Nothing kicks off Summer like a 4th of July celebration — and nothing makes a celebration like a super-cool cake. We asked Icing Diva and CreativeLive instructor Lucinda Larson to give us a fun 4th of July cake recipe and she went above and beyond. If you want to impress your friends and family, check out Lucinda’s recipe and instructions below. And don’t miss Lucinda’s CreativeLive class Cake Decorating Fundamentals, which covers all the tricks you need to know to make truly impressive cakes.
4th of July Cake
by Chef Lucinda Larson
Start by making 2 recipes of the white cake (recipe below). Divide batter into thirds. Leave 1/3 white, color 1/3 red and 1/3 royal blue. Grease and flour 3 – 8-inch round pans, and 2 -6-inch round cake pans.
One 8-inch pan will be the royal blue batter, 1 8-inch and 1 6-inch pan will be white batter, and the rest the red batter. So as you can see you will need a little less blue batter, then the red and white batter. Bake as directed until done.
When cooled, divide the red and white layers as if filling or torte-ing the cake. Leave the blue layer uncut.
The USA Flag starts with a red strip and ends with a red strip. I put my cake on a blue board, I did not want red and blue next to each other so I started with a white layer. You may do your cake however you choose. Place an 8-inch cut layer of red cake and add a layer of icing or filling.
I used white buttercream. I have used other fillings in the past, such as a creamed raspberry, tastes very good, but is not as cool looking when cut and served.
After adding the filling, place the 8-inch cut white layer on top. Fill this layer, add the next 8-inch cut layer of red cake and add a layer of icing or filling, and complete with the last cut layer of white cake, and add the layer of icing or filling.
With a 3 to 4-inch round cutter, such as a cookie or biscuit cutter, cut the center out of the blue layer of cake. Try to center as best as possible, and make it as clean a cut as possible. Using the same round cutter cut the center out of the 6-inch red and white cakes. Place the outside blue ring of cake on top of the red and white layers. Place a single cut layer of the 6-inch red cake in the center of the blue cake, add icing or filling on top of the red layer, then lay a cut layer of the white cake, continue this until the hole in the center of the blue cake is filled and level with either red or white cake.
You are now ready to ice and decorate the cake as you wish! The great fun is when you get to cut and serve the cake to friends and family!
White Cake Recipe:
12 oz cake flour
0.75 oz baking soda
0.25 oz salt
6 oz Crisco shortening
15 oz sugar
6 oz milk
0.18 oz (1 tsp) vanilla extract
0.09 oz (1/2 tsp) almond extract
Another 6 oz. milk
8 oz or 8 egg whites
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl and add the shortening. With paddle attachment, mix on low speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater and mix again for another 2 minutes.
Add sugar to the bowl and add the 1st 6 oz of the milk and flavoring. Blend on low speed for 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater several times to ensure even mixing.
Combine the other 6 oz of milk and lightly beaten egg whites together. With the mixer running, add the milk and egg mixture to the batter in 3 parts. After each part scrape down the bowl and beater. Continue to mix for a total of 5 minutes after the last part has been added.
Bake at 325 degrees F until done.
I have tweaked this recipe in so many ways. If you add a compound or frozen fruit, or color, it looks like it might fail, but seems to always come out awesome. The recipe calls for skim milk, but I always use 2%, and it works every time.
