4th of July American Flag Berry Cake

Hello! I’m so excited to show you how to make this 4th of July American Flag Berry Cake! This cake is actually super easy to make, and is a huge hit at any patriotic celebration. My secret is using a boxed cake mix with homemade frosting, and I’ve had people tell me this combo is the best cake they’ve ever had. Plus, I actually made a friend’s 5 tier funfetti wedding cake using this method, and it was a huge hit!

This is one recipe where I recommend using the brand name items shown for the cake mix and the powdered sugar. I’ve tried off brands, and the frosting will turn out lumpy every time if you don’t use the brand name. It’s worth the extra dollar for the best frosting ever. Here’s what you’ll need!

 

4th of July American Flag Berry Cake

Ingredients:

Cake

• Cake mix
• Eggs
• Vegetable oil
• Water

Frosting

• 1 cup (1 stick) Crisco
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temp
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 8 cups (2 lbs) powdered (confectioners) sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Also needed

• Cocoa powder (for a chocolate cake) or flour (for any lighter cake)
• Blueberries
• Raspberries

Start by preheating your oven to the temperature suggested for a rectangular pan on the back of your cake mix box. Put your mix, water, oil, and eggs into a medium bowl.

Mix it up with a whisk by hand until everything is incorporated and all large lumps are gone. Don’t follow the “beat it with a hand mixer for 2 minutes” instruction on the back of the box. This makes a tough, dry cake. We want a moist, fluffy cake. Now grab your baking pan.

And put some crisco on a paper towel. Rub it all over the bottom and sides of the pan. Then you’re going to put some cocoa powder (for a chocolate cake) or flour (for any lighter cake) on the bottom of your pan and start rolling and tapping it around until the pan is completely coated.

It should look like this! This is my magic trick for making sure that cakes do not stick to the pan and come out pretty every time!

Now pour in your cake batter and tap it on the counter a couple times to remove any large bubbles and level out the batter. Pop it in the oven and bake it according to package instructions, but start checking it about 5 minutes before the time is up, as all ovens vary and you don’t want to over bake. You can check to see if it’s done by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out clean with just a crumb or two, it’s all ready! If it’s still wet, keep cooking in 2-5 minute increments until it’s done.

My cake took exactly 30 minutes to bake. While your cake is cooling, let’s prep our serving tray and make our frosting! The only large rectangle serving tray I had was covered in snowflakes since I usually bake round cakes, so I covered it with aluminum foil to make my serving tray. Now grab your ingredients for your frosting.

I recommend using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment if you have one. If you don’t, a hand mixer will work. However, it will take longer at each step to make the frosting smooth. Put your crisco stick and your two soft butter sticks in the mixer, and mix on medium until nice and smooth. Then add in your vanilla and mix again. Now you’re going to start mixing in your powdered sugar. I use a full 2 lb bag, and pour in about 1 cup at a time. Mix well until all lumps are gone between each addition of powdered sugar. Take your time with this. The slower you go and the more you mix, the smoother and creamier your frosting will be. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl regularly.

See how smooth it should look at the beginning when adding the sugar? Now when all your sugar is incorporated, your frosting will be crazy thick. It should look like a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Start adding milk, a tablespoon at a time, and mix well. You should use 4 tablespoons total, and when you’re done you’ll have a medium thick, pipeable and spreadable frosting.

That is some pretty frosting! My kids get super happy when I bring out the mixer to make frosting because they know I’ll have them taste test the frosting. Grab a piping bag and a large star tip if you have one. If you don’t you can use a quart size plastic bag and cut the tip off. You’ll just have cute round piping rather than star piping.

Now pop your completely cooled cake out of the pan and set it on your serving tray. Use an offset spatula or even a butter knife and spread a medium layer of frosting all over the top and sides of your cake.

Make sure it’s even and fairly smooth, but it’ll all be covered up in a minute so don’t worry if it’s not perfect or there’s crumbs showing in the frosting. Get your filled piping bag and your fresh berries set up next to you.

Start placing your blueberries in the upper left corner of your cake. I did a section that was 5 blueberries by 7 blueberries. Then I piped little stars in between the berries. You can also pipe little dots!

When your stars section is done, get your raspberries. Place your raspberries in a straight line across the top of the cake. I alternated mine with one pointing up and one pointing down to create a smooth line and get lots of berries on the cake. Then take your piping bag and pipe a line across the bottom of the berries.

I used the shell piping technique to create this effect, but do the type of piping that feels most comfortable to you. A straight round line looks just as cute! Then add your next layer of berries. Keep going down the cake until it’s completely filled with raspberry and frosting stripes.

Yummy!

And you’re all done! You can decorate the tray with some extra berries if you’d like. Normally I don’t recommend refrigerating cakes, but this one does best kept in the fridge to keep the berries fresh.

I hope you had fun learning how to make this 4th of July American Flag Berry Cake, and I hope my cake baking tips help you create a gorgeous cake for your next party!