This star spangled red, white, and blue velvet cake is perfect for Fourth of July celebrations!
red, white, and blue velvet cake

I’MMMM BAAACCCKKK!!!

Did you miss me?

Definitely not as much as I missed you.

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First things first: Italy was AMAZING. I pinky swear I will give you a legit (picture overloaded) update on next week’s Wednesday Coffee Talk, but you can check me out on Instagram if you want some photo sneak peaks of what we got up to.

Second: NO I did not write a single blog post while we were there. In what can only be described as a minor miracle, I got everything for the past 12 days done ahead of time. I did check in at least once a day to make sure everything was still up and running, but other than that, it was a totally hands off two weeks. It felt weird. But I am definitely glad I did it.

In the spirit of brevity (and jet lag!), let’s get down to business. CAKE.

The.Boy and I ate enough in the past 12 days that we should probably not eat ANYTHING for at least 6 months, but you guys still deserve some treats! And since tomorrow IS the 4th of July, I just couldn’t resist throwing some last minute red, white and blue at you. This is your basic red velvet cake with a fabulous cream cheese frosting filling and topping. I love this frosting especially because it is lightened up with whipped cream making it easier to spread and eat by the spoonful.  I topped it with fresh berries because SUMMER and kept it naked in terms of side frosting because BATHING SUITS. But you can feel free to go as crazy with the frosting as you want.

Happy holiday weekend!

Striped Red, White, and Blue Velvet Cake
 
This star spangled red, white, and blue velvet cake is perfect for Fourth of July celebrations!
Yield: 1 8-inch layer cake
Ingredients
For the cake
  • 2¼ cups cake flour
  • 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
  • ¼ cup canola oil
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tbsp red velvet emulsion OR 2 oz red food coloring
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tbsp white vinegar
For the frosting
  • 1 cup heavy cream, cold
  • 16 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1½ cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • fresh berries
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 350F. Line two 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper and grease. Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, oil, and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the food coloring.
  4. Add half of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk, followed by the remaining flour. Beat on low after each until just combined. Mix in the vanilla on low.
  5. In a small cup, whisk together the baking soda and vinegar. Add to the batter and beat on low until just combined.
  6. Divide the batter among the prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.
  7. To make the frosting, beat the cream in a medium bowl until nearly stiff peaks form. Set aside.
  8. In a separate large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and beat quickly to combine.
  9. When the cakes are fully cooled, place on cake on a serving platter. Frost the top of this with 1 - 1½ cups of frosting. Top with the second cake and top with a similar amount of frosting. Using an offset spatula, spread a very light layer of frosting around the sides. Arrange fresh berries around the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 slice

 

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38 Responses to Striped Red, White, and Blue Velvet Cake

  1. Beth says:

    Gorgeous cake. Welcome back!

  2. Welcome back lady!!!! I loved following your adventures on Instagram – looks like it was a hoot!! Also, this cake?? Totally crushing.

  3. That looks like a perfectly patriotic cake to me! Can’t go wrong with classic red velvet 🙂

  4. Red velvet cake was only a recent discovery of mine and I have been seriously missing out. I need to put blueberries on mine next time too!

  5. Yaaaay! Can’t wait to see all the pics! Super-jealous though….Italy?? I need to go!
    I guess until I can afford a one-way plane ticket out there, I’ll have to just be content with this cake. You totally knocked this one outta the park, girl! It doesn’t get much more ‘Merican than red velvet plus berries!

  6. Zainab says:

    Welcome back!! I’m so glad you took the entire time off and enjoyed your honeymoon 🙂 Can’t wait for the pictures!! This cake is wonderful. Have a great weekend!

  7. Welcome back and can’t wait to see the photos of your honeymoon and of course Italy!
    beautiful cake and just in time for the weekend! Have a Happy 4th!

  8. Julia says:

    Aaaaaah! I cannot wait to see your photos of Italy! I’m so glad you and the.boy were able to have a relaxing getaway. You must feel so rejuvenated after your break from blogging and touring around the beautiful country. Welcome home, dear! And have a wonderful 4th!

  9. Sarah says:

    Omg welcome home!! I can’t wait to read more about your trip to Italy. 🙂 Good for you for taking a blog break while you were gone. Cake looks fantastic by the way!

