Weddingbee Blog

I love to bake goodies. Despite my own dislike of cake, I love making pretty cakes. And eating anything out of a jar has a bit of Southern nostalgia that makes me weak in the knees. There was no question that I’d be doing some sort of sweets for our favors. One of my favorite blogs to get ideas from is Our Best Bites. They have tons of great recipes, and I have yet to try something that hasn’t turned out amazing.

In late September two years ago, they posted a recipe for pie in a jar. Oh how glorious. I have a couple of these on hand at all times to pop in the oven on a whim. Then late last year as I was contemplating what to gift my bosses, they posted cupcakes in a jar. Hallelujah! This is how they turned out.

Personal photo. Sorry for the weird angle.

I posted this picture on their Facebook wall and called them my “Why, yes, you may have that raise” cupcakes. They were amazing and got rave reviews. The link was put in my future-wedding bookmarks folder. And now that the time has come, I’ve got about 70 jars on hand. I’m thinking we’ll probably go with red velvet with cream cheese frosting. You know you wanna make some cake, so I’ll go ahead and post the recipe for you.

CAKE

Ingredients

• Two sticks of butter (1 cup) softened
• 2.5 cups of sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1.5 tablespoons of unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa
• 1.5 tablespoons of unsweetened chocolate cocoa
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 (8-ounce) container of sour cream
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 2 (1-ounce) bottles of red food coloring

Preparation

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Stir together flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beating at low speed just until blended, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in vanilla; stir in red food coloring. Pour into half-pint wide-mouth jars, only filling about halfway. They will rise, and we need room for icing and a lid.

ICING

Ingredients

• 2 (8-ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) softened
• 2 (16-ounce) packages of powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Preparation

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla extract.

Both of these recipes were adapted from here and here.

I know that these bad boys won’t last super long, though. From what I’ve read, they can be frozen in the jar and should be good as long as they’re eaten within two weeks. I’m thinking I’ll make the cupcakes on Thursday night, ice them on Friday, and hope they still look OK for guests on Saturday. Any advice?