It’s about time to gather friends and family for a good old-fashioned Fourth of July picnic! One of our favorite desserts for the holiday is a Flag Cake and Beth makes the best one. Here’s how she does it:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and butter/flour a 18x12x1-1/2” sheet pan.

Cream 2-1/4 sticks unsalted room temp butter and 3 cups sugar for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.

On medium-low speed, add six room temp eggs, 2 at a time, then add 1 cup sour cream and 1-1/2 tsp vanilla. Stir until smooth.

Sift together 3 cups flour, 1/3 cup cornstarch, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp baking soda in a bowl. Set mixer to low then add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

Pour into prepared pan. Smooth the top and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

ICING

Combine 4 sticks unsalted room temp butter, 1-1/2 pounds cream room temp cream cheese, and 1-1/2 tsp vanilla in mixer bowl, then mix on medium speed until very smooth.

Add 1 pound sifted confectioners sugar, mix on low speed.

Spread ¾ of icing on the cake. With a toothpick, outline a flag on the icing. If you’re lucky enough to have one, let your teenage son try his hand at this.

In the upper left corner, fill with 1 pint blueberries. Create red stripes with 1-1/2 pint raspberries. Using the remaining icing, pipe stars on top of the blueberries and white stripes between the rows of raspberries.

Enjoy!

And if you’re really lucky, your teenage son will offer to do the clean-up!

This recipe was adapted from: https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/flag-cake