There’s nothing more scary for a car owner. You’re traveling down the road and you hear an ambiguous noise. You know the one.
The noise that happens intermittently as your driving blissfully along, the one that strikes fear in your heart and then you don’t hear it for days. And just as your lulled into a sense of complacency, it happens again.
You start to think you are hearing things. You ask your daughter, “Did you hear that weird “pinking” noise?!”
She did, so you know you’re not losing your mind. At least in this case.
You ask her to climb around in the back of the car in the parking lot, just to make sure there isn’t some strange animal in the car…you do live in the country after all. Nothing.
Days later you hop in your freezing cold car and while warming up and sitting at the light, there it is again!
You turn off your heat, you turn off the car stereo and strain to catch it…knowing you are going to have to drop the car off to your mechanic with a vague, “It’s making a strange “ping” noise but only once and awhile and very randomly. good luck!”
After a week of “pinging” and “pinking” you drive cautiously waiting for your axle to fall off or a stray squirrel to make it’s way out from under the back seat.
Then a snowstorm comes and you decide, on this snowy day, it’s a good time to make those Bird’s Nest Cupcakes in Mason Jars you’ve been envisioning. So you ask your daughter to grab that flat of mason jars you’ve had in the back of the car for a week.
She treks out through the mounds of cold snow and plops the flat of jars down on the warm kitchen counter….and as you turn to put the cupcakes in the oven…
…you hear it.
The distinctive “ping. pink. ping” of a dozen mason jars lids sealing….the sound of you saving $1,000 in car repairs and a whole lot of embarrassment.
Here’s how to make your own Bird’s Nest Cupcakes in Mason Jars layered with white cake, lemon curd, apricot-pineapple preserves and cream cheese frosting. Topped with toasted coconut…it’s a true spring treat!
Ingredients
- (18.25-ounce) package white cake mix
- 3 egg whites
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 (16-ounce) jar apricot-pineapple preserves
- 1/2 cup lemon curd (2.12)*
- 1 (16-ounce) container cream cheese frosting
- 1 (6-ounce) package flaked coconut, toasted
- Hershey candy coated eggs, blue
- 1/2 pint mason jars
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
- Beat first 5 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer 30 seconds or just until moistened; beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Pour batter into cupcake liners in muffin pans. Will make approximately 24 cupcakes
- Bake for 16-18 minutes. Cupcakes are done when center springs back. Do not overbak
- Allow to cool on wire rack
- While cupcakes are cooling, spread coconut in even layer on cookie sheet or baking pan and toast for about 10 minutes until light brown. Stir occasionally while toasting. Cool
- Layering Instructions!
- Place one cupcake upside down in each mason jar. Top with a Tablespoon of lemon curd and spread to cover cupcake. Pipe frosting to cover lemon curd. Top with Tablespoon of toasted coconut
- Add another cupcake right side up. Top with Tablespoon of preserves and spread to cover. Pipe frosting on top to cover completely and form a slight mound. Press in toasted coconut to make "nest" using thumb to gently press in indentation. Place three candy eggs in middle
- Repeat for each jar. Will make approximately 8 servings.
We’re so thrilled to be joining these ladies today for this Spring in a Mason Jar blog hop and we hope you will pay them a visit to see all of their incredible ideas and inspiration!
Happy Sunday to you!
Mmmm, that looks just so delicious and what a pretty display.
Mary @ Orphans With Makeup
These look so yummy and what a fun way to serve them! The perfect treat for Spring brunch! So fun to be partying with you today Heather!
LOL Oh my goodness how you made me laugh. At first I was like, “oh….she needs prayers for that car” then I realized you had what I refer to as an MB moment….I have those all the time!!!! A few months ago I was super afraid to drive my truck (I mean to the point of really being in prayer about my fears). Every time I drove it I smelled something so instead of facing the problem I would borrow my oldest son’s tiny Toyota and make everyone squeeze in (including my 6 foot 5 husband) just to avoid driving my truck. I finally took it to the mechanic after I had to get the battery replaced and he told me the exhaust pipe was cracked and I needed to drive with the windows down until I got it fixed (it was -10 at the time soooooo….I got it fixed and thankfully everything was less than $300) ~ whew! Okay…so nos back to your cupcakes….these are amaze balls! LOVE THEM.
Oh wow Heather. These look yummy. I”m coming to your house!
These are simply delightful!
How sweet and fun! Love how they turned out! xoxo Pinned
OMG they look so good!! What a great dessert for Easter.
Love, love this idea!….Super cute and great for parties!!!…
These look SO yummy! My kids will have a blast making them!
Those are so stinkin’ cute!
I want one! They look so yummy! Glad you didn’t have any engine problems, here we get rats, yuck, and they cause all sorts of problems 🙁
XO
Kristin
Oh, that made me laugh! And it reminded me of the time that my husband was driving down the road, and a few miles from our house, he started hearing a lot of noise coming from the car. It was so bad that he pulled over to check it out, only to find that there was a line of empty soda cans tied to the bottom of the car. He couldn’t figure out what took him so long to be able to hear it… until he discovered that it was one of the youth group boys who had done it to him, and this very smart boy had tied the cans up using a rubber band so that once the car was hot, it melted through the rubber band and released the cans. It was a truly great prank 🙂