Waving Flag Cake Recipes

FLAG LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8-by-2-inch round cake pans; line with parchment rounds and butter parchment. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
• With a mixer on medium speed, beat butter until softened, 2 minutes. Add sugar; continue beating until pale and fluffy, 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.
• Reduce speed to low and slowly add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with buttermilk and beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat just until incorporated.
• Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake, rotating halfway through, until cakes are golden brown and a tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack; let cool 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks and let cool completely.
• In a bowl, combine strawberries with strawberry jam. In another bowl, combine blueberries with blueberry jam.
• With a large serrated knife, trim cake tops level; split each cake in half horizontally. Fill a small pastry bag with 1/2 cup buttercream; cut a 1/4-inch tip. Transfer one layer to a cake stand or platter. Pipe a circle of buttercream around outside of cake (to keep blueberry mixture from spreading out), then spread blueberry mixture evenly inside circle. Place another cake layer on top; spread evenly with 1 cup buttercream. Place a third cake layer on top; pipe a circle of buttercream around outside of the cake, then spread strawberry mixture evenly inside circle. Place remaining cake layer on top. Spread buttercream over top and sides of cake to form a crumb coat; refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Spread remaining buttercream over top and sides of cake, using an offset spatula to smooth sides and create swirls on top.

WAVE YOUR FLAG 'CAKE'

Steps:

• Slice 1 cup strawberries; cut remaining strawberries in half.
• Add boiling water to gelatin mixes in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add enough ice to cold water to measure 2 cups. Add to gelatin; stir until ice is melted. Refrigerate 5 min. or until slightly thickened. Meanwhile, cover bottom of 13x9-inch dish with cake slices.
• Add sliced strawberries and 1 cup blueberries to thickened gelatin; stir gently. Spoon over cake. Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.
• Spread COOL WHIP over dessert. Top with fruit to resemble the US flag, using strawberries for the stripes and remaining blueberries for the stars.

CANADIAN FLAG CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 11X17-inch baking pan with 1-inch high sides.
• Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar and butter together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat one egg at a time into the butter mixture; beat in sour cream and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
• Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. With mixer at low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk just until combined. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl and finish mixing with a rubber spatula. Pour batter into prepared pan; spread to corners of pan and smooth top with a spatula.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool cake completely, about 30 minutes. To remove cake from pan, run a paring knife between cake and pan. Cover cake pan with plate or cooling rack; invert to transfer cake onto plate.
• Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract together in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low; slowly pour in cream. Once cream is incorporated, turn mixer speed to medium-high; beat until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.
• Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over top and sides of cake, smoothing the top. Place 2 to 3 rows of overlapping strawberry slices parallel to short sides of cake for the two red stripes of the Canada flag. Trace out a maple leaf shape in center of cake with a toothpick; use points of strawberry slices to create points of maple leaf. Cut a strip of strawberry for the leaf stem; fill in the area of the maple leaf with sliced strawberries. Refrigerate cake until ready to serve.

FLAG CAKE

Steps:

• Prepare the raspberry purée: In a medium saucepan, stir together the raspberries, sugar and salt. Cook over medium, stirring occasionally, until the berries start to break down, 5 to 6 minutes. Use a potato masher or large fork to smash the berries until they are soft and lumpy.
• Strain the purée over a large bowl, discarding the solids. (You should have about 1½ cups/360 milliliters of purée.) Stir in the vanilla extract, and let cool to room temperature.
• Make the cake: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape the bowl well. With the mixer still on medium speed, add the cream gradually in a slow, steady stream, pausing for a moment if the milk begins to splash up.
• Continue to whip the mixture on medium speed until it forms soft peaks. Scoop about half of the whipped cream (about 3¼ cups) into the bowl with the raspberry purée, reserving the remaining half in the mixer bowl. Use a whisk to mix the raspberry mixture and cream just until combined. (It should still look thick, but also smooth and creamy. Do not overwhip.)
• Line a 5-by-9-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, pressing it firmly into the base, corners and sides and leaving enough excess to wrap the surface of the cake later. Transfer ⅓ of the white whipped cream mixture to a disposable piping bag, or a zip-top bag with a ½-inch opening cut from a lower corner of the bag. (Working with a batch at a time keeps the cream from becoming overworked as you squeeze the bag.) Pipe back and forth to fill the base of the pan with an even layer of white cream. (Alternately, you could dollop the cream into the pan and spread into an even layer.) Arrange 8 saltines evenly on top of the cream, pressing gently to affix them. Pour or spoon ⅓ of the raspberry whipped cream mixture into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Arrange 8 saltines evenly over the raspberry-cream cheese mixture, pressing gently into it.
• Repeat this process twice more, layering the white whipped cream, saltines, raspberry whipped cream and saltines again until the pan is full. The final layer or two may rise slightly above the top rim of the pan, which is O.K.! (If you can't fill your pan any more, and still have a little cream left, save it in the refrigerator to use as a topping for ice cream.)
• Use the excess plastic wrap to cover the top of the assembled cake. Transfer it to the fridge for 12 hours or overnight.
• Unwrap the top of the cake, then invert the pan onto a platter or serving dish. The cake should easily pop out of the loaf pan, but if it doesn't, you can use the plastic wrap to help to pull it away from the pan. Remove and discard the plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve. The cake slices well directly from the refrigerator, but for even cleaner, sharper slices, you can freeze the cake for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing and serving. When ready to serve, pile raspberries and blueberries on top of the cake and dust with confectioners' sugar.

FLAG CAKE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butter and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
• Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.
• Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.
• For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth.
• Spread three-fourths of the icing on the top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.
• I serve this cake right in the pan. If you want to turn it out onto a board before frosting, use parchment paper when you grease and flour the pan.

FLAG CAKE

Steps:

• Cover the bottom of a 9x13-inch pan with cake slices. Add the fruit juice to a saucepan and sprinkle the agar-agar over the juice; let soak for 15 minutes. Bring the juice to simmer and stir until the agar-agar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and let sit until the juice starts to thicken. Stir 1 cup sliced strawberries and 1 cup blueberries into the slightly thickened juice. Pour the fruit and juice mixture over the pound cake slices and let sit until the juice has set.
• In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream until foamy and peaks are just about to form. Beat in the honey until stiff peaks form. Spread the whipped cream over the cake. Arrange the blueberries on the whipped cream for the stars of the flag. Place the strawberry halves on the whipped cream to resemble the stripes of a flag.