July 6, 2010

4th of July Flag Cake

I mentioned on the last Five for Friday that Hubs offered to help me make this flag cake.

cake


Last week my friend Laura of Happy Hour With a Housewife, posted this flag cake on her Facebook wall. I showed it to Hubs and there was no 'bringing guacamole instead'. The deal, however, was that I needed him to help me, because, HELLO, this looks involved Kids! (I totally overused commas in that last sentence huh? All my readers with English majors just hit ‘unsubscribe’… although, if you’re still here after all the other messed up sentences I’ve posted before, you must be used to it by now).

So, anywhoodle, Sunday morning (because why not wait until the last minute) I went to the store to buy 2 boxes of white cake mix. If you’ve been following my blog for awhile you know that I like to make things from scratch, when I can, box cake wasn’t my first choice. I just knew it would be easier and make to correct amount of cake I needed. Guess what? I wasn’t the only one who wanted white cake mix for the 4th of July. Crazy huh? That was when I decided to bake the cake from scratch and that was also when I decided to spend the entire morning baking and decorating a cake, that later NO ONE WOULD EAT!* But I’ll get there…

For the best directions on how to construct the cake So Wonderful, So Marvelous and read this post. Here is the diagram she, and her friend Stephanie, made to show how the cake is constructed.

HowToCake

There are also a couple of pictures posted on the process. I, of course, didn’t take any pictures of my process. I should have though because at my house there were many different sized bowl, a scale and math involved… FAR TOO MUCH MATH! and in the end, I didn’t bake enough blue.

HalfCake
See I don’t have 2 layers (1-red, 1-white) next to my blue, because my blue was too small. However, it still looks like a flag and no one at the party knew it was supposed to look better. So, GO US! Also, Hubs, who isn’t a big ‘cake person’ raved about how tasty it was – so I’m pretty proud of that. Take THAT, box cake :)

Which cake recipe did I use? I very very slightly altered this one and made 3 batches, although I would recommend making 4.

Click Recipe to Enlarge


Which frosting recipe did I use? I very very slightly altered this one.
Click Recipe to Enlarge

This was by far the best Cream Cheese Frosting I’ve every made. I credit the Crisco. Since, I can’t use butter because of the Hubs tummy, I had been using margarine. The Crisco makes it much fluffier and tastier.

I added some fresh (local and organic) fruit to make it a bit prettier and more festive.

CakeTop
You can see the mess I made of the counter behind. I loaded the cake onto my Wilton Cake Caddy just in time to change into my Red, White & Blue and head out the door.

CakeSide
* Okay, I mentioned no one ate our cake… which isn’t entirely true, but mostly. Our good friends invited us to their friends party in San Diego. Don’t get me wrong here, we had a lot of fun and the Hosts were awesome to have us and their friends were great. But, really how great can they be if they don’t like a flag cake? The more popular cakes present included a store bought hamburger cake, chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles, and chocolate chip cookies. Someone did cut my cake to show off how awesome the inside was, but didn’t eat the slice they cut out. Jane (my Bestie), me and the girl Jane talked into eating my cake where the only people that had a slice at the party. Hubs had to slices yesterday (1 for breakfast and 1 for dinner). I have half this cake left… I’m thinking of bringing it to work tomorrow.

Did you make anything festive for the 4th of July?

16 comments:

Amy said...

What a bummer! I asked my in laws if they wanted me to bring dessert. I brought cupcakes and 2 were eaten, because MIL bought fixins for banana splits. Cupcakes were pushed to the way side, for real! UGH!

Ali @ His Birdie's Nest said...

@Amy - Yeah is my case there were 3 couple (us included) without kids. I think the cupcakes and cookies were easier to eat.

Laura Lewis said...

I think you did fantastic! I'm still sad I didn't get to make it... maybe next year! My patriotic cupcakes turned out way cute though and got demolishied.

Ali @ His Birdie's Nest said...

@Laura - Thanks :) I'd love to see your cupcakes!

Em said...

I think you're awesome for tackling this! I looked at the recipe and the steps and was like um no thanks. And now that you've said it involved lots of math...gulp...double no thanks! The cake looks good to me and I totes would have eaten at least one piece. I'm "that guest" at a party who eats a bit of everything and often. What can I say? I like food! Great job, girl :)

A. Marigold said...

I would have eaten it! Their loss. ;) The frosting looks SUPER yummy!

honey my heart said...

i love your cake! can't imagine how much thought went into designing the inside. it is patriotic inside & out :)

Jessica Lynn said...

WHAT? Nobody ate this?! That's crazy! I'm really sad people didn't eat any of it. I'm really impressed that you made it—that's a huge undertaking and you kicked its butt! Seriously, that looks great.

Laura said...

Yours looks cute!!! Although, I vouch for the even bake cake strips a million times over, they do help. Also making the cake from scratch also helps (I think) because you have a lot more control over the ingredients, baking powder, etc.

Looks yummy with the fruit! :)

Ali @ His Birdie's Nest said...

Thanks Ladies, I'm going to have you all over and make you a fancy cake because I know you'll eat it ;-)
@Laura - I'm definitely investing in those baking cake strips. My oven isn't the best and my cakes always crack on the top before they are done in the middle. It's very frustrating. Also totally agree with you on the cake from scratch :)

Michelle said...

The box mix is because I'm totally lazy, if I had mad baking skills I would totally do one from scratch, but I am baking challenged. If it's any consolation, I add a little almond and vanilla to it to punch it up just a little.

I think your cake looks cute! I'm thinking the reason your blue wasn't enough was because you're supposed to cut the red and white layers in half. So one pan = two thin layers. Then you start layering. (You will end up with one small layer of white and a small layer of red leftover, plus the scraps from cutting out the circles.) Another tip for next time is to use a smaller bowl to make the cut out in the blue layer so there is a thicker piece of blue.

Thanks so much for the mention & for the awesome cake recipe... I think I may actually be able to do that one!

Ali @ His Birdie's Nest said...

@Michelle - Thanks so much for the tips!

Micah and Catherine said...

Amazing! I'm not sure I'd have the patience for it but I'd be happy to eat it. :)

Joy @ HowJoyful said...

It looks awesome! I cant believe they didnt eat it, just send it to me =)!!!

You did a great job! maybe next year I will try this!

Katie said...

oh my gosh. this is fantastic looking. truly it is a baking masterpiece! i cannot believe that people didnt devour this whole!!
xx

kjpugs said...

It turned out so good! I am just glad SOMEONE I "know" attempted this and succeeded. PS that icing recipe sounds great! I need a good one.

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