This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Our EASY Red, White, and Blue Cake recipe is so pretty with three colorful layers of fluffy cake and patriotic drizzled frosting. It will be a hit for the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and Flag Day! Like most of you, we are still stuck and home and this cake recipe happens to be part of my son’s school project. He has been part of creating this blog post from start to finish. We hope you love making this easy and delicious patriotic cake recipe as much as we did!
EASY Red, White, and Blue Cake Recipe
The project my son is working on is called Genius Hour. The idea is that he spends an hour or so each day exploring his own topic and passion. While it might not be a typical school project we’ve all done in 3rd grade, it’s the perfect project for him to work on while unexpectedly finishing the school year at home. My son LOVES cooking, baking, and gardening. He’s planted several gardens and his newest one is fantastic! But, for this project, he was in the mood to bake in excitement for the upcoming patriotic holidays. He has spent time in the kitchen with me working on blog posts for this website since he was one! From crafts to recipes, he’s been here with me the whole time.
The ingredients for this Red, White, and Blue cake recipe are so simple! You’ll only need one box of white cake mix, some food coloring, and frosting. Keep in mind that the box of cake will require eggs and oil. If you want, you can add sprinkles, but those are completely optional:) We happen to have them on hand and like the extra touch they added to the end result.
As you can see in the recipe’s video, we went to the store together, gathered ingredients and my son was in charge of the entire process (I was there for technical help, of course!). He did all of the mixing, pouring, coloring, and drizzling. Did you know that cooking, baking, and even grocery shopping is an educational experience for kids? It includes budgeting, planning, measuring, and SO much more. The results are rewarding and presenting the food kids cook to others builds confidence. For this Genius school project, I took my son through the entire process of preparing the photos we took for the internet (the ones you see in this post!). That is also an educational experience where he got to explore photography and even a little basic videography.
Firecracker Cake Recipe
Did you know that you can microwave a tub of pre-made frosting? It thins out the thick consistency of the frosting making it easy to pour. Talk about a quick way to frost a cake- Genius! We did this with the white frosting and set aside two smaller portions of the frosting to color red and blue. For this, we used gel food coloring. You can use whatever food coloring you prefer.
From start to finish, the red, white, and blue cake takes about an hour. The cake is so fluffy and delicious! We loved how it made the house smell as it was baking. Who doesn’t love the smell of a cake in the oven? Whether it’s for Memorial Day or the 4th of July, this cake is PERFECT with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.
Layered cakes look stunning and we love that it is easy to make. So easy, in fact, that even a kid can do it! The drizzly frosting is the perfect match for the layers of cake and the sprinkles on top are a fun decoration. I’ve never met a kid who doesn’t like sprinkles! Behind the scenes my son worked on different elements in addition to baking this cake for his Genius Hour project including: brainstorming, progress tracking, reflection, and presentation to his classmates (all online these days!).
More Patriotic Ideas on Smart School House:
-
Red, White, and Blue Drink
-
Patriotic Ice Cream Sandwiches
-
4th of July Milkshake
-
Jello Filled Watermelon
-
Fudgsicle S’mores
-
Red, White, and Blue Table Decor
EASY Red, White, and Blue Cake Recipe
You Will Need
- 1 box of white cake mix
- 1 cup of water
- 1/2 cup of oil
- 3 eggs
- 1 tub of vanilla/white frosting
- Red and blue food coloring
- Bundt cake pan
Other Supplies Needed:
- Non-stick spray
- Electric mixer
- Cooling rack or parchment paper
- 3 mixing bowls
- Small microwave safe bowls and spoons for mixing the colored frosting
- Spatula
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake box ingredients using an electric mixer: cake mix, eggs, water, and oil
- Place 1 cup of cake batter in to a separate mixing bowl and use red food coloring to achieve desired shade (about 1 teaspoon)
- Place another cup of cake batter into a third mixing bowl and use blue food coloring to achieve desired shade (about 1 teaspoon)
- Prepare a bundt cake pan liberally with non-stick spray
- Pour the red cake batter into the bottom of the cake pan
- Pour the white cake batter over it (you will have more white cake batter than colored)
- Gently pour the blue cake batter on top of the white
- Bake for 40-45 minutes. We used the “toothpick test” to check that the cake was cooked all the way through
- Let the cake cool for 10 minutes
- Using a cooling rack or parchment paper, flip the baked cake over to remove it from the pan. It should slide right out!
- Continue to let the cake cool for another hour or so
- Scoop out two large spoonfuls of vanilla frosting into separate microwavable bowls: 1 for red and 1 for blue
- Microwave the remaining vanilla frosting in the tub for about 15 seconds or until it is smooth enough to pour
- Pour the white frosting all over the cake (as seen in the video)
- Using food coloring, color the frosting you placed in smaller bowls: 1 red bowl and 1 blue
- Microwave the colored frosting for 10 seconds until smooth
- Drizzle the colored frosting over the cake using the spoons
- Add sprinkles!
