We made some of our favorite nostalgic red, white and blue treats to help inspire you during your holiday celebration.
Below are instructions for American Flag Cake, Patriotic Fruit Kabobs, Fourth of July Fruit Pizza, Holiday Cookies and Cupcake Cones.
American Flag Cake
When Sara was a kid, her family would meet in the neighbor’s cul-de-sac for the Fourth. Her childhood best friend and she always had an American flag cake created with freshly cut strawberries and blueberries.
Whether it was prepared by Sara’s mom or her friend’s mom, it was a staple at the neighborhood barbecue. As simple as it is, it is a nostalgic memory of the simplicity of homemade sweets and getting to gather with friends and family before the kickoff of fireworks.
Make your favorite cake recipe, whether that’s chocolate or vanilla, but definitely go with a cream cheese frosting.
Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book’s White Cake
4 eggs whites
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ⅓ cups buttermilk or sour milk
Instructions:
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Allow egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and lightly flour two 9×1½-inch or 8×1½-inch round cake pans or grease one 13×9-inch baking pan; set pan(s) aside. In a medium bowl, stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
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Preheat oven to 350°F. In large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Spread batter into prepared pan(s).
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Bake for 20 to 25 minutes for 9-inch pans, 25 to 30 minutes for 8-inch pans, 30 to 35 minutes for 13×9-inch pan, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near centers) comes out clean. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cake layers from pans. Cool thoroughly on wire racks. Or place the 13×9-inch cake in a pan on a wire rack; cool thoroughly.
Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
5½ to 6 cups powdered sugar
Instructions:
In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar to reach spreading consistency. This frosts the tops and sides of two 8- or 9-inch layers. (Halve the recipe to frost a 13×9-inch cake.) Cover and store the frosted cake in refrigerator.
Fruit Flag
1 pint strawberries, sliced
½ pint blueberries
Place your blueberries on the left upper 1/3rd of the cake, and then begin placing your sliced strawberries with the point going toward the berries. Slightly overlap them and leave a little white section in between each red “stripe.” It should take a whole cartoon of berries, depending on how thinly they are sliced.
Patriotic Fruit Kabobs
On a similarly simple note, patriotic fruit kabobs were always on the menu for Sara’s celebrations as well.
Although everyone seems to have a slightly different iteration of how they are made, they were a staple at her family’s Fourth of July in the suburbs. The combination of the banana, berries and marshmallow are a personal favorite of hers.
All you have to do is quarter your strawberries and stick them on the skewer with blueberries, banana and marshmallow in whatever order your heart feels.
Ingredients:
1 pint strawberries
1 pint blueberries
2 bananas
Jumbo marshmallows
Bamboo skewers
Fourth of July Fruit Pizza
Back when Pampered Chef parties were all the craze in the 1990s, Teri’s family was introduced to fruit pizza. It’s a simple dessert that gives you leeway to choose the fruits you like best for topping.
Most people put a cream cheese topping on before the fruit, but cream cheese is on the banned foods list at Teri’s house, so she just makes a big ol’ cookie and puts fruit on it.
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Dash salt
2 1/2 c. flour
Combine crust ingredients. Press on large baking stone or pizza pan to shape dough into a big cookie. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Cool.
Top with strawberries, blueberries and bananas or whatever fruit you wish.
Holiday Cookies
These cookies are a staple in Teri’s family every Christmas, but she makes them for other holidays during the school year to bring to students in her classes. One friend loves them so much that Teri mails them to her in Tennessee a few times a year.
The key here is not to overbake the cookie. Every oven is different. They should look white and fluffy. Take them out before they start to brown.
This recipe makes a lot of cookies and needs a big bowl, so you may want to cut the recipe in half.
2 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. sour cream
1 c. butter
2 tsp. baking soda
5 c. flour
Mix. Add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Put lid on bowl and place in fridge for at least four hours or overnight. Take out of fridge to soften dough for at least 30 minutes. Roll out dough with a rolling pin, deciding if you want a thinner or thicker cookie. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.
For frosting, mix powdered sugar with a little bit of cream in a small bowl to make a stiff frosting. Frost and decorate cookies when cool. Add sprinkles for a festive look.
Cupcake Cones
Teri remembers having these treats at a birthday party many years ago when she was in third grade. She’s long wanted to make them but never did.
She finally made them for her church last week and learned a valuable lesson: These are delicious but messy. The perfect snack for a pre-schooler. Have paper towels on hand.
Word to the wise: Don’t buy jumbo ice cream cones, or you will have cones in your pantry until 2050 like Teri will now have. Just buy regular size cones.
Buy a cupcake mix of your choice and follow the box directions just as you would normally make cupcakes. Pour batter into cupcake tins. Then, place an ice cream cone on top of each batter-filled slot. (They won’t burn!)
Bake as directed by the cupcake mix box. Cool completely. Remove cupcake cone from tin. Peel off the baking cup liner. Frost.
Be warned some of the cones will shift while baking, making it impossible for some cones to sit upright after being frosted.
For a Fourth of July version, use store bought vanilla frosting and red sprinkles instead of chocolate frosting.
