Red White and Blue Cake

Make a spectacular red white and blue cake that’s beautifully festive, delicious, and incredibly easy to put together!

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A Festive Cake to Love!

Patriotic holidays like the Fourth of July and Memorial Day deserve festive desserts! We love to incorporate the colors of independence and the flavors of summer in our celebrations like this Red, White and Blue Cake.

Best part about this fun and festive cake, is that it’s not only delicious, but it’s rather simple as well. The colorful layers are perfect for celebrating and simple to achieve.

Ingredients

PREP TIME: 45 minutes

BAKE TIME: 25 minutes

Cake

• 3⅔ cups cake flour – To make your own, add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into a 1-cup measuring cup. Fill it the rest of the way up with all-purpose flour. Level the top. Dump the contents of the measuring cup into a bowl and use a whisk to sift them together. 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• 1½ cups unsalted butter – How to Soften Butter Quickly
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 whole eggs – room temperature eggs incorporate best.
• 2 egg whites – How to Separate Egg Whites
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups buttermilk – or make Homemade Buttermilk for this recipe.
• red and blue food coloring – I use blue gel food coloring and red gel food coloring to get a deeper color. Using too much liquid food coloring can affect the texture of the cake batter.

Frosting

• 1½ cups unsalted butter – softened
• 6 cups powdered sugar
• ⅓ cup milk – or half and half
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• pinch salt
• sprinkles – or other patriotic decorations
• optional – add fresh blueberries and strawberries to the top

How to Make Red White and Blue Cake

1. PREP. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 3 (8-inch) cake pans with parchment paper, then grease and set aside.
2. BATTER. In a medium bowl, whisk 3⅔ cups cake flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ¾ teaspoon baking soda, and set aside.
   • In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat 1½ cups butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add 3 eggs, 2 egg whites, and 1 tablespoon vanilla, and mix until smooth.
   • With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients, until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Pour in 1½ cups buttermilk and mix until combined.
3. COLOR. Divide the batter into 3 bowls and add red food coloring to one and blue to another, keeping the third white. Pour into three prepared cake pans.
4. BAKE. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Frost and ASSEMBLE

1. FROSTING. To make the frosting, beat 1½ cups butter in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy.
   • Add 6 cups powdered sugar, ⅓ cup milk, 1½ teaspoons vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Mix to combine. Add milk or powdered sugar as needed to make a smooth frosting. Beat on high for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
2. ASSEMBLE. Level the tops of each of the cake layers with a serrated knife.
   • Place the blue cake layer down on a cake turntable or serving platter.
   • Spread on one cup of frosting.
   • Place the white cake layer on top and spread with another cup of frosting.
   • Place the red cake layer on top, then spread the frosting around the top and sides of the cake.

5 from 16 votes

Red White and Blue Cake

By: Lil’ Luna

Make a spectacular red white and blue cake that's beautifully festive, delicious, and incredibly easy to put together!

Servings: 12

Prep: 25 minutes mins

Cook: 25 minutes mins

Cool Time: 20 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• egg separator
• cake pans
• gel food coloring
• cake cutter and leveler
• icing spatula

Ingredients 

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Cake

• ▢ 3⅔ cups cake flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1½ cups butter, softened
• ▢ 2 cups sugar
• ▢ 3 whole eggs
• ▢ 2 egg whites
• ▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ▢ 1½ cups buttermilk
• ▢ red and blue food coloring

Frosting

• ▢ 1½ cups butter, softened
• ▢ 6 cups powdered sugar
• ▢ ⅓ cup milk or half and half
• ▢ 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ pinch salt
• ▢ sprinkles

Instructions 

Cake

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 3 (8-inch) cake pans with parchment paper, then grease and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk cake flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.
• In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the whole eggs, egg whites, and vanilla, and mix until smooth.
• With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients, until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Pour in buttermilk and mix until combined.
• Divide the batter into 3 bowls and add red food coloring to one and blue to another, keeping the third white. Pour into three prepared cake pans.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Frosting

• To make the frosting, beat the butter in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy.
• Add powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Mix to combine. Add milk or powdered sugar as needed to make a smooth frosting. Beat on high for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Assemble

• Level the tops of each of the cake layers with a serrated knife.
• Place the blue cake layer down on a cake turntable or serving platter.
• Spread on one cup of frosting.
• Place the white cake layer on top and spread with another cup of frosting.
• Place the red cake layer on top, then spread the frosting around the top and sides of the cake.

Notes

Crumb coating. For a smoother look, add a light layer of frosting (known as a crumb coat) around the top and sides of the cake, then refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Once the cake has chilled slightly, spread a thicker layer of frosting around the sides and over the top, and add dollops of frosting for decoration, if desired. Sprinkle with patriotic sprinkles. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Adding the sprinkles to the bottom sides of the cake works really well while putting a baking sheet under the cake to catch all of the excess sprinkles so I could use them again.

Make ahead of time. Make the cake rounds ahead of time and store them until ready to assemble and decorate the cake. Wrap cooled round in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3-5 days. Add a layer of aluminum foil and freeze up to 3 months.If desired, layer the cakes and add a crumb coating (light thin layer of frosting) over the entire cake. The light layer will help keep the cake from drying out and it can be kept in the fridge overnight.  

Store frosted cake at room temperature or in the fridge for a couple of days. Use a cake keeper or cover with a large bowl to keep dust off. Be aware of odors in your fridge that could seep into the cake. Do not top with fresh berries or fresh flowers until 1-2 hours before serving. 

Store leftover cake. Remove any fresh fruit before storing it. Keep the cake in an airtight container(s) at room temperature for 3-5 days or in the fridge for 5-7 days.

Freeze frosted cake. Wrap the cake in plastic and freeze for 3-4 months. It will be safe for longer but will begin to lose some of its flavors.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice, Calories: 952kcal, Carbohydrates: 123g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 49g, Saturated Fat: 30g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 13g, Trans Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 167mg, Sodium: 688mg, Potassium: 164mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 94g, Vitamin A: 1539IU, Calcium: 84mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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