Red Velvet Cake In a Jar Recipe

Why not give someone you love a Red Velvet Cake in Jar? It’s not often that you find a dessert as pretty and thoughtful as these.

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Red Velvet Cake in a Jar

These easy red velvet jar cakes are perfect for Valentine’s Day.

These are the perfect gift for anyone who loves cake and wants to indulge without all that fuss.

Why not give someone you love a Red Velvet Cake in Jar?

Note: This recipe uses cake mix (or premade red velvet cake). 

It’s not often that you find a dessert as pretty and thoughtful as these. Although, the Cherry Cream Cheese Crescent Danish would make a great dessert on Valentine’s Day too.

Have you tried our red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting yet?

We’re confident you’ll love it! The thought of gifting these delicious desserts to your loved ones has crossed your mind I’m sure.

Give them something they can enjoy on their own or share with friends around the holidays.

Either way, they will be delighted by this sweet surprise from you.

Our Red Velvet jar cake makes for great gifts all year round too.

And if anyone deserves a treat, it’s yourself!

If you love red velvet cake but are looking for a new spin on it try out the heavenly red velvet jar cakes.

There is no better way to get all the deliciousness of traditional layer cake

Whether for Valentine’s Day or another occasion (perhaps an anniversary? which also happens to be on Valentine’s Day ❤️), what better gift than some delectable cakes layered in mason jars?

Makes 6 pint-sized jars

Prep time: 30 minutes

Bake time: 35 minutes

Mason Jar Cake Ingredients

• Red velvet cake, prepared
• Cream cheese, softened
• Butter, softened
• Vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar
• Valentine’s Day sprinkles
• 6 wide-mouth pint jars
• For exact measurements, please see the recipe card below.

Cake in a Jar Supplies

While we are using a traditional cake mix for this recipe, we are making it a little bit different.

• Sheet Pan – Most cakes are baked in a 9×13 cake pan. However, in order to get the right thickness of cake slices, we are going to use a half sheet pan.
• Wide Mouth Mason Jars – Wide mouth jars are better, however, you can use any jar you would like. Refer to the section below.
• Parchment Paper – While this is definitely not a must, it makes it so much easier to keep the cake from sticking to the pan.
• Disposable Piping Bags – And once again, while disposable bags are not a necessity, they are so less messy because you don’t have to clean them. But, if you have regular piping bags, go right ahead and use them. You can also just use a plain plastic baggie with the corner snipped off if that’s all you have too.
• Fancy Piping Bag Tips – You can use any shape tip to pipe the frosting on top of the cake slices. I have a kit that has multiple shapes and sizes.
• Round Cookie Cutter – If you don’t have a round cookie cutter on hand, I have used a glass (when I couldn’t find mine 🙄) also.
• Valentine’s Day Sprinkles – This cake in a jar can be made for any occasion. Change up the sprinkles for Christmas, St. Patrick’s Day, even the 4th of July.

What Size Jar Do I Need

Cake in a jar is all the rage right now. It’s easy to see why–they are adorable, convenient, and perfect for portion control!

The best thing is that you can make them in any size jars that you’d like.

Whether you choose mason jars or dessert glasses, they are readily available at Walmart or Amazon in many different sizes.

I chose the pint-size (16 ounces) for this recipe. However, I have also made them in half-pint (8 ounces) and 4-ounce containers.

The difference is that the 4-ounce mason jars are not wide-mouth jars and are a bit harder to get the cake slices in the jar.

But…the 4-ounce jars make really cute office gifts, teachers gifts, and neighbors gifts.

I solve that problem by cutting the cake slices into cubes as I do for a trifle and they go in no problem.

Holiday Variations

Depending on what holiday you want to make the Cake in a Jar for, just switch up the red velvet cake with a white cake mix and add food coloring.

• 4th of July – White cake mix separated into two colors, add red food coloring to one and blue food coloring to the other. Layer red cake circle, frosting, blue cake circle, frosting, red, frosting, blue, frosting.
• St. Patrick’s Day – White cake mix with green food coloring. Or rainbow colors are also a nice touch for St. Patrick’s Day.

• Christmas – White cake mix separated into two bowls. One with red food coloring, and the other with green food coloring.
• Easter – This would be so pretty with a white cake mix mixed with pastel colors, pink, green, purple, etc.

• Halloween – This can be variable also depending on your favorite halloween colors. Purple, green, orange, and black.

Can You Bake a Cake in a Glass Jar

While some people say that you can, the official word from Ball and Kerr is no.

Most think it’s okay since you are placing them in water and heating them when canning. However, I would not since they are the makers of the canning jars.

The reason is that the glass that the mason jars are made of are not tempered for oven baking.

If you’ve ever seen a glass dish explode in the oven, then you know it’s not a good idea.

And if you’ve never seen a glass dish explode in the oven, trust me on this one…you don’t want to.

How to Make a Red Velvet Cake in a Jar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the cake mix according to the package instructions.

Line a 10×16 inch baking sheet with parchment paper and grease the sides of the pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Spread the cake batter evenly over the pan and bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool completely, then use a 2 ½ inch round cookie cutter to cut out the cake. Each jar will need three round pieces of cake.

To prepare the icing, beat together the cream cheese, vanilla extract, and butter until smooth and well combined. Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Place one cake round in the bottom of each jar.

Use a piping bag to pipe a layer of icing on top of the cake. Continue layering the cake and icing until the jar is full. Repeat the process with the remaining jars.

Top each jar with sprinkles, if desired.

How Long Does a Cake in a Jar Last

Just like a regular cake, I wouldn’t keep a cake in a jar any longer than 3-4 days.

It can be stored in the refrigerator and I would remove it from the fridge for about 20-30 minutes wanting to eat it.

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