American Flag Cake (Easy Sheet Pan Cake for a Crowd)

The most delicious and dazzling American Flag Cake – making it the best Fourth of July celebration cake! You get a giant, fluffy and moist vanilla sheet cake topped with a decadent, sweet cream cheese frosting, and it’s finished with vibrant fresh berries in a simple design that mimics the American flag.

This easy flag cake is a recipe tradition you’ll want on repeat every year! And it doesn’t just have to be for the Fourth of July.

You can instead make this flag cake for a birthday and simply scatter fresh berries all over the top, or come up with your own captivating design out of fresh fruit. You can also make it featuring a different country, just try to find fresh fruit that highlights that countries flags colors, or tint your frosting and pipe it to match the design (omitting the fruit).

This extra-large cake is baked in a cookie sheet pan making enough to feed a crowd, so it’s ideal for lots of company and various celebrations. It’s like the vanilla version of a chocolate Texas sheet cake, in other words it’s dangerously delicious!

It’s definitely over the top how much cake I’ve eaten in the last few weeks testing out the recipe, but it was just one of those desserts that’s far too temptingly good to resist. I’ve perfected it to be everything you’d want in a cake and them some.

Happy Fourth, and happy summer everyone!

Flag Cake Recipe Ingredients (Base)

• All-purpose flour: This is main ingredient for the structure of the cake. Just use regular all-purpose flour (I use unbleached but bleached is fine as well).
• Cornstarch: Using this in addition to the flour allows for more liquid to be added to the cake, it helps build up the structure also yielding a fluffier cake.
• Baking powder and baking soda: These two leavening agents are what make the cake puff up as it bakes. Check the dates on these ingredients to ensure they aren’t expired so they work properly.
• Salt: This brings out all the flavors of the cake and balances its sweetness.
• Granulated sugar: This sweetens the cake and tenderizes the crumb.
• Unsalted butter: Only use unsalted butter here or the cake will be overly salty (especially the frosting).
• Avocado oil: You could also use in its place vegetable oil or light olive oil.
• Eggs: Bring your eggs to room temperature before beginning as they will blend into the batter mixture butter, and the cake will rise better as it bakes using room temp ingredients.
• Vanilla extract: I recommend real vanilla extract if possible.
• Buttermilk: For best results use real buttermilk here, not the homemade substitute of milk and vinegar.

American Flag Cake Topping Ingredients

• Unsalted butter: Be sure to use unsalted butter or the frosting will come out too salty. Bring to room temperature so it whips up smooth and fluffy.
• Cream cheese: I recommend a good quality cream cheese here such as Philadelphia. This doesn’t have to be brought all the way to room temperature even 20 to 30 minutes is fine.
• Vanilla extract: Used to add a boost of flavor to the frosting.
• Powdered sugar: A super fine sugar that’s a staple for a smooth, non-gritty cream cheese frosting.
• Fresh berries: You’ll need strawberries, blueberries and raspberries to make the design pictured. You can use all strawberries instead of strawberries and raspberries if desired (you’ll need about 1.5 lbs).

How to Make a Flag Cake Steps by Step:

Prepare oven and pan: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a rimmed 18 x 13 x 1-inch baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray then lightly dust with flour and shake out excess. Set aside.

Whisk dry ingredients together: In a medium mixing bowl whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds. Set aside.

Blend together sugar and fats: In a large mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer set on low speed, blend together sugar, 10 Tbsp unsalted butter and 2 Tbsp avocado oil until well combined. Increase to high spread and whip until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Mix in remaining avocado oil (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp). Scrape down bowl.

Blend in eggs and vanilla: Mix in eggs on low speed one at a time, mixing just until nearly combined after each addition (careful not to over-mix or cake can be spongy).
Blend in 1 Tbsp vanilla extract.

Mix in flour mixture alternating with buttermilk: Sprinkle 1/3 of the flour mixture over surface of the batter, and blend on low speed just until barely combined (lumps are fine). Mix in half of the buttermilk and mix until just combined.

Repeat mixing in 1/3 of the flour mixture followed by remaining half of the buttermilk. Finish by blending in last 1/3 of the flour mixture mixing only until nearly combined. Fold batter with a rubber spatula just to evenly combined (small lumps are fine).

Spread batter into pan: Pour batter and spread evenly into prepared baking sheet. Wiggle pan to help level batter.

Bake through: Bake in center of preheated oven until just set in center, toothpick inserted into center should come out clean or with a moist crumb (but no batter), about 25 to 30 minutes. Let cake cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the Frosting for the Sheet Pan Cake

Cream together butter and cream cheese: In a large mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer set on medium-low speed blend together 12 Tbsp butter with the cream cheese until well blended, about 1 minute.

Whip in flavor and powdered sugar: Add 1 tsp vanilla and the powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase speed to high and whip very until light and fluffy about 3 to 5 minutes.

How to Decorate an American Flag Cake the Easy Way

Top cake with frosting: Spread cream cheese frosting evenly over the top of the cake using an offset spatula (refrigerate frosted cake while you slice the strawberries so it chills and sets slightly).

Finish with flag design: Spread a rectangle of blueberries in about 1/3 section of the upper left corner of the cake. Evenly spacing these, add 4 rows of sliced strawberries alternating with 3 rows of whole raspberries going across the long width of the pan.

Helpful Tips

Use room temperature ingredients: This ensures the batter blends smoothly and evenly and the cake rises nicely.

Weigh ingredients: For the most accuracy I recommend a kitchen scale to measure cake batter ingredients. Volume cup measurement isn’t as accurate as metric weights.

Treat batter delicately: At first you want to whip the sugars and fats well, after that treat the batter delicate mixing eggs gently after each, the flour mixture gently and the buttermilk. If you over-mix cake batter like this type it can come out spongy and dense.

Don’t open oven door: While cake bakes keep oven door closed until time is up, opening early can make the cake collapse in the center (along the same line don’t move the pan around as it bakes either).

Cool cake completely: As with most cakes you want to cool this entirely through or it will melt your frosting so plan ahead.

Don’t use frozen fruit: Unfortunately only fresh berries will work here, frozen fruit will be too wet.

Make the cake ahead: The cake can be made a few days ahead and stored in the fridge. Add the frosting the day you’ll serve it.

Add the berries later: Wait to add the fresh berries until just ready to serve if you want the best presentation as the strawberry slices will start to bleed into the frosting a bit over time.

More Foods to Make for the Fourth of July

Wondering what to serve at your Fourth of July celebration? Here’s a list for inspiration.

• Hamburgers
• Pulled Chicken Sandwiches or Pulled Pork Sandwiches
• Sloppy Joes
• Grilled Steak
• Grilled Chicken Thighs or Grilled Chicken Breasts
• Potato Salad
• Coleslaw
• Grilled Vegetables
• Corn Salad
• Fruit Salad

 

More Huge Sheet Cake Recipes to Try

• Carrot Sheet Cake
• Chocolate Sheet Cake
• Coconut Sheet Cake
• Lemon Sheet Cake
• Pumpkin Sheet Cake