American Flag Cake

Festive and fruity American Flag Cake is a delicious way to celebrate. It’s patriotic, light, and refreshing!

This American Flag design idea can be added to the top of other cake recipes such as Jello Poke Cake, Cherry Sheet Cake, Lemon Sheet Cake, and Red Velvet Poke Cake.

Close up of American Flag Cake decorated with strawberries and blueberries.

American Flag Cake with fruit

We love our patriotic holidays, and we love to celebrate with food! It’s always fun to create festive food to enjoy on Independence Day and Memorial Day in particular.

Some of our favorite dessert recipes to whip up for these holidays are Patriotic Poke Cake, Fourth of July Rice Krispie Treats, and now this flag cake! The kids especially love these patriotic treats.

This American Flag Cake is not only tasty, but light and fresh. Whip up a flag cake for your next celebration or gathering!

Flag Cake for 4th of July

PREP. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease an 11×15 baking pan and set aside.

BATTER. Bring 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of 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.

BAKE. Pour into prepared 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 together cream cheese, softened butter, powdered sugar, and pineapple juice with the hand mixer. Spread frosting over the cooled cake.

BERRIES. Add blueberries and sliced strawberries to look like a flag. Chill for 1 hour before serving.

Decorating Tips

Different fruit designs. This idea can be adjusted to create different designs. Find different colored fruits and arrange them to resemble your country’s flag.  

  • Red: cherries, strawberries, and raspberries
  • Yellow/Orange: banana slices, peaches, apricots, pineapple, and oranges
  • Green: grapes and kiwi
  • Blue/Purple: blueberries, grapes, blackberries, and plums

Piping on frosting stripes. The layer of white frosting acts as the white stripes between the red strawberry stripes.

To enhance the white, use a piping bag and star tips. Use a small star tip to add dollops between the blueberry stars and a large star tip to dollop stripes between the red stripes. (You may need to make extra frosting).

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. 

American Flag Cake frosted with cream cheese frosting.

Recipe Tips

Here are some of our best tips and tricks for getting the best results, and getting them more easily!

  • Room temperature ingredients. Use room temperature ingredients so that the cake batter and frosting ingredients come together more easily. 
  • Easy clean up. Lining the baking pan with parchment paper can help keep the cake from sticking to the pan.
  • Colored cake. Make a red cake or blue cake by adding food coloring to the cake batter.
  • Fruit alternative. This recipe uses strawberry slices, but strawberry halves or even rows of raspberries will work.
Decorating American Flag Cake with blueberries as stars.

Storing Info

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. Another way to prepare this cake in advance is to 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.

Since the berries will become mushy fairly quickly, be sure to remove the berries when storing for longer than a couple of days.

American Flag Cake decorated with blueberries and strawberries.

Recipe FAQ

Can I use a box cake mix?

For a shortcut, use a boxed cake mix and canned frosting. Decorate the top with fresh berries.

How can I make this cake more moist?

You can substitute part of the butter with vegetable oil, so ½ cup butter and ½ cup vegetable oil. Additionally, you could use brown sugar instead of granulated sugar, but keep in mind that it will darken the cake.

For more Patriotic Treats, try:

American Flag Cake Recipe

5 from 1 vote
Festive and fruity American Flag Cake is a delicious way to celebrate. It's patriotic, light, and refreshing!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chill Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 24
Calories 312 kcal
Author Lil’ Luna

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ½ tsp almond extract

Frosting

  • 2 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter softened
  • 2 – 3 cups powdered sugar
  • cup pineapple juice
  • 2 – 3 cups (about 1 pound) strawberries sliced
  • 1 cup blueberries

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease an 11×15 baking pan and set aside.
  • Bring 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of 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.
  • While the cake is cooling, make the frosting. In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese, softened butter, 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.

Like this recipe?

Pin it now to remember it later! Share it with your Facebook friends (you know they’ll love it). Or tweet it to the world. Maybe even email it to your favorite cousin!

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About Kristyn

My name is Kristyn and I’m the mom of SIX stinkin’ cute kids and the wife to my smokin’ hot hubby, Lo. My mom’s maiden name is Luna, and I’m one of the many crafty “Lil’ Lunas” in the fam. On this site I like to share all things creative - from recipes to home decor to gifts and home decor ideas. Welcome!

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Comments:

    1. 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.