Red, white and blue desserts are a great way to add flair to a 4th of July party or Memorial Day barbecue while keeping with an American flag or patriotic theme. The following red, white and blue dessert recipes run the gamut from simple to fabulous. Try them for any patriotic holiday.
Basic 4th of July Cake Recipe
The most basic red, white and blue cake for Fourth of July or Memorial Day is a sheet cake with an American flag pattern formed from white icing and berries. Sheet cakes can be made from a box, and chocolate or red velvet are good options. Store-bought white icing or whipped topping, like Cool Whip®, is then spread over the cake. Use blueberries or blackberries in the top left corner to imitate stars and use fresh strawberries cut in half or raspberries to make red stripes on the white cake.
Easy Berry and Cake Desserts
While the basic July 4th cake recipe simulates an American flag, other desserts incorporate the red, white and blue theme. For example, the Berry Bliss Cake recipe from Kraft Foods uses raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and whipped cream. This easy cake uses a store bought pound cake, instant pudding, Cool Whip, orange juice and berries, and takes just 20 minutes to assemble.
The Summer Berry Trifle recipe from Family Fun magazine is another berry and cake dessert recipe that is easy to assemble but makes a beautiful presentation for a picnic or barbecue. This recipe calls for lady fingers, fresh berries, instant pudding and whipping cream. These ingredients are layered in a glass bowl to make a simple and cool summer dessert. There are many substitutions to make a trifle even easier: Nilla Wafer cookies or store-bought angel food cake can be substituted for lady fingers. Packaged pudding can be substituted for homemade pudding, and Cool Whip can be substituted for the whipping cream.
Ice Cream Pie and Patriotic Pops
Not all red, white and blue themed desserts use layered fruit to achieve the desired result. Good Housekeeping’s Red, White and Blue Ice Cream Pie uses a combination of strawberry ice cream, vanilla ice cream, raspberry sorbet and homemade blueberry syrup. With a store-bought graham cracker crust, prep time is only 15 minutes.
Family Fun magazine’s Patriotic Pops make homemade ice pops similar to rocket pops. This recipe uses Gatorade or Kool-Aid for the blue layer, whipped cream topping and vanilla ice cream for the white layer and cran-raspberry juice for the red layer. These treats are frozen in stages and need to be prepared in advance of the party or barbecue. Be sure to have small plastic cups and craft sticks on hand when planning to prepare this dessert.
Red, White and Blue Dessert Ideas
Practically any dessert idea can be adjusted to incorporate an American flag or patriotic theme. Cupcakes or cakes can be decorated with squeeze-on decorative icing to create a flag pattern. Cupcakes can be topped with colored icing or colored sprinkles and placed to form a flag pattern. Strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream and mini flags make fun cupcake toppers.
Layer vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or whipped cream topping with red fruits like strawberries, raspberries or watermelon and blue fruits like blueberries or raspberries in individual glasses to make simple summer treats. Give brownies some pizzazz by adding red, white and blue chocolate candies, like M&Ms®. Mix brownie batter, bake 15 minutes, top with colored M&Ms and bake the remaining time, according to the Betty Crocker Candy Topped Brownie recipe.
Special red, white and blue desserts add flair to a 4th of July picnic or Memorial Day barbecue without a lot of time spent in the kitchen. These easy dessert recipes use a combination of fruit and whipped cream or ice cream to create an American flag or patriotic theme. For more recipes for summer desserts read "Easy Ice Cream Cakes for Summer Birthdays."
Genna Cockerham - Genna Cockerham has been writing online since November 2008. She served as Marriage Feature Writer from December 2008 to February ...
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