Cake Tub (Tub Cake) Recipe - 4 flavours

Bento Cakes you can now take a break as we enter into this season's latest trend - Cake Tub!!! And let me show you how you can make it effortlessly - step by step in 4 different flavours using 1 cake base.

These mini desserts are portable, giftable, and adorable!

What are Tub Cakes or Cake Tubs?

It is literally what the name says - a cake in a tub!! Individually-sized cakes; they're easy to make, and they're so unique. You don't have to worry about getting everything perfect when you make a Tub Cake!

Assembling this is literally a cakewalk - so much easier than making a cake in a jar or bento cakes.

Using this one cake flavour we are going to create four new flavours today.

Sharing all my secrets to make it versatile too - so stay tuned.. 😀

Ingredients Needed

1. Cake Base - I am using my One Bowl Chocolate Cake recipe. You can also use our Chocolate Hot Milk Cake recipe as the base or even make a box mix cake. The choice is totally yours you can use any cake base here. Even store-bought would work.
2. Sugar Syrup - Helps to keep your cake moist for days.
3. Frosting of Choice - Again literally any combination of frostings or flavourings can be used. I am making 4 flavours today out of 1 cake base. So my frostings include - Whipped Cream, Chocolate Whipped Cream, Oreo Buttercream and Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting.
4. Add-Ons - Depending upon the flavour of choice you can select your add ons like chocolate chips for chocolate whipped cream, crushed oreo cookies for oreo buttercream or roasted peanuts or hazelnuts for peanut butter cream cheese frosting.

Step by Step Tutorial

Use your favourite cake recipe. I am making my One Bowl Eggless Chocolate Cake Batter today. Trust me it is the easiest recipe you can follow.

Step 2 - Slicing the Cake

Slice the cake as per the dimensions of your tub!!

I could make six slices from this sheet cake. My cake tub measures 9x9x5 cms

Further, cut each slice horizontally to make 12 slices in all.

So now you have 6 pairs of cake slices.

Step 3 - Assembling the cake.

Take one slice out of the pair and add it to the base of your tub.

Soak it with sugar syrup

Finally the final frosting layer.

Here you can get creative and make piping out of the frosting, or keep a smooth top or make different coloured frosting decorations totally up to you.

I have done it all to show you the different ways of decorating the tub cakes.

That's it your tub cake is ready - No worrying about levelling the cake layers, even filling, crumb coating, smoothening or decorating..

Can making a cake get simpler than this??

Decorate the cake tubs as you like or keep it simple as I have done by adding the "Add ons" on top like crushed Oreos or peanuts, roasted hazelnuts etc and drizzling sauce of choice like chocolate sauce and melted peanut butter or melted cookie butter.

Or you can also choose to write a msg on top like Bento Cakes.

Cover with the lid and Voila your "Tub Cakes" are ready.

1 Cake 4 Flavours

Did you notice, we used 1 Eggless Chocolate Cake Base and created 4 interesting flavours with it:

1. Cream and Chocolate Cake - Simple with just whipped cream frosting
2. Double Chocolate Cake - Chocolate cake with chocolate whipped cream frosting
3. Cookies and Cream Cake - Chocolate cake with crushed Oreos and oreo frosting
4. Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cake - An ultimate combination there. Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Cream cheese Frosting.

Hope you enjoyed this cake in a tub recipe. Which flavour are you going to try next? I do have the Indian Mithai Tub Cake variation shared below. Do check it out for more variations.

Storage Instructions:

Since these are cake tubs, the chance of it going dry is very less. This cake will remain moist for 5 to 7 days in the fridge.

The ones with whipped cream frosting and Cream Cheese Frosting cannot be stored at room temperature.

Chocolate cake with Oreo Buttercream Frosting can be stored at room temperature away from direct sun for 2 days.

These tub cakes freeze well too. You can freeze them for 3 months.

Just thaw before consuming.

Make Ahead Instructions:

1. Chocolate Cake Base can be made way ahead in advance. It stays good for up to a week in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer.
2. Buttercream Frosting can also be made up to a week in advance. Just store it properly in an air-tight container and you should be fine. Just allow it to soften and come to room temperature before use.
3. Sugar Syrup can also be prepared and stored for up to 5 days in the fridge.
4. If you are making fillings from scratch like Strawberry Filling for Cakes, Blueberry fillings or Caramel Sauce then all of it can be stored in the fridge for up to a week. Check out the recipe posts linked for more details.

Bakers Tips:

1. Consider making sheet cakes instead of square or round cakes to make the most out of the cake layers.
2. Instead of proper cake slices, you can also use cake scraps to make these tub cakes.
3. I recommend soaking the cake layers with simple sugar syrup to keep them moist for days to come.
4. A very Beginner Friendly Cake as you need not worry about smoothening the cake layers, simply run a spatula using the edge of the tub as a guide to smoothen the frosting on top.
5. Adding the frosting to a piping bag and then using it would help you get even layers and also would be less messy.
6. If you do not wish to make everything from scratch, then you can consider using a box mix, or store-bought cake and frosting. 
7. Want to learn how much to charge for tub cakes? Refer to our Cake Pricing Guide. 

Indian Sweet Tub Cakes:

This style of cake tub can be very well customised to suit your needs and would also go so well in your festive menu.

The most popular style would be to turn it into a Mithai Cake.

Use the cake base recipe from our Burfi Cupcakes post.

Soak it with Kesar wala doodh as seen in our Modak Cake.

To your whipped cream frosting add a rabdi filling from our Motichoor Ladoo Cake.

Now to make it Mithai Flavour simply add a layer of Indian mithai of choice like Burfi, Peda, Sweet Boondi, Crushed Boondi Ladoo, Jalebi, Rasmalai etc just anything and it would then turn out to be called that cake.

Like if you use Jalebi it would be Jalebi Tub Cake
If you use Motichoor Ladoo it would be Motichoor Ladoo Cake..

You get the gist right!!

And repeat the layers till you reach the top. That's it your Indian Mithai Tub Cake is ready.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Related Recipes:

1. Eggless Chocolate Cake
2. Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting
3. Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting
4. Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
5. Oreo Buttercream Frosting.

Wish to Join US for the love of BAKING? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for all the latest updates!