{recipe} Nutella Explosion in a Jar

People seemed really excited about my rainbow cakes in a jar, but they weren’t the only jarred awesomeness I made that day. Behold the Nutella Explosion – in a jar.

Perhaps you’re wondering what exactly is in this jar. To be blunt, it is a jar filled with layers of nutella-coated graham crackers, cream cheese frosting, and hunks of gooey chocolate chip cake. Let it sink in.

How to get the cake? I used some scraps of a cake, but you could pretty much use anything you have lying around–chocolate, vanilla, mocha, coffee, whatever the cake, just go for it. Banana bread? That would work. Pound cake? Uh huh. You could probably rip up some cinnamon rolls and it would still work out OK. Mmm. Cinnamon rolls.

Nutella Explosion in a Jar

Ingredients:

Makes 6 pint jars (for sharing!) or 12 half pint jars

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 sleeves graham crackers (about 16 double crackers)
• about half a large (26.5 oz) jar of Nutella
• cake scraps of your choice – about half a loaf pan’s worth

Method:

• Wash 6 pint jars or 12 half pint jars and dry them thoroughly.
• Beat the cream cheese, milk, powdered sugar, and vanilla together until light and fluffy, and no lumps remain.
• Crush graham crackers into a bowl with your hands. Heat the Nutella in the microwave for 10-20 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until pourable. (Be careful not to overheat.) Pour the Nutella over the graham crackers and stir with a spoon to coat.
• Put the frosting in a large Ziploc bag. Squeeze out the air and zip up tightly, then cut a small hole in the corner of the bag (the hole should be about the size that a chopstick would fit into.)
• In each jar, layer some graham crackers and crumbled cake, then squirt some frosting on top. Repeat the layering process. Put the lids on the jars.
• Serve within four hours, or, you can store the jars overnight in the fridge, but you should bring them to room temperature before serving.