The pickle man

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Flag Cake!

I started the new semester teaching an AP Government and Politics class for the 5th time.  On Friday, we had a party to celebrate both the inauguration and the right to peacefully protest the inauguration -- the same sort of celebration the class held on Inauguration Day four years ago.  It was a busy week, so I didn't have time to make them what I wanted to make (I relied on my old standard, Mom's chocolate cake, instead).  But if I'd had a little more time, they would have gotten to enjoy one of my favorite ways to celebrate America -- Flag Cake! 




The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays.  Seriously, some years it tops Christmas.

There is no stress about gifts - just a big party, with fireworks!

My neighborhood has a bicycle parade!

We get to go swimming and skiing in the bayou :)

And the food - oh, the food.

We always start the day with a little watermelon, blueberry streussel muffins (recipe forthcoming), and bloody Marys.

And then, once the sun goes down, ribs, chicken, grandmother rice, and Cha Cha's fabulous baked beans.

Sometimes, there is homemade peach ice cream...

And... flag cake!

For the cake:
2 1/4 sticks butter at room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 extra large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda

For the icing:
4 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
1 pound powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

To decorate:
1/2 pint blueberries
1 pint of red fruit - I have used strawberries, pitted cherries, and raspberries.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350.
Spray an 18 x 13 x 1 1/2 inch sheet pan (I like Baker's Joy or Pam with Flour).
Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy (this takes longer than you think -- 4-5 minutes on high).  Add the eggs two at a time, beating between, then add the sour cream and vanilla.  Scrape the sides and mix again.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda.  With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined.  Pour into the sheet pan and smoot.  Bake for 20-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely.

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in an electric mixer.  Having the ingredients room temperature is important!

Take approximately a cup of the icing and put it into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip (while you can use a Ziploc bag with the tip cut off, these always explode on me, and I think it is worth the $8 the next time you are ordering from Amazon or at Michael's).

Spread the remaining icing on the cooled sheet cake. Outline a square in the upper left corner with blueberries.  Place two rows of red fruit (raspberries, strawberries, etc.) across the top of the cake to form the first red stripe.  Space an inch or two down and make a second row.  I only had room for three rows of red on this cake because the raspberries were big!

Once you've placed the fruit, go back and add stars to the tops of the blueberry section, and white stripes between the raspberries.

This cake has been known to be joyfully consumed by "nasty women" and "deplorables" alike ;)



2 comments:


  1. What makes loans positive is that it permits individuals to place their money to figure earning interest while money is obtained from the loan card's finances for free of charge . Another thing that creates loans good is that the majority cards accompany the cash back bonuses, flyer miles, or other freebies. Acquiring these perks is sweet if it won't need payment. real estate loan or home equity loans are excellent credits that individuals must cash in of. Yet, individuals must take care before entering these agreements. it's a superb loan if the funds to be borrowed will surely augment what's already existing and not diminish or throw it all away.
    Online Payday Loans In Louisiana

    ReplyDelete
  2. Irrespective of receiving daily oral or future injectable depot therapies, these require health care visits for medication and monitoring of safety and response. If patients are treated early enough, before a lot of immune system damage has occurred, life expectancy is close to normal, as long as they remain on successful treatment. However, when patients stop therapy, virus rebounds to high levels in most patients, sometimes associated with severe illness because i have gone through this and even an increased risk of death. The aim of “cure”is ongoing but i still do believe my government made millions of ARV drugs instead of finding a cure. for ongoing therapy and monitoring. ARV alone cannot cure HIV as among the cells that are infected are very long-living CD4 memory cells and possibly other cells that act as long-term reservoirs. HIV can hide in these cells without being detected by the body’s immune system. Therefore even when ART completely blocks subsequent rounds of infection of cells, reservoirs that have been infected before therapy initiation persist and from these reservoirs HIV rebounds if therapy is stopped. “Cure” could either mean an eradication cure, which means to completely rid the body of reservoir virus or a functional HIV cure, where HIV may remain in reservoir cells but rebound to high levels is prevented after therapy interruption.Dr Itua Herbal Medicine makes me believes there is a hope for people suffering from,Parkinson's disease,Schizophrenia,Lung Cancer,Breast Cancer,Lupus,Lymne Disease,psoriasis,Colo-Rectal Cancer,Blood Cancer,Prostate Cancer,siva.Fatal Familial Insomnia Factor V Leiden Mutation ,Epilepsy Dupuytren's disease,Desmoplastic small-round-cell tumor Diabetes ,Coeliac disease,Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease,Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, Ataxia,Arthritis,Amyotrophic Lateral Scoliosis,Brain Tumor,Fibromyalgia,Fluoroquinolone Toxicity
    Syndrome Fibrodysplasia Ossificans ProgresSclerosis,Alzheimer's disease,Adrenocortical carcinoma Infectious mononucleosis.  .Asthma,Allergic diseases.Hiv_ Aids,Herpe ,Copd,Glaucoma., Cataracts,Macular degeneration,Cardiovascular disease,Lung disease.Enlarged prostate,Osteoporosis.Alzheimer's disease,
    Dementia.(measles, tetanus, whooping cough, tuberculosis, polio and diphtheria),Chronic Diarrhea,
    Hpv,All Cancer Types,Diabetes,Hepatitis,I read about him online how he cure Tasha and Tara so i contacted him on drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com  /  .  even talked on whatsapps +2348149277967 believe me it was easy i drank his herbal medicine for two weeks and i was cured just like that isn't Dr Itua a wonder man? Yes he is! I thank him so much so i will advise if you are suffering from one of those diseases Pls do contact him he's a nice man.  

    ReplyDelete