4th of July Cake

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Easy 4th of July Cake with tiers of Red, White and Blue cake that's topped with buttercream frosting.

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Cooling Time1

Total Time1 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 841kcal

Author: Julie Evink

Ingredients

2 white cake mixes 15.25 ounces each
6 egg whites
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups water
Red and blue food coloring
2 cups unsalted butter 4 sticks, softened
2 pounds powdered sugar
Cherries and patriotic sprinkles for garnish
food coloring

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray 3, 8-inch cake pans, with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer or stand mixer combine the 2 cake mixes, egg whites, oil and water until combined.
Evenly divide your batter between 3 bowls. Then use the red food dye in one and the blue food dye in the other. Just a few drops of each to get your desired shade. Mix each until combined.
Next pour the red batter in one pan, the blue in another and the white batter in a third pan.
Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of each cake comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool in their pans for 5 minutes before inverting them onto a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
When the cakes are completely cool, after about a hour, it is time to make the butter cream.
In a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer or stand mixer combine the butter with the powdered sugar and whip until light and fluffy. If you have a hard time getting the frosting to a fluffy consistency you can add a tablespoon of water or milk at a time until you get your desired consistency.
Place the red layer on your cake plate and spoon a bit of the frosting in the middle and spread out evenly over the top of cake.
Stack the white layer on top of the red, add frosting to the top of the white layer and spread out evenly then repeat with the blue layer.
Once your layers are stacked finish completely frosting the cake with the buttercream.
I like to take whatever buttercream is leftover and place into a piping bag and pipe around the edges and top with a star tip.
I add sprinkles and maraschino cherries to decorate.
Place the cake into the fridge for at least an hour to chill and set up.

Notes

If you want to make it ahead, make and frost the cake and then store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve it. You can do this three to five days in advance.
Leftover cake should also be stored in the refrigerator.
Funfetti 4th of July Cake: For a twist, add patriotic sprinkles to the white cake batter for a funfetti effect!
Fruit variations: Instead of cherries, decorate your cake with fresh berries like raspberries, strawberries and blueberries.
Frosting variations: You can also use store-bought frosting if you want to make it easier, or you can substitute cream cheese frosting for the buttercream frosting.
Decorating ideas: Instead of white frosting, color it red or blue. You can also add any clear extract to the frosting for flavor – almond extract is great with cherries or try clear vanilla extract.

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