I used to at all times make my Flag Cake recipe each 4th as a result of it’s a practice. However I’m going to allow you to in on somewhat secret…these days I’ve been dishonest and making a semi-homemade model as an alternative!

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After you’ve crossed state traces to purchase the GOOD fireworks (shh, I gained’t inform), threaded rooster onto numerous skewers, and prepped your potato salad, you don’t have a variety of time left to make dessert on your Fourth of July social gathering. Do you:
- A) Seize a clamshell container of unhappy, dry grocery retailer cupcakes with gobs of purple, white, and blue frosting on high? Then watch your visitors scrape off the frosting, gingerly take a chew, and discretely toss the remainder?
- B) Skip the dessert as a result of… Fruit Salad is type of like a dessert, proper?
- Or C) Get away the beaters and make a Flag Cake from scratch as a result of is it even Fourth of July with out it?
In case your reply is C, I’m with you, good friend, however life these days has been busy!
As an alternative, listed here are two straightforward choices to make a shortcut flag your visitors will completely adore:
- Make the frosting, not the cake. Use a yellow or white cake from a boxed combine, and make a selfmade cream cheese frosting whereas it bakes. (I exploit the one in my authentic Flag Cake recipe). I discover cake mixes are fairly nice, however premade frostings are too cloying. Your visitors will assume it’s 100% from scratch!
- No time for both? Choose up an undecorated sheet cake with vanilla frosting (Costco makes a GREAT one).
- Much less-fuss slicing. As an alternative of slicing the strawberry skinny and arranging them in fanned rows, lower them in half length-wise and line one up subsequent to the opposite, uncut sides going through up.
Tricks to Make It Shine
- Prep Forward-ish. When you’re utilizing the cake combine (or going the additional mile and doing it from scratch), you possibly can bake the cake a day early. Frost and beautify simply earlier than serving to maintain it contemporary, although. (When you’re bringing this to a celebration, you possibly can carry it frosted, however I nonetheless advocate including the berries simply earlier than serving if in any respect doable.)
- Make Positive Your Berries Are DRY. Rinse the berries and gently pat them dry to maintain them from making your frosting watery.
- Add Patriotic Sprinkles. Utilizing a boxed combine? Add some purple, white, and blue jimmies for a patriotic Funfetti cake.
- Get the Servings You Want. Bake the cake in a half sheet pan (a la my authentic Flag Cake) and also you’ll get 24 servings out of this unhealthy boy. Or get fewer, thicker slices in a 9×13 pan.