When my sister-in-law asked me to make desserts for a dinner she was catering, I said yes, forgetting I had a dinner party of my own to go to on the same night. I decided that I needed desserts that I could make the night before, she could have them picked up and they could keep them in the fridge until it was time to serve them. Her requests were fairly simple, she wanted two desserts that visually contrasted each other and one of them should be gluten-free. After much discussion we decided on Salted Chocolate Pots de Creme and Italian Cream Cakes in a Jar.
Of course, plans and I do not work well together and after spending Friday afternoon at Winefest with my husband and some great friends, I came home to crash early instead of making my desserts. My mom, AKA Super Woman, came to my rescue on Saturday and we pulled it off together!
Both desserts were a hit but I’m only going to tell you about the cakes for now. After all, it is Week 8 of the 52 Cake Challenge! The recipe for the Italian Cream Cake was inspired by one I found and adapted from Southern Living and it would be such an elegant layer cake if you want to make it that way. Serving the cake in jars was inspired by many pictures I have seen on Pinterest and blogs for a while now. It made perfect sense for this dinner since the cakes were made at my house and then had to be transported to the dinner. The other cool thing is that you can stack these and stash them, they take up very little room and they won’t get messed up! I took one out of the fridge when I started writing this post and have let it come to room temp. Excuse me while I test it for goodness on day 2.
Italian Cream Cakes in Jars. Ready to be sealed and transported to a dinner.
Okay, I may have had more than a taste! It’s still good. And so cute! My mom and I were talking about serving these at picnics in the summer. You could tie a fork to each jar with some twine and be set to go.
I used a 2.5 inch cookie cutter with a sharp stainless steel edge to cut the circles of cake.
The rounds of cake fit snugly down into the 250 mL mason jars.
The cakes were layered with a cream cheese and toasted pecan icing.
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup coconut flakes
- Nutty Cream Cheese Frosting
- Optional garnish, toasted pecans, chopped,
- Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy
- Slowly add sugar, mixing well
- Add egg yolks one at a time
- Add vanilla
- Mix flour and soda in a small bowl and then add to the butter mixture alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture
- Beat at low speed until blended after each addition.
- Mix in the flaked coconut and set aside.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold into batter
- Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9-inch square cakepans
- Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean
- Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on wire racks
- Cut out 9 circles from one cake with a 2.5 inch cookie cutter and gently press one layer of cake into the bottoms of 250 mL mason jars
- Spoon a dollop of Nutty Cream Cheese Frosting on the cake
- Cut out 9 circles from the second cake and press them firmly down in the jars until the icing is spread out completely around the jar
- Top the second layer of cake with a smaller amount of icing and spread gently
- Wipe down any smears of icing that are on the mouth of the jar
- Sprinkle a few chopped pecans to top it off
Yumm-o!!!! I want to eat the cake.
Wow. This was so awesome. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Totally one of my faves!! These were winners!!!
MORE PLEASE!!
Perfect! Love searching for stuff and finding exactly what I was looking for. Just my husband and I for Christmas, so didn’t want to make the entire cake which is also a favorite. I can put it in jars and take it to family. Cheers!
I hope this turned out delicious for you, Anne!
Delish!
Mmm……cake.
Oh my!!! I wish I had one right now. Looks fantastic! ………………sigh
I love desserts in a jar, this looks awesome!!
What an awesome idea ! recycling jars for a delicious desert !