Flashy Flag Cake!

Come for the recipe; stay for the story!

Ingredients:

1-five inch red cake

1-eight inch red cake

1-eight inch blue cake

1 batch of Italian Meringue Buttercream (1 and 1/2 batch if you want to go heavier on icing layers)

Notes before beginning:

1. I used 3" tall cake pans and the vanilla cake recipe that was used for the pineapple upside down cake.1 batch is enough for one 8" cake in a 3" tall cake pan (Instead of using 1/2 cup pineapple juice and 1/2 cup milk just do 1 full cup of milk for a vanilla flavored cake.)

2. Ideally you want the 5" red and 8" blue cakes to be ever so slightly shorter than the 8" red cake so that your layers are the same size.

3. This cake may be red, white and blue, but you can flavor it however you like using extracts, (you could also make the red cake with strawberry puree and the blue one with blueberry if you want!) Just have fun!

Directions:

1. Ensure all your cakes are level on the top, and trim as necessary so you are setting yourself up for success!

2. Cut the 8" red cake into 4 layers

3. Cut the 5" red cake and the 8" blue cake into 3 layers each

4. Place the 5" red cake on top of the 8" blue cake as close to being in the center as possible.

5. Using the 5" red cake as your guide, cut the middle out of the 8" blue cake.

6. Remove the center from the 8" blue cake and put the 5" red cake inside of it instead. (Have a snack! Or see the video tutorial for other fun ideas for the cake scrap!)

7. Set all layers aside except for one of your 8" red cake layers. Place a dollop of buttercream on your cake platter or cake cardboard then place your 8" red layer on top.

8. Completely cover your layer with buttercream and add next 8" red layer. Repeat until you have 4 layers of red 8" cake covered with buttercream.

9. After your last 8" red layer you will begin with your blue and red layers. Repeat the same layering process as above until you put on your last layer of blue/red cake. Before covering the top layer with icing look at your cake from eye level and make sure it is all even. If not, press wherever needed in order to ensure that it is even. Proceed with icing the top and sides of your cake, until it has as much, or as little icing on it as desired. For directions on how I finished mine, see the video tutorial posted above!

This was a fun cake to make! I was inspired by the warm weather and longing for summer sunshine with the grill going, and life, back to normal, whatever that actually looks like post our COVID-19 outbreak. If we're honest, this cake that I have in the picture shows exactly how important it is that your layers are even. My 5" red cake had some issues from the get-go, but here we are! You get the gist. This episode of that Fantastic British Cake Bake Off (Season 3 episode one which is listed on Netflix as "The Beginnings.") we saw that they finished up with their "Showstopper Challenge." Which needed to include a design on the INSIDE of the cake. This has become a popular thing. We've all seen the cake that is a rainbow on the inside, or the cake that has the graduated colors within, but there are some really intricate ones out there! Thankfully, this American flag cake is fairly simple if you have the right directions.

The last time I made a cake like this I decided I didn't need all that cake, so I used colored buttercream instead, and I have to say, don't take shortcuts, if you do all the cake it pays off and looks so much more impressive!

Also this go round I made sure my colors were as brilliant as I could get them. I like to use Americolor brand of food gel. I get them from my local cake store for about $6 a bottle, which is an investment, but because it is gel instead of liquid a little goes a lot further! I used "Red Red" for the red and a I only had "sky blue" on hand so I used that with a few drops of black to darken it up and I ended up with that nice deep blue. You can use whatever brand you are used to, but I have used some other brands that I did not like as well, and would never personally buy (used them at work). There is another brand that I really want to try, and one day I will finally find an excuse to buy a few. That brand is Sugar Art. Alot of her customers use them for cookie decorating, but you can definitely use them for other things like buttercream. If you have used them, I'd love to hear all about it. They look like a lot of fun though! If you make this cake, post it on instagram and tag me! Or email me, I'd love to see all your lovely fourth of July cakes for our future none-quarantine lives! Have fun!