Description
Ina Garten’s American flag cake combines patriotic spirit with classic vanilla flavor. Red, white, and blue buttercream creates a festive design that celebrates national pride with delicious elegance.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3 cups / 600 grams sugar
- 6 extra-large eggs (room temperature)
- 3 cups / 360 grams flour
- 1 ½ lbs / 680 grams cream cheese (room temperature)
- 2 half-pints / 300 grams blueberries
- 3 half-pints / 450 grams raspberries
- 18 tbsps / 255 grams unsalted butter (room temperature)
- ⅓ cup / 40 grams cornstarch
- 1 tsp / 5 milliliters kosher salt
- 1 tsp / 5 milliliters baking soda
- 1 cup / 240 milliliters sour cream (room temperature)
- 1 ½ tsps / 7.5 milliliters pure vanilla extract
- 1 lb / 450 grams unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 lb / 450 grams confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 ½ tsps / 7.5 milliliters pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preparation: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Generously grease and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan, ensuring complete coverage.
- Batter Creation: Cream butter and sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs incrementally, then incorporate sour cream and vanilla extract. Mix thoroughly, scraping bowl sides to achieve uniform consistency.
- Mixing Dry and Wet Ingredients: Sift flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda together. Gradually fold dry ingredients into butter mixture on low speed until just combined. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan using a spatula.
- Baking and Cooling: Bake in oven center for 20-30 minutes. Verify doneness by inserting a toothpick that comes out clean. Allow cake to cool completely to room temperature.
- Frosting Preparation: Blend softened butter, cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Beat until achieving a smooth, creamy consistency.
- Flag Decoration: Spread majority of icing across cake surface. Sketch flag outline using a toothpick as a guide. Position blueberries in upper left corner. Arrange raspberries in two horizontal rows for red stripes. Pipe white stripes between raspberry rows using remaining icing in a star-tipped pastry bag. Add decorative stars over blueberry section.
- Serving: Transfer cake to serving board using parchment paper for easy removal, or serve directly from baking pan.
Notes
- Butter Softening Tip: Allow butter to reach room temperature for 30-45 minutes before mixing to ensure smooth, even incorporation with other ingredients.
- Mixing Technique: Mix cake batter just until ingredients combine to prevent overworking, which can lead to tough, dense cake texture.
- Cooling Critical: Let cake cool completely before frosting to prevent icing from melting and design from becoming messy.
- Fruit Selection: Choose fresh, firm raspberries and blueberries for crisp, vibrant flag decoration and optimal visual appeal.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 490
- Sugar: 51 g
- Sodium: 220 mg
- Fat: 26 g
- Saturated Fat: 16 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 59 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 115 mg