I’m back!
Sorry about that week-long hiatus! I promise it wasn’t because I was on vacation or doing anything even remotely fun. We were moving, and it was literally a week-long process! We still aren’t completely finished. Everything is out of our old house, and our new house is coming together, but our old house still needs to be cleaned. Ugh, one of the worst parts about moving! Loving a military man means lots of relocating, packing, etc, but this time we did it all ourselves. Usually there are movers that do that for us, but since we weren’t leaving Hawaii and just moving on-post, we were on our own. I’m so glad it’s (pretty much) DONE!
This move also came during what is usually a pretty eventful month in our house. My husband and I both celebrate our birthdays in March, and our anniversary is actually on St. Patty’s Day! The first of these holidays, though, is my hubby’s birthday which we celebrated yesterday. His dessert request? Rainbow Cake!
So did you know you could make cake in a jar? Well you can, and it’s awesome! You can make Rainbow Cake, or any cake for that matter, in a jar and then seal it up and send it to someone you love! Makes a great way to surprise someone who lives far away from you. We think it’s a great way to send some cake to a deployed loved one, too.
These are so much fun! I love just about anything that comes in (or out of) a Mason Jar, and when my husband asked for Rainbow Cake, I knew immediately how I wanted to make it. The rainbow theme also makes these great for St. Patrick’s Day.
This recipe is very simple. Start by preparing a vanilla cake mix and dividing the batter between five different bowls. Use food coloring to make your batter whatever colors you would like. I used a few colors from the rainbow. 
Spray the inside of four Mason jars with cooking spray. Layer the different colors of batter one at a time into the jars until all the batter has been used.
Place the jars in a shallow baking dish and add about a 1/4 inch of water to the pan. Bake at 350 F for about 30-35 minutes. Mine were done in 30 minutes.
Allow the jars to cool and then scoop out a small bit of cake from the top to make room for the frosting. You can use whatever kind of frosting you would like! I used a homemade buttercream frosting that I’ll be sharing on the blog, too.
If you want to send these to a family member or friend, make sure to tightly seal with a lid before shipping.
I would share a picture with you of my hubby enjoying his, but he’s photo-shy. I’ll catch one of him eventually. 😉
Hope all of you have a wonderful weekend, and be sure to come back for the Buttercream Frosting recipe!
- 1 box white cake mix (prepared according to package directions)
- Food coloring
- 4 one pint canning jars
- 1 recipe for homemade buttercream frosting (or frosting of your choice)
- Sprinkles
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the inside of each jar with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
- Divide batter evenly between five small bowls. Tint each bowl of cake batter with plenty of food coloring until nice and bright. I used red, yellow, orange, green, and blue to make a rainbow effect.
- Spoon batter into jars, layering one color at a time. Make sure the jars are only filled about ⅔ of way to allow for expansion while baking. Place the 4 jars in a shallow baking dish, and add about ¼ inch of water to the bottom of the baking dish. Place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Be sure to watch them carefully so they don't get too brown!
- Remove jars and allow to cool completely. The cakes will expand while baking, so you will need to scoop out a small portion from the top of each cake before adding frosting. Add on frosting and sprinkles. Serve immediately or cover with a lid and store in the fridge. Enjoy!
Wow! I had no idea you could make a cake in a jar. This is SO much fun! Enjoy celebrating your birthdays, anniversary AND new home this month!
Thanks Carrie! We have a busy month ahead, but March is always my favorite month. Hope you’re doing great!:)
This looks so awesome! It’s always so cool to see things baked in an unconventional way- like a mason jar
The rainbow is an awesome touch!
Kayla, mason jars are just awesome, aren’t they? I love unconventional cooking, too! Thank you so much for stopping by and checking them out!
These cakes are beautiful, and it’s such a fun idea to serve them in individual jars! Love it! Thanks for sharing.
It makes for fun eating with the mason jars! Thanks so much for visiting, Blair!