  10. Welcome back. Cannot wait to read all about it. Italy is my favourite destination 🙂

  11. Welcome home!! This cake is beautiful (and so festive!) and love the Italy pics I’ve seen so far – can’t wait to see more…

  12. Your insta updates had me so jealous and excited for you! Italy sounds amazing, I hope to go one day 🙂 This cake looks to DIE for- come bake for my 4th, please! 🙂

  13. Kate says:

    Berries are my favorite way to do red white and blue!

  14. Marcia says:

    I for sure enjoyed following you on instagram!

  15. Welcome back! I thought maybe you would accidentally miss your plane. Accidentally *cough* LOVE the cake!

  16. Susan says:

    Can’t wait to see the pictures of your trip. Our daughter honeymooned in Italy also and had a wonderful time. Love the festive cake for the 4th! Great way to start the holiday. Hope you have a fun 4th, Joanne!

  17. You don’t even know how jealous I am of your trip to Italy. I am so excited for all the pictures!!
    Also, this cake looks amazing. If you are too full to eat it, I will 🙂

  18. That cake looks perfect. happy 4th of July. I am hoping to follow your lead and do enough posts to make sure everything is going by itself when I had over to New York in a couple of weeks. You are clever (and probably a little fat)

  19. Krista says:

    Of course I missed you!! So glad you had such a fantastic time. 🙂

  20. A fantastic cake! Can’t wait to see all those photos in Italy!
    Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
    Angie

  21. Welcome back! I did miss you and can’t wait to hear allllll about your amazing honeymoon! Pictures, please!!! Also, if you really made this cake AFTER coming home you are seriously amazing.

  22. What a lovely and very patriotic cake, Joanne! Glad you are back! Hope your trip was amazing!!

  23. This cake is stunning! So perfect for 4th of July celebrations! Glad you enjoyed Italy – I loved seeing the pics on your Instagram. They bought back some amazing memories for me! 😀

  24. Hotly Spiced says:

    Welcome home! Congrats on being able to pre-plan and schedule all your blog posts in advance – that’s something I’ve never been able to achieve. It sounds like Italy was a big success and I’ll look forward to reading all about it. Happy 4th of July and that’s a very wonderful patriotic cake xx

  25. Katie says:

    glad you had a wonderful trip have enjoyed following your adventures on instagram! x

  26. Welcome back! I’m so glad you had a good time – and unplugged for most of the time. I can’t wait to see your pictures and am heading over to Instagram in just a minute… This cake, though, is a perfect welcome back to ‘real time’ blogging! It’s beautiful.

  27. mira says:

    Glad you are back Joanne, hope you had great time! This cake looks gorgeous! Perfect for the holiday!

  28. CakeSpy says:

    Awesome!!! Sounds like you had a great time – and I am having a great time daydreaming about this cake. <3

  29. What a great cake for your welcome home – look forward to hearing all about it and seeing the pics!

  30. Cailee says:

    Ahhh!! I can’t wait for Italy pix!! SO exciting! …also, this looks amazing! LOVE the natural color on top 🙂 YUM!

  31. Another gorgeous cake from you. Welcome back, but come on you didn’t miss us because you were in ITALY!

  32. Christine says:

    Happy 4th weekend to you and I did miss you! Congrats on managing the blog vacay while on the honeymoon. Wasn’t Italy just heaven? Look forward to Wednesday’s post!

  33. Glad you made it back safely! I followed along on your trip and it looked wonderful. And, you know what, a honeymoon should be full of eating and drinking. So, it sounds like you did your job well.

    This cake looks fabulous too! I’m such a sucker for fresh berries on cake, so this is right up my alley.

  34. Kelly says:

    Welcome back! So glad you had a great time and took time off blogging during your vacation 🙂 Can’t wait to hear about it and see more pics. Love this festive cake, it’s so so pretty and I love the lightened up frosting!

  35. Johanna GGG says:

    Congratulations on getting so organised with posts before your holiday – I wish I could do that but am just a bit crazy with school holidays. Your cake is brilliant – seems I need some red velvet cake in my life.

  36. I can’t wait to see all the photos and hear alllll about the food (you didn’t happen to bring some leftovers with you by any chance?) And this cake is just gorgeous. I love a good naked cake, and with the berries, and a nice moist cake, do you really need more frosting anyway?

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