June 30, 2002 – For a tasty way to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, serve a flag cake. Use your favorite yellow cake recipe and butter-cream frosting, and then decorate the top with an Old Glory design using fresh strawberries and blueberries.
On June 14, 1777, John Adams introduced a resolution in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia stating the flag of the United States should contain 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars on a blue field, symbolizing the original 13 colonies. In 1783, the Stars and Stripes became the official flag of the United States.
Strawberries and blueberries are ideal for creating the image of a flag on top of a white-iced cake. And the decorating is something children will enjoy helping to do. Those red and blue berries are imports for us in the islands, though. If anyone can think up a nifty variation using red and blue tropical fruits, I'd love to hear about it and share it with everyone else!
All-American Flag Cake
1 package yellow cake mix or your favorite yellow cake recipe
1 can vanilla butter-cream frosting or your favorite butter-cream frosting recipe
1 quart or 2 pints fresh strawberries
1 pint fresh blueberries
Bake the cake in a 9×13 inch pan according to package directions. Allow to cool then frost the cake.
Remove stems and cut the strawberries into halves. Wash the blueberries and drain them on paper toweling. In the top left-hand corner of the frosted cake, arrange the blueberries into a rectangle shape 5 inches wide and 4 inches high, pressing them down into the frosting.
Fill the blueberry outline in with the remaining blueberries. They will look best if placed in rows, which will make the icing around them resemble stars. Place the strawberry halves, cut side down, in horizontal rows across the cake. The top and bottom stripes of the flag are red, so lay those out first, then do the middle row halfway in between . Again, press the berries down into the frosting, so the red "stripes" will not appear raised.
Serve any leftover berries with the sliced cake and ice cream. For a stunning holiday effect, place a couple of sparklers into the top of the cake. Makes 12 to 16 servings.
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