Red, White, and Blue Layered Cake with an American Flag Surprise
- Amanda MacGregor
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Celebrate Independence Day with a spectacular, festive dessert! This Red, White, and Blue Layered Cake hides a patriotic secret: when you slice into it, an American flag pattern is revealed.
Impress your guests this 4th of July with our showstopping Red, White, and Blue Layered Cake with an American Flag Surprise. This fun and patriotic cake is easier to make than you may think. Follow the directions below, and the results will amaze your 4th of July party.
AD
Red, White, and Blue Layered Cake with an American Flag Surprise
Ingredients
For the cake base:
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour, or all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 ½ tablespoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon sea salt
2 ¼ cups cane sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
9 large eggs, only the white, no yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups milk
½ teaspoon red gel food color
¼ teaspoon blue gel food color
For the vanilla frosting:
16 ounces (2 packages) cream cheese, softened
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
8 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
AD
Directions
For the cake batter:
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans using a safe oil and your flour blend; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the sugar and butter together at medium speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally, mixing until completely smooth and creamy.
Add the egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition to keep the batter light. Mix in the vanilla extract.
Turn the mixer to low speed. Alternately add the dry flour mixture and the alternative milk in small batches, mixing just until combined. Do not overmix.
For the cake layers:
Divide your batter exactly in half. Tint one-half red using your safe red gel color.
Take the remaining half of the batter and divide it equally into two bowls. Tint one bowl blue and leave the other bowl plain - this will be for your white layers.
Pour each bowl of batter into its own prepared 9-inch pan.
Bake the white and blue layers for 18–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out completely clean. Because the red layer contains twice as much batter, bake it for 30–35 minutes until fully set and a toothpick comes out clean.
Let the cakes rest in their pans for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to loosen them, then carefully invert them onto wire cooling racks to cool completely before assembling.
For the vanilla frosting:
In a clean stand mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
Gradually add the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon of alternative milk. Beat on high speed until the frosting is light, fluffy, and spreadable. Add the second tablespoon of milk only if needed to thin.
To Assemble the Cake:
To create the flag pattern inside the cake, you'll need to cut your cooled layers specifically before frosting:
Cut the red layer and the white layer completely in half horizontally so you have two thin red discs and two thin white discs. Leave the blue layer thick.
Use a round cookie cutter or a small bowl as a template to cut a 4-to-5-inch circle out of the center of the blue layer, and out of one of the thin red layers and one of the thin white layers.
On your cake stand, place a full thin red layer down and frost the top. Place a full thin white layer on top of that and frost.
Take the large outer blue ring and place it on top of the white layer. Inside the blue ring's empty center, place the small thin red circle, frost just the top of it, and place the small thin white circle right on top of it.
Cover the entire exterior of the cake with your vanilla frosting. When guests slice into it, they’ll see the blue corner block and perfect red-and-white stripes!
Below is the image on Pinterest I came across that inspired this cake:
