, ideally frozen)
- 1x batch your favorite frosting
- toppings (sprinkles, cookie crumbles, and more)
Instructions
Bake, chill, and freeze the cake completely. Then, use a matching cutter to cut out 12 cake rounds for a 1x batch or 24 cake rounds for a 2x batch. (The amount of cake rounds will vary depending on the size of the jar you use.)- Place the first cake round into each jar.
- Pipe a swirl of your favorite frosting over the first cake layer.
- Place the second cake layer on top of the frosting, then pipe a final swirl. Garnish with sprinkles, cookie crumbles, or any other decorations you like. Keep the decorations below the height of the jar lid or the toppings may be crushed.
- Seal the jars and tape on a sample spoon with a piece of washi tape. Either serve right away or refrigerate for approximately 3-5 days.
