Cake-In-A-Jar....What Else?

Thursday, April 29, 2010
Hi my name is Christy, and I'm a jar-a-holic.

I saw this post awhile back about red velvet cake....in a jar...from a website called Cakies. I need blood pressure medicine when blog hopping, my heart can't take it anymore.
My Mom informed me that she was going to be making a carrot cake for a friend at work. When my Mom tells me what 'she's doing,' this means-me. That whole "I gave birth to you..." thing seems to be a life-time sentence. I like to bake, so it works out OK. Everything except for the dishes. Eww.
I knew I'd use my favorite recipe for carrot cake (the request), but the problem is I've made it a lot....and I just didn't want to ice another cake with frosting and ship it on it's way, so I decided to give the 'cake in a jar' plan a whirl. (I'd probably cut the pineapples in half next time, for some reason they were overwhelming this go 'round.)
You can bake the cake directly in the jar, but I decided to follow the instructions on the blog on cakies, plus, it allowed me to spend a little more time with my cupcake pans, and we like spending time together.
I baked my cupcakes, and sliced them in half.

I slipped the bottom half in the jar (I bought the jars on sale for $1 each at Hobby Lobby. I found some 8 oz mason jars (which cakies used on the site), but I'm (self) banned from buying mason jars, but I know how to get around that...).
After I put the cupcake top down in the base of the jar, I piped a swirl of icing on top of that layer, and then I placed the bottom half of the cupcake on the icing (like a layered cake). It didn't completely fill out the layer, but I suspected this might be the case. I wasn't in need of 24 cupcakes for this group, so I took the extra cupcakes (that's an antonym if I ever heard it=extra/cupcakes-unheard of!) and cut them into smaller pieces to squeeze down with this second layer (1 'extra' cupcake filled in the spaces of about 5 of the jars).

After that, I piped another layer of icing. The good thing is it can be completely messy b/c you are just going to close the lid, and the jar does the beautification. I like a project that allows messy icing work.

Normally, when I make the cupcakes, I half the recipe for icing, but this time I did the full thing because I was doubling the amount I normally use with the layered cupcakes. Here they are, almost ready. I love these jars. I have big plans for these jars, which means I need to ask for them back. Tacky? That's OK. Like I said, I have plans...and a budget.

I could have been finished here, but I had a dream....
Next came the lid, some fun ribbon, and some forks I ordered from Amazon (a company called Birchwood-info also given on Cakies Blog). I looked all over for these guys for my Cowgirl Rodeo shower, and could not find them at a reasonable rate, but Amazon was pretty reasonable. I got 100 for 15 dollars. I'll use them again....or frame them....or sleep with them under my pillow where all the other treasures are I don't want to use b/c I like them too much.

Bye Bye Cake-Calories-in-a-Jar

Now I'm off to comment on Cakies' blog and tell her what she has done to me, for better or worse. I love cake in a jar. It's two of my favorite things (cakes and jars), married into a perfect union.

5 comments

Brianna! said...

The first step to over coming -holic syndromes, is admitting you have a problem;]
haha
xoxo
bB

Christy said...

It's the other 11 steps I have a problem with. ;o)

XmasDolly said...

Happy Friday follow - I'm your latest follower. This time I'm making a list of my new bloggy friends, so I don't loose track & i can come back & browse. Woo Hoo Have a great weekend! Cake in a jar! Hmm, that is for sure a new one.

Peggy said...

Hi there! I'm following from FF...
I love your blog, and this post just cracked me up! My mom is the same way as yours with certain things. She volunteers to throw people parties all the time, then asks me what she needs to do (which means I'm actually planning it). LOL!

K said...

You are hilarious.....oops, sorry, not sure whether you actually mean to be. Your blog is like a Reality Show for bloggers. The crafts you take on seem to come out wonderfully, but your descriptions of the process are SO amusing. My crafting world is so full of frustrating "things that go wrong", I thought I was the only one!!. You have the courage to admit that it's not always a "Martha' experience. Thanks a million for keepin' it real.
By the way, Cake In A Jar is an incredible idea!
K.

K