Independence Day is a big event around here, with lots of nostalgia. I met my husband on the 4th of July when we were 8. 14 years later we were engaged on the 4th of July.
Moral of the story…choose carefully who your kids spend their time with…even when they are 8! My mother-in-law used to make a Flag Cake at our childhood get-togethers, and I’ve taken over the tradition.
The cake is a double batch of the Shuna Fish Lydon’s caramel cake, baked in a large sheet pan. I love this cake recipe. It is very dense, like a pound cake, due to the true butter cake technique of creaming butter and sugar and then alternating additions of flour and milk.
The caramel syrup is what makes this so wonderful. It gives it a subtle, buttery flavor. I’m not one to lick beaters, but the batter is that good. The frosting is dairy-free cream cheese, which works quite well with the sweet cake.
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4th of July Flag Cake
Description
You can use fruit to decorate, or you can color the frosting red and blue, and pipe the stars & stripes on!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 sticks dairy-free margarine
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup Caramel Syrup (recipe below)
- 4 Ener-G egg replacers whipped until thick (I use an immersion blender)
- Splash of vanilla extract
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 cups dairy-free milk thickened with 2 T. cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Line the sheet pan with parchment, and spray well with cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream margarine until smooth.
- Add sugar and salt, cream until light and fluffy. This takes forever, I’m not kidding.
- Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl.
- Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add egg replacers and vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.
- Sift flour and baking powder together.
- Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the flour mixture.
- When incorporated, add half of the dairy-free milk, a little at a time.
- Add another third of the flour, then the other half of the dairy-free milk and finish with the flour. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}
- Spread batter in the sheet pan.
- Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean.
- Cool cake completely before frosting.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
I very rarely use egg replacers anymore, I’ve found that baked goods turn out nearly the same if you just add more liquid in a similar amount to the egg. So if you don’t have a box of Ener-G and really want to make this cake, just use a little extra dairy-free milk …probably 2 1/3 cups instead of 2 cups…and it will work out fine. It might be a little more dense, but that’s ok.
Caramel Syrup
Description
Just sugar and water, this stuff is magical. You can use the leftovers in coffee!
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup water 1 cup water for “stopping”
Instructions
- In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand.
- Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush.
- Turn on heat to highest flame.
- Cook until rich amber. You can test the color by dabbing a bit on a white plate.
- When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and prepared to step back.
- Whisk over medium heat until it the sugar is dissolved and the syrup has reduced slightly. It should be the sticky thickness of maple syrup or warm honey.
Dairy Free Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dairy-free cream cheese, Tofutti or other.
- 1/2 cup dairy-free margarine, softened
- 1 t. vanilla extract
- 4–5 cups powdered sugar
- 2–3 T. dairy-free milk to get the right thickness.
Instructions
- Cream the cream cheese and margarine together with a mixer.
- Add the vanilla and powdered sugar.
- At this point, I just mess around with adding a little dairy-free milk and/or powdered sugar to get the right fluffy consistency.
Notes
I use Silk Coconut milk as my dairy-free milk.
wow!!! a true show stopper!! i remember ina garten doing a beautiful big flag cake just like hers (with full eggs and dairy of course!). love it!