LOCATION: BELLE ISLE • JULY 3rd, 2020
Outfit Details: ZARA Dress, Celine Sunglasses, Miansai Cuff Bracelet
Fourth of July calls for grilling burgers with friends, corn-on-the-cob, and fresh watermelon slices...but most importantly blueberries, raspberries, and cream cheese frosting! I have been baking this flag cake for the last five years and it’s always a huge hit at our celebrations. Not only is this dessert a visual stunner, it tastes even better than it looks!! I guarantee your family and friends will be in love with it!
I highly recommend these William-Sonoma quarter-sheet pans; we have a set of the Goldtouch bakeware and I really love the quality and the durability of this line.
Flag Cake - Quarter Sheet Pan
Adapted from Ina Garten, serves 10-12
Ingredients:
For the Cake:
9 Tbsp butter at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
3 eggs
½ cup sour cream
¾ tsp vanilla extract
1½ cups flour
⅙ cup (8 tsp) cornstarch
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
Icing:
16 tsp (2 sticks) of butter
12 oz (¾ lb) cream cheese
2 cups (½ lb) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
¾ tsp vanilla extract
To Assemble:
1 half-pint blueberries
1½ half-pint raspberries
Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 13 x 9 x 1-inch sheet pan (see note).
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 3 minutes on medium speed, until light and fluffy. (If the butter is too cool to be light and fluffy, add a teaspoon or two of warm water,) On medium-low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir the batter with a rubber spatula and pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top and bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.
For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed until very smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix on low speed. Stir with a rubber spatula to be sure the icing is well mixed.
Spread three quarters of the icing on the cake. Using a toothpick, outline a flag on the cake. Fill in the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like the red stripes. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternately add 2 rows of raspberries and 2 rows of icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.
Note: If you don’t want to serve your cake from the pan, line the pan with parchment paper and turn it out into a board before you ice and decorate it.
