Cake in a Jar

For an end of the year gift for the teachers and staff at the school I wanted to do something that would be cheap yet fun and cute.  It also needed to be something that they might be able to enjoy.  I found this cute recipe and thought we would give it a try. 

We used:
24 1/2 pint jars
4 white cake mixes (and ingredients it called for)
4 colors of food coloring
3 cans frosting

We mixed each box of cake mix in its own bowl and added food coloring to it.


Once that was done we scooped colors into the jars and layered them.  The directions said to fill to 3/4 full.  We filled some to 1/2 full and that worked much better.  We also had less waste this way.

*This was very messy with Brogan and Christian doing it.  But, they did have a ton of fun.  If you prefer not to make a mess you can pour into the jar.  Just make sure to pour slowly so tha you can get the layers.


Once you have each jar layered put jars in a glass dish and fill the dish about 1/4 with water.  Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool all the way.  (I removed them from the glass dish to cool but I don't know if that is necessary).


They will rise and make a dome top when baked.  Once they are completly cooled you will want to scoop out the top par.  You only need to do this if you filled them 3/4 of the way full.  If you filled them 1/2 way then you should not need to scoop any out.

*Note:  The "tops" you scoop out are very yummy.  So they are not waste if you plan on eating them!


Now that you have some room in the jars put a scoop of icing in and top with sprinkles or candies.


Put lid on and you are done.  We added a simple tag and the boys handed them out at school the next day.


They keep in the fridge for several days or you can also mail these.  What a great treat for someone that lives out of town!



Here is what we did with our "tops" that we scooped out...

They were yummy with some melted icing poured over the top!  It reminded me of a big bowl of rainbow sherbert!