The BEST American Flag Cake Recipe
This American Flag Cake is sure to stand out at your 4th of July or Flag day parties! My mother in law put a twist on the box cake recipe and it is seriously THE BEST. With the sweet whipped cream frosting and silky pastry cream filling, you will definitely impress. Plus, the kids will love helping you make it!
The kids helped measure out ingredients and learned to separate egg whites and yolks. We put all our ingredients in a bowl and mixed them up.
Their Mimi ordered these adorable patriotic shirts from the BeanieBopShop on Etsy. They were a perfect addition to our Flag Day Celebration!
Let the tasting commence!
We cooked the cake for about 10 minutes. Miss 5 stuck a toothpick in to check if it was finished. The adults made the pastry cream while the kids watched the cake!
Then, we spread the pastry cream between our cake layers and covered the whole thing with our whipped cream frosting.
Miss 5 sliced the strawberries into thin slices and we talked about how to make the cake look like a flag.
We made a rectangle in the top corner with lines of blueberries. The white spaces between the blueberries symbolizing the stars. Then, we made lines of red strawberries to create the flag stripes.
The only thing I regret is not getting a picture when we cut it. It was seriously perfect!!
This cake is perfectly sweet for any occasion. Here’s a printable recipe so you can make it too!
The BEST American Flag Cake Recipe
Ingredients
THE CAKE - DO NOT FOLLOW BOX DIRECTIONS
- 1 Box White Cake Mix
- 3 Egg Whites
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 stick Softened Butter
- 1 cup Whole Milk
THE PASTRY CREAM FILLING
- 6 Egg Yolks
- 2 cups Whole Milk
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 4 tbsp All Purpose Flour
- 4 tsp Butter
- pinch Salt
THE WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING
- 1 qt Heavy Whipping Cream
- 4 Whipped Cream Stabalizer Envelopes
- 1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
FRUIT TOPPINGS
- 1 1/2 cup Blueberries
- 1 lb Strawberries
Instructions
THE CAKE - DO NOT FOLLOW BOX DIRECTIONS
- Grease 2 quarter sheet pans.
- Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat until mixture is smooth and thick.
- Pour half of the batter onto each quarter sheet pan.
- Cook for 10 minutes or until toothpick comes out with sticky crumbs.
- Cool for 10 minutes. Turn cakes out onto wax paper.
THE PASTRY CREAM FILLING
- Place the milk, vanilla extract and HALF the sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat.
- Combine the egg yolks and remaining sugar in a bowl. Whisk until light. Add the flour and salt. Mix completely.
- When the milk begins to boil, remove from heat. VERY SLOWLY pour the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly.
- When half of the milk has been added, pour the egg mixture into the sauce pan over medium heat.
- Mix the pastry cream as it heats, making sure to reach all the corners of the pan as you stir. Let boil for about one minute, stirring constantly until mixture is thick.
- Remove from heat and add the butter.
- Place into a bowl and cover directly with plastic wrap to stop skin from forming on the cream. Chill for 1 hour.
WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING
- Place a stainless steel bowl and your beaters in the freezer for a few minutes to get very cold.
- Add all ingredients into cold stainless steel bowl. Mix with whisk until combined.
- Beat with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Place in refrigerator till ready to use.
ASSEMBLING THE CAKE
- On a large platter, place one layer of cake. Add about 1/2-2 cups of pastry cream (ormore if you like) and spread.
- Place your second layer of cake on top and cover the entire cake with your whipped cream. We like to have a good inch and a half of whipped cream.
- Arrange your blueberries in the top corner in lines to create the stars and the strawberries to form stripes.
- Store in fridge until ready to serve.
