June 15, 2011 - United States Cake
Click here for short instructions
Have you planned your 4th of July barbeque yet? What center-stage dessert are you thinking about? The standard rectangular flag cake ... or the how-did-you-do-that United States cake?
This is a very straight-forward cake. You'll need a Cake-Shaping Strip (look here about how to make one), a sheet pan, prepared cake batter (from about 1 box of cake mix), icing (about 2 16-oz. white-icing containers), food dye and sprinkles.
First, make a cake-shaping strip as described here using somewhere between 5-7 sushi-mat segments depending on the size of your expectant crowd. Line a baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil.
Now - if you're as "good" as I am in geography - try this. Go on the Internet, find a picture of the United States, print it off in the size that you want (pasting together multiple sheets if necessary), cut the continental US out, and place that on your foil. Now shape the strip around your figure, as shown below. Wrap the bottom foil around the strip and press small wads of foil into any outer corners where you think that the batter might leak due to weak foil wrapping.
Let me be sure not to under-emphasize this: now take the paper out of the pan!! Spray the bottom foil and sides of the strip with cooking spray. Pour the cake batter in the "cake pan" and bake until the cake is done. Carefully remove the strip from the cake. You can place a knife between the strip and cake to assist. with the separation if you find that helpful. Transfer the cake to your serving tray.
Now ice the cake however you'd like. Add stars, strips, sprinkles, words, banners, state borders,... whatever comes to mind. I stumbled upon icing containers at the grocery store with Fourth-of-July sprinkles, so that's what I used this time around. Somehow I felt like my finished cake looked a bit less like the US than did my un-iced cake. Maybe I should have waited until my sister (an elementary-school teacher) came out to visit to help me with my US geography! But this cake should still make a lively and fun addition to a July-4th barbeque. Enjoy!
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