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Independence Day Cake

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword 4th of july, independence day
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 33 minutes
3 hours 10 minutes
Servings 24 slices
Author Erin Dooner

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour or for gluten-free, King Arthur Flour Gluten-free Measure for Measure Flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 4 large 50 grams each, out of shell eggs, room temperature
  • 1 3/4 cups (350 grams) granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons lemon extract
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (236 ml) whole milk
  • 2 tablespoons lemon zest
  • 1/4 cup (56 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pats
  • 1/3 cup (67 grams) canola or vegetable oil

For the frosting:

  • 12 ounces (340 grams) cream cheese see notes if you live outside of North America
  • 2 cups (240 grams) powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/2 cup (118 ml) heavy cream

For decorating:

  • 6 oz (170 grams) blueberries see notes
  • 18 oz (510 grams) raspberries see notes

Instructions

Make the cake:

  • Place the rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325°F (163 °C) with a rack in the center of the oven. Line a 9”x13” pan with a piece of parchment paper.
  • In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl with an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon extract at medium-high speed for about 2 minutes until it's thickened and a light gold color. Should your stand mixer not have a whisk attachment, then beat the mixture for 5 minutes using the paddle attachment.
  • Beat in the dry ingredients on low speed just until combined. Use a silicon spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and mix briefly to incorporate.
  • In a small saucepan, heat the milk and lemon zest over medium heat. You shouldn't let it boil. When you see tiny bubbles start to appear around the edge of the saucepan, it's ready. The temperature will be 180-185 °F (82-85 °C). Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter and oil until the butter has melted.
  • Slowly stir the milk mixture into the batter at low speed and mix until totally combined.
  • Bake the cake for 33-40 minutes or until the edges are pulling away from the sides of the pan, a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, and the top feels set. A digital thermometer inserted into the center of the cakes should read 205 °F.
  • Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely, about 2 hours (if decorating the cake right away - read the section below). You can bake, cool and tightly cover the cake pan with plastic wrap. The unfrosted cake can sit at room temp for 2 days, or you can refrigerate it for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 3 months. But I don’t recommend freezing the frosting.

One hour before beginning with the rest of the cake:

  • Place your mixer beaters and mixing bowl in the fridge for 1 hour before making the frosting.
  • Also, rinse and lay the berries out on paper towels so that they’ll dry. Place some paper towels on top, as well, to really soak up any water. This will prevent the frosting from getting runny.

Make the frosting:

  • In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer at medium speed until completely combined.
  • While still mixing, now on low, gradually add the heavy cream.
  • Once it’s well incorporated, turn the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form - about 3 to 5 minutes.

Decorate (preferably day of serving):

  • Spread 1 1/4 cups (258 grams) of frosting over the cake, adding another 2 tablespoons or so to the upper left section, where the blueberry section will go. It’s a very thin layer of frosting that goes under the fruit, and additional frosting isn’t going to be piped onto the blueberry section, so that area gets a little more frosting.
  • Use the berries to create a US flag design on top of the cake. In the upper left corner, make a 7x5 section of blueberries.
  • Create 5 red rows of raspberries. I put them on their sides and shoved the next raspberry a bit inside of the other to create a more solid red line.
  • Use Wilton tip 1M to pipe the frosting between the red rows of raspberries.

How to store:

  • You should keep the decorated cake refrigerated until ready to serve. 

Notes

  • You need 65 raspberries if making 5 rows of raspberries or 70 if you want 6 rows. 1 cup = 23 raspberries / 125 grams / 4.4oz. That means you need about 353 grams / 12.4oz of raspberries for 5 rows or 380 grams / 13.4oz for 6 rows. If you only want 5 rows and you're tempted to get a 12-oz container - you usually get a few ugly or smushed berries per container, so an 18-oz container is really best.
  • You only need 35 blueberries. For me, this was 3/4 cup or 100 grams / 3.5oz. It’s better not to choose huge blueberries, as then the blue section is too large. I used medium-sized blueberries.
  • If you’re located outside the US or Canada, you most likely have the spreadable cream cheese that's meant for toast. Place 450 grams of cream cheese in the center of a clean tea towel or cheesecloth (not just a paper towel), and gently squeeze out the excess liquid until you have 340 grams of cream cheese.