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Treat yourself to this delicious mini strawberry shortcake in a jar. It’s super-easy to make and always tastes great. Whether you’re looking for portable mini desserts for Mother’s Day, summer picnics, showers, potlucks, summer BBQs, cookouts, and spring gatherings, or you just want a strawberry and whipped cream-based dessert, you can’t go wrong with this strawberry shortcake recipe.
This mini dessert is a nice easy recipe to showcase fresh strawberries. Served in a mini mason jar or Weck jar, this individually sized dessert is great to pack in a picnic.
You might also like these mascarpone stuffed strawberries if you are a strawberry fan, or perhaps try these funfetti cake or lemon ricotta amaretti budino.
Why You’ll Love Classic Strawberry Shortcake in a Jar
Cute: If you’re looking for a dessert that looks gorgeous as well as tasting perfect, individual strawberry shortcake trifles served in individual cups are ideal. They look cute and are completely portable in a picnic hamper or similar.
Simple: There are only eleven different ingredients in this sweet strawberry shortcake dessert, and the directions are easy to follow. Even novice bakers will be able to make these with ease.
Tasty: There’s a reason strawberry shortcake in a mason jar is so popular every strawberry season, and even outside of it. And that’s the flavour. There’s just something so good about the combination of strawberries, cake and whipped cream. It’s not a complicated dessert at all but it is a delicious one!
Mason Jar Strawberry Shortcake Ingredients
The main ingredient in this shortcake in a jar recipe are the strawberries, so make sure you choose perfectly ripe, juicy ones. You will also need sugar and lemon juice to prepare the berries.
The cake for this delicious strawberry shortcake dessert is made using flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, butter, sugar, eggs, and sour cream. And then the whipped cream topping is a combination of whipped cream and sugar, although you can omit the sugar if you prefer.
How to Make Strawberry Shortcake in a Jar
For more detailed instructions with weights and measurements, jump to the printable recipe card.
Make the cake: Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, cream the sugar and butter in another, and then mix with the other cake ingredients.
Bake the cake: Bake the cake on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, before letting it cool on a wire rack and cutting it up with a biscuit cutter or similar.
Prep the strawberries: Toss the strawberries with sugar and let them sit in lemon juice for 20 minutes.
Assemble the dessert: Layer cake and strawberries in Weck jars (here) or mini mason jars (here), and add whipped cream on top. You can add a few strawberries, too.
Substitutions and Variations
There are various shortcuts (shortcake shortcuts!) you can use if you want to save time making this mini dessert. Use boxed cake instead of making your own. You can use any kind of cake, such as angel food cake or pound cake if you like. You can also squirty whipping cream or whipped topping instead of whipping up your own heavy cream to make homemade whipped cream.
You could use frozen strawberries, but fresh strawberries are much nicer, so I’d recommend sticking with those. And if you have some left over, there are plenty of other strawberry recipes to try.
What to Serve with Strawberry Shortcake Jars
Because these are a “grab and go” type dessert, they’re ideal for picnics or other gatherings. You can have them as part of a picnic or buffet with picnic sandwiches, rice salad or panzanella salad. Otherwise, just prepare individual servings to enjoy after lunch or dinner, paired with a tea or coffee.
Storage Instructions
Store: These should be served as soon as you’ve added the whipped cream on top. You can make strawberry shortcakes ahead without the cream though, if you keep them refrigerated and eat within two days.
Freeze: Freezing this strawberry dessert isn’t recommended because the cake will go soggy and the texture of the fresh strawberries will degrade.
Strawberry Shortcake in Mini Mason Jars FAQs
The reason behind soaking them (or “macerating” them which is the technical term) is the sugar helps draw out the juices from the berries, making them even more juicy and delicious. Feel free to add a splash of vanilla instead of, or as well as, the lemon juice.
Use a stand mixer or handheld mixer to whip heavy cream on a low speed until you get soft peaks. Remember you can add some sugar (and vanilla too, if you want) to the cream first. Stop mixing before you get stiff peaks. If you overmix the cream, you can pour in more heavy cream and mix again.
Jar Strawberry Shortcake Recipe
Perfect Summer Strawberry Shortcake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 2 Cups all purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
- 12 Tablespoon butter
- 1 1/2 Cups granulated sugar
- 4 Eggs
- 1 Cup sour cream
Strawberries:
- 4 Cups strawberries, cut up
- 1 Cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
Topping:
- 1.5 Cup whipping cream
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and baking powder until mixed and set aside.
- In the bowl of a mixer combine butter and sugar. Mix until fluffy.
- Mix in the eggs one at a time. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix just until combined.
- Add in ½ of the sour cream and mix just until combined. Repeat with flour and sour cream once more then end by mixing in last 1/3 of the flour mixture and mixing just until combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared baking sheet and spread evenly. Bake about 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven, cool completely and then cut into rounds using a cup or cookie cutter.
Strawberries:
- In a bowl, mix together the strawberries and sugar.
- Add the lemon juice, mix well and let sit for about 20 minutes.
To Assemble:
- Make the whipping cream with a mixer. You can add 1.5-2 tablespoons sugar if you like.
- Layer the cake rounds and strawberries into cups or jars. Layer until full to top. Pack whipped cream separate and top with whipped cream prior to serving.
Nutrition
Strawberry shortcake parfait is a single serving dessert in a jar which combines a layer of strawberries with homemade cake and whipped cream. This delicious dessert is ideal for any time of year, although when strawberries are in season between April and June, it’s especially perfect.
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Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
Strawberry shortcake is one of my fave desserts ever! Love the smaller serving sizes here, because I could eat an entire cake, LOL.
I’m going to make this with my white strawberries that are ready to pick in our backyard. I’m so excited for dessert tonight.
Looks delicious, and I love that it’s portable. My question is, does it get soggy? How long can it sit before eating?
I’ve kept these for 2 days in the refrigerator. If you do this, don’t add the cream until serving (or else they WILL get soggy!)
Where can I find those jars with lids for the strawberry shortcakes? They are so adorable.
They are called Weck Jars and I really love them, too. I have them in so many sizes. They have lasted forever.
This recipe is the bomb! So flavorful and easy to prepare! Absolutely my new fave. 🙂
i have a quick question. What size baking sheet? I have 3 different sized and dont know which one to use.
Thank you
Hi Jane, I used a 9 x 13-inch baking tray (with a rim of course) and it worked well.