Star Spangled Berry Cake

Posted by Deana Gunn at 6/30/2009
Categories: Vegetarian and Vegan ,Food Recipes
Tags: cake dessert berries fourth of July
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Its almost the Fourth of July and everyone is making plans this weekend - most involve a barbeque!  For dessert, here is a colorful decorating suggestion for a regular vanilla cake.  On Fourth of July, it's all about the show, so take advantage of a fun presentation using seasonal berries to liven up a plain cake.

The kids and I played around with decorating this star cake (if you have kids, they'll love doing this).  Try the star pattern here or bake a 9 x 13-inch cake instead and create a flag pattern with the red and blue berries.  A fresh whipped cream topping is a nice lighter alternative to heavy buttercream frosting.

You can take your pick of practically any berries for the top.  Berries are in season and Trader Joe's is brimming with blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries (both organic and conventionally grown).   If you love blueberries, right now TJ's has the huge 1.5 lb (24 oz) packs of fresh blueberries for $5.99.   Conventionally grown blueberries were found to rank very low in pesticides on the EWG's ranking of foods with pesticides last year.    If you usually buy organic and you can't find organic ones or don't want to spend the extra dollars, these conventionally grown ones may be a good option for you.   I really like studies like this EWG list because they allow you to make educated decisions when choosing foods.  Here is their study this year: EWG Shoppers Guide to Pesticides.

Star Spangled Berry Cake

1 box Vanilla Cake and Baking Mix (or bake your own vanilla cake using your favorite recipe)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
~1 cup blueberries
~1 cup raspberries
~2 cups halved strawberries

1)    Oil/butter 8x8-inch baking pan generously so that the cake will release easily.  Bake cake according to directions. Cool cake completely.
2)    Whip cream until almost stiff.  Add sugar and vanilla. Whip until cream forms peaks when you lift the beater straight up.
3)    Spread whipped cream on cake in a smooth, even layer.
4)    Decorate with berries.

Serves 9

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