These lemon-laced patriotic cakes—crowned with a sumptuous stripe-tinted Cream Cheese Frosting and anchored by fresh blueberries acting as “stars”—take creative freedom in substituting Greek yogurt for heavy cream or milk to impart added brightness.
Lemony Flag Cakes
Serves: 12
Ingredients
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest
- ½ cup neutral oil
- ⅓ cup plain full-fat Greek yogurt, room temperature
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
- Red gel food coloring
- Garnish: fresh blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°. Spray a 9-inch square cake pan with baking spray with flour, and line with parchment paper so excess hangs over all four sides of pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar and lemon zest until fragrant, approximately 1 minute. Whisk in oil, yogurt, lemon juice, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Gradually whisk flour mixture into sugar mixture until combined and no flour streaks remain. Spread batter into prepared pan.
- Bake until cake is lightly golden on the edges and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.
- Using excess parchment paper as handles, carefully lift and remove cake from pan onto a wire rack. Let cool completely. Refrigerate until cold, approximately 15 minutes.
- Using a large, serrated knife in a gentle sawing motion, cut cake into 12 (3×2¼-inch) rectangles. Place cake rectangles on a cake board or serving platter.
- In a large piping bag fitted with a large ribbon tip (Ateco #790) and using a small, clean paintbrush, brush 2 to 3 thin vertical lines of red gel food coloring inside the bag, starting at combed side of piping tip and brushing upward. Spoon Cream Cheese Frosting into prepared piping bag. Starting at a short edge of cake rectangle and with the combed side of piping tip facing up, pipe a layer of frosting onto the top of each cake.
- Garnish upper left corner of cakes with desired amount of blueberries. Serve immediately.
Notes
MAKE-AHEAD TIP: Mini Lemony Flag Cakes can be baked up to 3 days in advance, placed in an airtight container, and refrigerated until needed. Just before serving, add frosting and blueberries.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Serves: approximately 2 cups
This wonderful and familiar topping for our Lemony Flag Cakes is made with just four simple ingredients.
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 5 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2⅓ cups confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat butter with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in cream cheese at medium speed until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in vanilla extract. Gradually add sugar, beating until smooth and stopping to scrape down bottom and sides of bowl. Beat at high speed until frosting is light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Use immediately.