Seven Flag-Shaped Foods to Make for the Fourth of July

Red, white, and blue foods for Independence Day are all well and good, but why not take it to the next level by capturing the flag? Go savory with a patriotic pizza or sweet with a grand ol' flag dessert—we're talking cakes, cupcakes, tarts, and more. These spectacular recipes are a guaranteed way to wow guests at your Fourth of July celebration.

Related: 12 Sweet Summer Strawberry Treats Perfect for the Fourth of July 

It doesn't get more crowd-pleasing than cheesecake. This patriotic Flag Cheesecake, pictured above, is cut into easy-to-eat squares and decorated with strategically placed summer berries.

Give Italian ice the all-American treatment by arranging homemade raspberry and lemon ices with blue cocktail napkins on a baking sheet. The frozen Flag Ice dessert is a cinch to whip up, but you can use store-bought sorbet cups in a pinch.

Look closely and you'll see that this Flag Tart is made up of two treats to form this festive berry-spangled banner. Each shell is lined with chocolate, a rich crème fraîche filling, and row after row of blueberries and raspberries.

This Flag Sheet Cake recipe is the perfect time to show off your piping skills! Use, you guessed it, a star tip to decorate this moist sour cream cake with cream cheese frosting, and top with plenty of ripe berries.

You can use any flavor you like for the base of these patriotic Flag Cupcakes—we went with yellow buttermilk. Spread each one with airy Swiss meringue buttercream, then finish with red licorice "stripes" and blue frosting "stars."

Three types of berries do the heavy lifting in this easy no-bake Flag Icebox Cake. Strawberries go into the whipped cream filling, and blueberries and raspberries are used to create the flag design on top.

Clever toppings transform a rectangular pizza into an all-American pie: add blue potatoes and fresh mozzarella pearls for the stars, and cherry tomatoes and shredded mozzarella for the stripes.