How do people in the South celebrate the 4th of July? The same way we do everything else – with food!
Folks, there’s nothing quite like a good-ol’-fashioned cookout to celebrate our nation’s birthday. Just thinking about all the BBQ, mac-n-cheese, baked beans, and coleslaw is enough to get your mouth watering.
Of course, no Independence Day spread is complete without a delicious dessert to top it off. And instead of relying on store-bought this year, we suggest whipping up this easy-to-make flag cake from the good people at Southern Living magazine. It’s the perfect sweet treat for your 4th of July cookout, and we promise you won’t have to worry about any leftovers!
Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need for your flag cake:
The tools:
- A 10×15 in jelly pan (do not substitute with a cookie sheet, it’ll ruin the cake)
- Spatula
- 3 large bowls
- Electric mixer
- Whisk
- Piping bag
- Standard oven
- Skewer or fork
- Cooling rack
For the cake:
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the frosting:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter (16 tablespoons)
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- Fresh strawberries
- Fresh blueberries
- Coarse white sanding sugar (this is optional, but we don’t suggest you skip it)
Directions
Baking the Flag Cake
- Go ahead and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While that’s heating up, grease the jelly roll pan with the nonstick cooking spray.
- In one of the bowls, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer on medium-low speed to beat together the eggs, oil, sour cream, and vanilla. Then beat in half the dry ingredients on a low speed until it’s all combined. Lastly, beat in the remaining dry ingredients, but be sure not to overbeat the batter.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer cake to a cooling rack and cool completely.
The Frosting
- Using a mixer, beat the butter and half the powdered sugar together until light and fluffy. Next, beat in the sour cream until smooth, and then beat in the remaining powdered sugar until the frosting is thick and spreadable. Fold in the vanilla.
- Spread half the frosting over the cooled cake, making sure it is very smooth. Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star tip with the remaining frosting.
- Fill the upper left-hand corner with a 5-inch square of blueberries. Then, try to pick strawberries that are relatively small and the same size. Remove the stem and slice them in half. Starting from the top of the cake, place two rows of strawberries. Pipe a border of frosting underneath the berries. Continue, alternating the double row of berries with a single border of frosting until the flag is complete.
- Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve. Cut and serve straight from the pan, and enjoy!
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