It might not be official, but let’s be real, it’s summer.  The sun is shining, the temperatures are rising, and life is crazy.

Everyone wants to be out and about and socializing in the nice weather, which can be a lot of work. Luckily, dessert can be on the table in no time flat and impress all your guests.

Flag Cake totally needs to be a part of every patriotic Fourth of July celebration, and while it’s not that hard to make from scratch, it’s even easier to pick up a Betty Crocker Super Moist White Cake Mix and Whipped Fluffy White Frosting.

To amp up the boxed mix a bit, I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil, whole eggs instead of egg whites, and added a bit of vanilla extract.  It still only took me five minutes to mix.  I was actually waiting on the oven to heat up.

After the cake cooled, I frosted it and then it was time for decorating with Wilton Blue and Red Sparkle Gels.  This is the perfect time to get the kids involved.  It’s easy, fun, and just a little messy.  Don’t feel the pressure to make things perfect.  Summer is the time to take it easy and cake is definitely not something to get worked up about.

In order to make the decorating go as smoothly as possible, use a toothpick to sketch a rough pattern.  And if all else fails, have some extra white frosting on hand.  I accidentally started icing a white stripe red and just scraped off the mistake and added new frosting.  No one noticed.

Have some fun this summer and make this cake to impress all your guests.  You don’t even have to tell them it came from a box.

Easy Homemade Flag Cake

Ingredients

1 box Betty Crocker Super Moist White Cake Mix

1 ¼ cup water

3 large eggs

1/3 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 container Betty Crocker Whipped Fluffy White Frosting

1 container Wilton Blue Sparkle Gel

1 container Wilton Red Sparkle Gel

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly oil a 9 by 13 inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, water, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes.  Cool completely in pan.

When ready to decorate, spread the entire container of frosting on the cake.  Be careful – the cake is super moist (literally) and will tear easily.

Use a toothpick to roughly sketch out fifty stars in the upper left-hand corner and 13 stripes.

Use the blue gel to make fifty stars.  Use the red gel to fill in seven of the stripes.  Both the top and bottom stripe are red.  The toothpick is helpful to spread the frosting evenly within the stripe without having to add too much.

Serve immediately or cover loosely to avoid messing up the frosting and store at room temperature for up to three days.