American Flag Cake

Celebrate the 4th of July with this stunningly beautiful patriotic dessert for a dinner centerpiece. An irresistibly soft and moist vanilla cake topped with creamy vanilla frosting, fresh blueberries, and strawberries.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Servings

Calories 862kcal

Author Imma

Ingredients

The Cake

½ cup (76g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
½ cup (125ml) canola oil
1½ cups (300g) sugar
½ cup sour cream
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoon (5g) baking powder
½ teaspoon (3g) salt
½ cup (122g) milk
2 teaspoons (8ml) vanilla extract

The Frosting

1½ cups (340g) butter
5-6 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons milk
2-3 cups strawberries
1 cup blueberries

Instructions

The Cake

Preheat the oven to 350℉/177℃. Then grease a 10x15x2-inch sheet pan generously with baking spray and set aside.
Cream the butter, canola or vegetable oil, and sugar using a hand mixer for about 3 minutes. Then add sour cream and continue mixing until it is fluffy and starts to look white – 2 minutes or more.
Add the eggs one at a time beating well between each addition. Then add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until combined.
Add the milk and vanilla extract. Continue mixing, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, so everything gets mixed in.
Pour batter into the rectangular sheet pan, shake gently back and forth to ensure the batter is evenly distributed, and bake at 350℉/177℃ for 18-20 minutes or until a tester is inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the pan, transfer it to a wire rack, and let it cool completely before frosting with your vanilla icing.

The Frosting

Add butter in a medium bowl then sift in powdered sugar a little at a time. Mix using a wooden spoon or electric mixer. Pour in the vanilla extract.
Gently add just enough milk to make the frosting easy to spread. Adjust the thickness of the frosting. Add more powdered sugar if too thin or more milk if too thick.

Assembly

Wash and dry your fruit well using a paper towel—slice strawberries to the desired shape.
Spread the frosting evenly over the cooled cake. Arrange blueberries in rows in the top left corner to form the “star” portion of the flag. Line the strawberry slices in 5 rows to create the “stripes.” Use the remaining frosting to decorate the “white stripes” as desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

Go the extra mile and incorporate berries into your batter to add more flavor.
You can swap strawberries with raspberries or cherries to make the red stripes.
Make sure to dry the fruits before adding them to our frosting to avoid a messy color bleeding.
Take a shortcut and use any of your favorite store-bought box cakes to make this patriotic dessert.
Please keep in mind that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.

Nutrition