Red, White and Blueberry Flag (Flop) Cake!


Every year we make a special Fourth of July dessert and this year was no exception.  The girls were paging through my copy of Food Network magazine when they came across THIS Flag Ice Cream Cake.  It looked easy enough. Red and white layers of ice cream topped with a blue layer of cake.  When you cut into the cake, each slice looks like a flag.  Very cool indeed. So I packed one springform pan for our trip up to the cabin and planned to get the ingredients once we arrived.  Guess what?  The further you get away from civilization, the less likely they are to have raspberry sorbet.  Plan B.

Forget the ice cream. What if I just made a layered flag cake? I smiled to myself as I considered this brilliant idea. I stopped at the local Target and guess what I found?  A white cake mix, a red velvet cake mix and, yes, a blue blueberry cake mix!


Once at the cabin, I baked the cake mixes, one at a time, in my one pan. Note the golden oak side table and the sliding glass doors.


A couple of notes: Read cake mix directions carefully.  If it says, "egg whites", it means that the color of the mix will change if you use the yolks. You've been forewarned.

Also, check the size of the cake mix.  For instance, the red velvet cake mix only made half a cake. I know. Crazy.

After baking the cakes, I decided to cut the red and white ones horizontally to create stripes.  I did this using the old dental floss trick. It works better than a big knife. I cut the little red cake in half and the larger white cake into thirds. My cake would have to be satisfied with five stripes.


Here's the layers:  First, place a white cake layer on a plate and top with cream cheese frosting.


Next, add a red velvet layer and more cream cheese frosting.


Add another white layer and more cream cheese frosting.
At this point, things are starting to look a bit ugly.


Here's what you do with the blue layer - leave it unsliced, but cut a circle in the middle. (Do you like the purdy plastic flowered dishes? Did I mentioned that we were at the cabin?)

Place the entire cake on top of the cake layers you have started. But don't flip it. That would cause the cake to fall apart and crumble into pieces. (Don't ask me how I know this.) And this is where the pictures stop. This is where I start screaming, "Somebody, help! Get some giant skewers to hold my cake in place! WAAH!!!"

If I had continued to take pictures at this point, you would have seen me cut equal sized circles out of the last two layers of red and white cake and insert them into the blue cake, adding cream cheese frosting between each of the layers. But I didn't take any pictures, so you'll have to take my word for it.


Here's my finished cake after I froze the cake and trimmed the edges.  
Frosting and blueberries cover a multitude of sins.
I like to think of it as rustic.


Here you can see the slice.
Good idea.
Poor execution.
Still delicious!



Comments

rebecca @ beurrista said…
Most my desserts fall in the rustic category!
July 7, 2014 at 7:10 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Butter Bean Soup

Image
Happy New Year!  We are off to a cold start! It's so cold that the Governor cancelled school for the entire state! That never happens. Up here in Minnesota, when it gets cold, we just pull up our snow pants and pull down our hats.  In the South, they say it's not the heat, it's the humidity.  Up North, we say it's not the cold, it's the wind.  Windchill temperatures (what it actually feels like), are said to be -40 to -50 degrees Fahrenheit. That's the coldest it's been since 1996 - just shortly before we moved to Atlanta.  Hmmmm…… it's all coming back to me now.  Nevertheless, my 16-year old says it's a great way to start second semester! When it's cold outside, there is nothing I love more than making soup. Soup is the perfect excuse to stand over a hot stove on a cold day. You can hold soup in a coffee mug and let it warm your hands. You can sip soup in the same mug and let it warm you from the inside out. There's a reason for ...
Read more

Dr. Seuss Snacks!

Image
One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.  I admit it.  I love Dr. Seuss!  A collection of these sing-song-y rhymes was the first thing I put on the bookshelves of our very first baby nursery.  Four kids later, I now have talents that include being able to recite The Cat In The Hat from memory! In honor of the late great Dr. Seuss (He would have been 107 on March 2nd) we are making these cute snacks!  Absolutely no skill or talent required! Simply start with a box of blue Jell-O..... and divide into four clear plastic cups. (The fish have to have a place to swim!) After the Jell-O has set, have the kids add their own fish!  (Swedish Fish, that is!) Ella's kindergarten class gets a Dr. Seuss party after they have collectively read 107 books! Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!
Read more

Groundhog Pudding Cups

Image
Now that we are back living in The North, I'm starting to remember why, prior to my life in The South, I had only had a handful of pedicures and didn't own any sandals.  Exposing one's feet presents health risks.  Like frostbite. Groundhog's Day (February 2nd) is just around the corner. At this time, as legend has it, the groundhog will either emerge from its hole on a sunny day, see its shadow, get scared, and hide leaving us with six more weeks of winter, or it will emerge on a cloudy day, see nothing noteworthy and predict an early spring.  Sunny or not, a package of Pepperidge Farm Milano's was all the inspiration I needed to celebrate the impending season. When I first saw these cookies in Family Fun magazine, I immediately tore out the page. How cute are these groundhogs?  The actual assembly is a bit tedious, but the eager anticipation of the recipients makes it all worth while. Begin with some Milano cookies.  Use sliced almonds for ...
Read more