Farmer’s Market Eggs.
Farm to Table Lemons.
Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice.
Sometimes everything you have is everything you need at that moment. A content moment, although fleeting, feels second nature. Maybe it’s a belly laugh at a good joke, a picture that conjures up a fond memory or crashing into a song on the radio that you loved, but haven’t heard in a while. Or maybe, just maybe, it is a simple as enjoying a helping of good food that rings every bell on your palette.
Memorial Day is the last hurrah of Spring and the signal of warm, balmy days to come . It is also the time of year that I make the ever Patriotic Flag Cake. An Ina Garten recipe that I have been making for years, it is a lovely and moist lemon sour cream pound cake base with cream cheese frosting and an abundance of farm market fresh strawberries and blueberries that celebrate the red, white and blue. Add a bit of my homemade raspberry lemonade as a chaser and everything you have is everything you need for that simple moment of happiness.
Recipe is below, enjoy and above all, have a happy and safe Memorial Day.
I hope you find some inspiration.
We Remember.
Always,
Cindy
Farm Fresh Blueberries and Strawberries
Flag Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 3 cups sugar
- 6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup sour cream at room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups flour
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
For the icing:
- 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
To assemble:
- 2 half-pints blueberries
- 3 half-pints raspberries
Directions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.
For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth.
Spread three-fourths of the icing on the top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.
I serve this cake right in the pan. If you want to turn it out onto a board before frosting, use parchment paper when you grease and flour the pan.
