5th Day of Christmas in a Jar - Cupcake in a Jar

For the 5th day of Christmas in a jar, we have a cupcake in a jar. Cupcakes can be a real pain to transport... but not when they are in jars! These are fun to decorate for any occasion. Each jar contains 1.5 cupcakes.

You will need:

• 16 wide mouth pint jars (I used Kerr)
• 1 box of cake mix (any flavor you choose)
• Frosting (store bought tube or homemade)
• Food Coloring (optional)
• Sprinkles (optional)
• Cupcake pan and pan liners

Instructions

For this project, I used regular white cake and blue frosting. I was going for the winter wonderland theme, but white cake mix is brown on the outside when baked. The final presentation was not what I had hope for, so keep that in mind when choosing your colors. I think my colors came out much better on my cupcake crumble in a jar.

Step 1

Bake a batch of your favorite cupcakes. Each box makes 24 cupcakes. Let cool. I made my icing using the Wilton Buttercream Icing recipe.

Step 2

Cut each cupcake in half horizontally.

Step 3

Place one cupcake half into the bottom of the jar. Swirl in a layer of frosting. I found it easiest to squirt the icing in one spot while slowing spinning the jar with my other hand. Then put your second cupcake half in the jar, then another layer of frosting. Add your third cupcake half, then top off with a decorative layer of frosting. You might have to play around with how much frosting you'd like for each layer depending on taste and presentation.

Step 4

Decorate with sprinkles for a festive look. I used blue and white for my winter wonderland cupcakes in a jar.

Step 5

Decorate your jars with stickers, ribbons, etc. Since this is a perishable item, give within 3 days.

2nd Day of Christmas in a Jar - Cupcake Crumble

For the 2nd day of Christmas in a jar, we have a cupcake crumble in a jar. This is a fun twist to regular cupcakes in a jar.

You will need:

• 12 wide mouth pint jars {Amazon link}
• 1 box of cake mix (any flavor you choose) {Amazon link}
• Frosting (store bought tube or homemade) {Amazon link}
• Food Coloring (optional)
• Sprinkles (optional) {Amazon link}
• 2 - 8 inch round cake pans {Amazon link}

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I may earn a commission from purchases made through these links. 

 

Instructions

I wanted my cake layers to be vibrant green and red. I used regular white and red velvet cake mixes. I tinted my white cake mix green using food coloring. I keep adding drops until I got a shade I liked. Once baked, it came out even brighter than the plain batter. For the red, you can just color with food coloring instead of using red velvet cake. If you'd like you can just divide up one bowl of batter into two, and color each half. Since I used two different cake mixes, I had double the batter. Instead of making 12 more jars, I just made plain cakes (since each box makes 2 cakes) for my husband - he didn't complain!

Step 1

Bake your cakes per box instructions. {Tint your batter before you pour into the baking pans.} Let cool. I made my icing using the Wilton Buttercream Icing recipe.

Step 2

My green cake had a somewhat olive green outside that wasn't very appealing. I cut a thin layer of cake off the top, sides and bottom, leaving the bright green center. Crumble each cake into chucks.

Step 3

Fill about 1/3 of each jar with one color of cake chunks. Swirl in a layer of frosting. I found it easiest to squirt the icing in one spot while slowing spinning the jar with my other hand. Fill your jars with the second cake color, the same amount as the first color. Top off with a decorative layer of frosting. You might have to play around with how much frosting you'd like for each layer depending on taste and presentation.

Step 4

Decorate with sprinkles for a festive look. 

Step 5

Decorate your jars with stickers, ribbons, etc. Since this is a perishable item, give within 3 days. Here is another version I made using only the red velvet cake.