Very cute! I love how you’ve baked them in the jars….must try this!!
Hope you enjoy it, girl!
I can’t wait to get the buttercream frosting recipe
Hi Kimberly! I’m going to be posting it today!! Thanks so much for visiting!
they are so cute!
Thank you, Dina!!
Brilliant! Thanks for sharing on Saturday Night Fever, this looks like something the kids will LOVE! HUGS
Thanks Cheryl! I hope your kiddos like it, my little guy sure did!
This looks so good! Very pretty!
Thank you, Emily! It was fun to make.
These are so fun! They look so awesome. I have always liked how rainbow cakes look but never thought of making them in a mason jar. That’s brilliant!
Thanks girl! It’s super easy to do and so fun to make! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Love this! Have just pinned it
Visiting from Create it Thursdays and would very much welcome this to Tuesday Tutorials on my blog 
Hi Kate! Thank you for pinning!! I will definitely go check out your link up.
Rainbow cakes have been on my mind because of St. Patrick’s Day and now seeing this, I can’t resist anymore! This looks so fun to make and what a creative way to present the colors. I love the idea of mailing it to a loved one, too. Thanks for sharing this!
These are a lot of fun to make and to eat! Hope you enjoy it and thank you for dropping by and leaving your sweet comment!
These look SO amazing! My kids would love them!
Thank you, Jennifer! My son thought they were the coolest things ever.
Hope you have a great weekend!
Such a super fun idea! Thanks for sharing at Simple Supper Tuesday.
Thank you, Cindy!
I LOVE this recipe, Ashlyn! The colors, the fact that it’s in a jar so you can see all the colors….! So pretty!!
What a special dessert, it looks like so much fun! Happy St. Patrick’s Day and thank you so much for sharing your awesome post with Full Plate Thursday. Have a great week and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Thank you, Miz Helen! Hope you had a great St. Patty’s Day.
Congratulations!
Your recipe is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you have a great weekend and enjoy your new Red Plate!
Miz Helen
Thank you so much, Miz Helen! I’m honored and excited to have the Red Plate.
This is sooo cool! How do you seal the jars? I’m totally new to canning, and have made jams but that’s it. I’m looking to make 20 of these for Christmas gifts but I want to make sure they are preserved. Is there a way to do this?
Hi Jennifer! To make these for mailing you will want to seal the lids. You can do this by placing the lids in boiling water, then removing from the heat. Let the lids stay in the hot water until you’re ready to seal. Once you take the cakes out of the oven, immediately put the lids on. Use tongs and hot hands to do this! Screw on the lids, and then as the cakes cool the lids will seal. You’ll hear a pop letting you know that it has sealed. It’s probably best to send the frosting separately if you’re mailing these. If you’re just taking them to a party the same day or next, you could go ahead and frost them and just put the lids on, but they would probably do better with the frosting put on after if they are traveling!
These are so cute and it’s really helpful to have the details of how to cook them, Thankyou. Why do you use cake mix? Is that a big thing in America? In GB we wouldn’t ever ever go to all this trouble then use a cake mix… Scratch cakes are so much yummier? Interested in your thoughts? Cheers x
Hi Pam! Cake mixes are pretty popular in America, mostly for how easy and convenient they are to use. I agree though, homemade cakes are wonderful! In this particular instance with making the rainbow effect, I decided to use the cake mix to help simplify a bit. With the separate bowls and coloring the frosting, I was just looking to save a bit on time. But this method would definitely work with a cake made from scratch!
Thank you Ashlyn. I was really interested in your reply to Jennifer about sealing cakes to send them too. Yes rainbow cake is time consuming to make. We recently made one using Nigella Lawson’s buttermilk birthday cake recipe and it lasted really well (and tastes great) so I think that would be a good option for a scratch cake for the mason jars – if folk can spare the time. Maybe you guys have better cake mixes than us though! X pam