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Festive fruit-topped American Flag Cake is a simple, light, and refreshing way to celebrate any patriotic holiday!
We LOve A Festive Treat
We love celebrating our patriotic holidays with family and delicious food – especially desserts!
Fourth of July and Memorial Day are filled with so many favorite treats like today’s American Flag Cake (which is so simple, festive and delicious).
After you try this yummy recipe that is based off of our White Chocolate Sheet Cake, you’ll see why this is one of our go-to 4th of July desserts.
Why we love it:
- Fresh summer produce. It’s a light and refreshing dessert covered in fresh berries, perfect for summer gatherings.
- Change the flavors. The recipe is versatile and can be adapted to different cake flavors and fruit designs for different holidays.
- Party perfect. This cake fills a sheet pan so it’s great for feeding a crowd!
Ingredients
PREP TIME: 25 minutes
COOK TIME: 20 minutes CHILL TIME: 1 hour
Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs – room temperature eggs incorporate better with the other ingredients
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Frosting
- 2 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 – 3 cups powdered sugar – sift to get rid of any hard lumps
- ⅓ cup pineapple juice
- 2 – 3 cups (about 1 pound) strawberries – This recipe uses strawberry slices, but strawberry halves or rows of raspberries would also work.
- 1 cup blueberries – avoid frozen blueberries as they will become mushy and bleed juices when they thaw.
How to Make Flag Cake
- PREP. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease an 11×15 baking pan and set aside, or Line the baking pan with parchment paper
- BATTER. Bring 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of water to a boil in a saucepan.
- Remove from heat and whisk in 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 cups sugar, 2 eggs, ½ cup sour cream, and ½ teaspoon almond extract until smooth.
- BAKE. Pour into a greased baking pan. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
- FROST. While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, cream 2 (8-ounce) blocks of cream cheese, 2 tablespoons softened butter, 2 – 3 cups powdered sugar, and ⅓ cup pineapple juice with the hand mixer.
- Spread frosting over the cooled cake.
- DECORATE. Add 1 cup blueberries and 2 – 3 cups sliced strawberries to look like a flag. Chill for 1 hour before serving.
More Like This
- More American Flag options: Red White and Blue Cake, July 4th Poke Cake, 4th of July Rice Krispie Treats
- More patriotic desserts: Jello Poke Cake, Cherry Sheet Cake, Strawberries Shortcake Trifle, Fruit Pizza
More collections: Cakes with Fruit, 4th of July Desserts, Easy Cake Recipes
American Flag Cake
Festive fruit-topped American Flag cake is a simple, light, and refreshing way to celebrate any patriotic holiday!
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Frosting
- 2 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 – 3 cups powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup pineapple juice
- 2 – 3 cups (about 1 pound) strawberries, sliced
- 1 cup blueberries
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease an 11×15 baking pan and set aside.
- Bring butter and water to a boil in a saucepan.
- Remove from heat and whisk in flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, eggs, sour cream, and almond extract until smooth.
- Pour into a greased baking pan. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
Frosting
- While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, cream the cream cheese, softened butter, 2 – 3 cups powdered sugar, and pineapple juice with the hand mixer. Spread frosting over the cooled cake.
- Add blueberries and sliced strawberries to look like a flag. Chill for 1 hour before serving.
Video
Notes
Make ahead of time. Fully prepare and top the flag cake recipe one day in advance. Keep it covered and put it in the fridge until ready to serve. To prepare it sooner, leave the fruit topping off and keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Freeze ahead of time. Freeze the cake and the frosting separately. Allow the cake to cool completely, and wrap it with plastic wrap and again with foil. Freeze for 2-3 months. Place the cream cheese frosting in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the frosting before spreading it on the cake.
STORE. Cover and store American flag fruit cake in the fridge for 2-3 days, or wrap tightly with plastic and foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Remove the berries when storing for longer than a couple of days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 312kcal, Carbohydrates: 55g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 10g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 39mg, Sodium: 212mg, Potassium: 110mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 45g, Vitamin A: 326IU, Vitamin C: 30mg, Calcium: 21mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe FAQ
How to make a colorful cake layer?
- Make a red cake or blue cake by adding food coloring to the cake batter.
Want a shortcut?
- Instead of making the cake from scratch, use a box of white cake mix. Replace the buttercream frosting with canned frosting, Whipped Cream, or Cool Whip. Decorate the top with fresh berries as instructed.
Do I need to use fruit to decorate the top?
- Make a double batch of frosting. Make ¼ of it blue and ¼ of it red. Use a small star tip to add dollops of blue stars in the corner. Use a large round tip to pipe the red stripes. If you don’t have a pastry bag or piping tips, you can use a gallon Ziploc and snip off one of the corners.
Want to make a double-layer cake?
- Once the sheet cake cools, cut it in half widthwise. Add a layer of frosting on top of one side of the cake. Place the other half of the cake on the frosting. Frost the top of the cake and decorate it to look like a flag.
Can I make the cake ahead of time?
- Fully prepare and frost the top of the flag cake recipe one day in advance. Keep it covered and add the fresh fruit up to 3 hours before serving.
How do I freeze the cake ahead of time?
- Freeze the cake and the frosting separately. Allow the cake to cool completely, and wrap it with plastic wrap and again with foil. Freeze for 2-3 months. Place the cream cheese frosting in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw the frosting before spreading it on the cake and adding fresh fruit.
How to store American Flag cake?
- Cover and store American flag fruit cake in the fridge for 2-3 days, or wrap tightly with plastic and foil and freeze for up to 2 months. Remove the berries when storing for longer than a couple of days.
Do i need to cook down the butter and water before adding the eggs? Thank you!
Yes!
I love this recipe. It is the perfect summertime festive treat. My kids love helping with the berries.
So easy, light and festive cake. I’ve made this cake before and received rave reviews.
Super fun cake! I did it in the sheet pan, but cheated a bit and used a box cake mix. I made the icing and used my cute piping decorators to add a bit more to the white sections and used raspberries instead of strawberries. Was super fun and yummy. Thank you Kristyn for the great ideas and recipes.
My grandkids loved helping me make the flag cake! It is so festive and tastes delicious!
Love this patriotic cake! It is so festive and tastes great! My grandson and granddaughter had fun helping to make it!
Oh I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for giving the recipe a try!
This is a particularly attractive cake. I have seen the flag cake idea before, but this is the prettiest. The design is lined up beautifully. I never considered the importance of lining up the “core” stripe in the middle of the strawberry slice. You have those stripes in such a straight line. It makes all the difference. I will be sure to follow your example.
The cake didn’t rise up like a usual cake.
Can this be made in a 9×13 pan? (Single layer?)
Yes, but baking time might need to be adjusted slightly. You’ll know the cake is done when you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. Also, make sure not to overfill the 9×13 pan, since the cake will rise when baking. So you may or may not use all the batter. I’d say fill the pan to 2/3 full, no more.