Cupcakes In a Jar! The Latest Cupcake Craze

A friend informed us recently that cupcakes in a jar are the hot thing right now. They've been seen on The Today Show and in O Magazine. Really, we said. We haven't even seen these things. What are they? Cupcakes in a jar, it turns out, are like the illicit love child of cake pops and those jarred cake mixes ubiquitous in holiday gift-giving. Have you tried one of these mashed confections of cake and frosting? We assumed initially that "cupcakes in a jar" meant little baked cakes in jars, like these cute ones. But cupcakes in a jar go way past that. Some aren't even baked in the jar; they're made of a halved cupcake, or crumbled cake, layered in a jar with whipped buttercream frosting. After the lid is put on, the high sugar content of these treats means they can last for over a week, or be frozen.

We're not entirely sure who first came up with this idea, but they're big sellers at mail-order bakeshops. The one that has received the most press is Bangerang Bake Shop, of Today Show fame:

• Bangerang Bake Shop - Their cupcakes are pictured just above.

They are also a burgeoning cottage industry for Etsy bakers; the cupcake pictured at the top of the post is from this Etsy seller:

• Nummy Crummies

What do you think of these? Cute? Overdone? Weary of cupcakes? We know that many of you were ready years ago for the cupcake fad to end, but we have it on pretty good authority that cupcakes aren't going away any time soon. Does the cupcake in a jar phenomenon make them more palatable, or less? And do you want to try them yourself?

Cupcake Recipes from The Kitchn

Pictured above, left to right:
• Chocolate Cupcakes (Vegan! Gluten-Free!) & Coconut Icing
• Airy Angel Food Cupcakes with Naturally Pink Icing
• Vegan Chocolate Ginger Orange Cupcakes

Related: Sweet Food Art: The Anatomy of a Cupcake

(Images: Nummy Crummies; Bangerang Bake Shop)