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.
1. Flag Cheesecake
It doesn’t get more crowd-pleasing than cheesecake. This patriotic version is cut into easy-to-eat squares and decorated with strategically placed summer berries.
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2. Flag Ices
Give Italian ice the all-American treatment by arranging homemade raspberry and lemon ices with blue cocktail napkins on a baking sheet. The frozen dessert is a cinch to whip up, but you can use store-bought sorbet cups in a pinch.
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3. Flag Tart
Look closely and you’ll see that two tarts form this festive berry-spangled banner. Each shell is lined with chocolate, a rich creme fraiche filling, and row after row of blueberries and raspberries.
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4. Flag Sheet Cake
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.
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5. Flag Cupcakes
You can use any flavor you like for the base of these patriotic cupcakes -- we went with yellow buttermilk. Spread each one with airy Swiss meringue buttercream, then finish with red licorice “stripes,” and blue frosting “stars.”
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6. Flag Icebox Cake
Three types of berries do the heavy lifting in this easy no-bake dessert. Strawberries go into the whipped cream filling, and blueberries and raspberries are used to create the flag design on top.
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7. Flag Pizza
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.
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Watch our deputy food editor Greg Lofts demonstrate how to make this festive pizza:
