Red, White and Blue Layered Flag Cake

A classic Red, White and Blue layered flag cake with a fluffy vanilla cake base and a whipped vanilla buttercream.

I have a classic Red, White and Blue dessert for you today!! I know I don’t usually post recipes over the weekend, but I wanted to give you plenty of time to add this patriotic cake to your July 4th menu. This red white and blue layered flag cake will be a stunner at your party, making you the STAR!

Want to know a secret? It’s extremely easy to put together. Don’t be fooled by the beautiful layers, any baker can pull this off in no time. It just takes some planning ahead and ideally should be made the day before your party.

I’ve been meaning to make this classic Red, White and Blue cake for a few years now but each year I put it off thinking it will be too much work and a total disaster. But I was so WRONG!! It is the easiest cake I ever made and definitely one of the prettiest.

As I was planning for this flag cake, I turned to the trusted Amanda of I am Baker for guidance. Her new book, Surprise-Inside Cakes, (<—affiliate link) is one of my favorite cookbooks and I’ve read it cover to cover. I knew her techniques and tips will come in handy so I looked at her red, white and blue cakes for guidelines which I loosely followed to make this cake.

So how do you make this flag cake? You start with your favorite yellow cake recipe and bake it in 4 8-inch pans. However, you need to color two portions red, 1 blue and the last portion left as white. The recipe below is my favorite yellow cake from scratch. But feel free to use your favorite box mix here. Once you have your cakes colored and baked, you will slice the red and white cakes in half horizontally and cut out 4-inch circles from some of the layers. That’s it. The rest is just assembling the cakes in the right order and frosting as desired. Be sure to read the instructions completely before starting so you have an idea of what the process entails.

This 4th of July consider making this beautiful patriotic flag cake for your BBQs, picnics and celebrations. It will definitely be a stunner and a crowd pleaser.

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 1 8-inch layered cake

Red, White and Blue Layered Flag Cake

A classic Red, White and Blue layered flag cake with a fluffy vanilla cake base and a whipped vanilla buttercream.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups unsalted butter (3 sticks), room temperature
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1½ cups milk
• 2-3 tablespoons strawberry puree
• 2-3 tablespoons blueberry puree
• A few drops of red and blue gel food coloring.
• 3 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

For Cakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 4 8-inch cake pans, line with parchment and butter parchment. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down side of bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla extract.
3. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of milk and beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just combined.
4. Divide batter into 4 equal parts.

For Red Cake:

1. Color two of the four portions with strawberry puree and a few drops of red gel food coloring. Pour into two of the prepared pans. For Blue Cake: Color a third equal part with the blueberry puree and a few drops of blue gel food coloring. Pour into the third prepared pan. For White Cake: just pour batter into remaining pan smoothing the top with an offset spatula.
2. Bake cakes until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. About 30-35 minutes.
3. Transfer pans to wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks to cool completely.

Red Cake Layers:

1. Level cakes by trimming off any round tops. Slice cakes in half horizontally to make 4 thin layers. Using a 4-inch biscuit cutter or a 4-inch round cookie cutter, cut out the center of 1 thin layer. Save the layer that was cut out of for a later use.

White Cake Layers: Cut cake in half horizontally to have two thin white layers. In one layer, cut out a round center using a 4-inch round biscuit cutter. Save the layer that was cut out of for a later use.

Blue Cake Layer: Do not cut in half. Level cake to remove any rounded top. Cut 4-inch round out of center using a biscuit cutter. Save the round cut out for another use.

For the Whipped Vanilla Frosting:

1. Whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer. The butter will become pale and creamy. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix on low speed for 1minute. Then increase speed to medium and mix for 6 minutes until the frosting is very light, creamy and fluffy. Best used right away.

Assembly

1. On a cake stand, place a red layer down. Spread about ½ cup of the frosting on top using an offset spatula. Top with 1 white cake layer, spread another ½ cup frosting and top with a second red layer. Top with frosting and spread evenly. Gently top with the blue layer. Carefully spread thin layer of frosting inside of blue cake layer. Place the white 4-inch cake round into the center of blue cake. Top with frosting and then the red 4-inch cake round. press gently to fit. Frost the top and sides of cake. Decorate as desired.

Making this Recipe?

Share it with us on Instagram using #aclassictwist so we can see what you are baking up in your kitchen!

More Red, White and Blue Desserts you will LOVE:

Angel Food Cake – this classic is always a delight at any BBQ.

Coconut Mascarpone Mousse – a light and refreshing no-bake dessert.

Red, White and Blue Cake – this cake is a simple vanilla cake that is decorated in star spangled banner sprinkles for a quick and easy patriotic cake.