Retro Red White and Blue Cake

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Rock out this 4th of July with this festive Retro Red White and Blue Explosion Cake recipe to celebrate the summer holiday season!  

More patriotic desserts? Check out this Red White & Blue Puppy Chow, 4th of July Cherry Bomb Cupcakes and these fun Red White & Blue M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Why We Love This Easy Retro Red White and Blue Cake

• This retro style dessert is festive and easy to make, so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying the sunshine.
• With a moist vanilla cake, creamy vanilla buttercream with a classic red, white, and blue cake, you’re sure to wow your guests not only with the look but the taste! 
• The vibrant colors literally explode with the red, white and blue tie dye effect, marbled in a light and fluffy vanilla white cake easily by using your favorite cake box mix!  
• It’s topped with a super creamy, vanilla buttercream frosting and pretty patriotic sprinkles and stars.  

Check out 10 Easy Patriotic Desserts and our 20 Red, White & Blue Patriotic Desserts to Proudly Hail! for more fun ideas!

Fun Red White and Blue Cake for the 4th of July Celebration! 

I love tie-dye! When I think of tie-dye, I think of peace, love, freedom, free-spirit, mellow, hippies, hipsters, coolness and the nostalgic 60’s & 70’s mostly, which ties in with the retro American theme of this cake!

Making the Cake with Food Color Gels

So.  Now…Have you ever made a multi-colored cake?  It’s not hard at all, but to get bright colors in the cake batter, it’s better to use gel pastes because they are highly concentrated. 

You don’t have to use a lot to get awesome results.  I really love using this 12 Color Cake Food Coloring Liqua-Gel Decorating Baking Set and it’s very affordable and lasts a long time.

Ingredients You Need

1 vanilla white cake box plus ingredients required for a 9 x 13 pan, using egg white version on box

• red gel paste
• blue gel paste

How To Make our Retro Red White and Blue Cake Recipe

I took a shortcut and used Pillsbury’s Vanilla cake mix.  I always find their cake mixes to be my favorite to use, when I’m not making a homemade version.  The next step is adding colors to the cake and making the swirls in the batter.

1. So, make your vanilla cake according to box instructions, then evenly divide your cake batter into 2 other small bowls, keeping the vanilla in the original bowl you mixed it in. 
2. Add some red gel paste in one bowl and blue gel paste in the other bowl and mix until color desired.
3. Pour the white cake batter into a 9 x 13 cake pan, sprayed with non-stick spray. Then add the blue or the red by pouring on top, then swirl with a knife a few swirls, but not a lot, or you’ll get other colors and it won’t be red, white and blue.
4. Bake cake until done and let cool.
5. Once cake has cooled, make the frosting.

Tips for Tie-Dye for the 4th of July Cake  

So more about these psychedelic swirls of our nation’s colors…the red, white and blue!

• To get the tie-dye effect, all you do is make the cake batter and grab 2 bowls and pour 1/3 of the batter into each of the bowls and add red gel paste to one and blue gel paste to the other and mix them up until you get the color you want to achieve.
• The color is pretty true when you mix it up and will bake the same color you make it before baking.
• Pour the white cake batter into the pan and then pour in the other colors, by randomly pouring them however you want with the white batter. 
• The less you swirl the the batters around the better, once all poured in, is best, but you can give it a few swirls.  Otherwise you’ll get other colors and you want it to stay red, white and blue as much as possible.

The Vanilla Frosting Recipe

You can of course, use your favorite frosting, bought or made, but I love to whip this easy frosting recipe for cakes and cookies all the time.  It’s so creamy and tastes amazing on about every dessert.  It consists of softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, milk of choice and a dash of salt.  

It’s one of my favorite frostings ever that you can whip up so fast!  Add some patriotic sprinkles and you’re good to go!  

Ingredients You Need for Frosting

Vanilla Frosting Recipe

• unsalted butter, softened
• powdered sugar
• almond milk or milk
• vanilla extract
• salt

Preparing the Vanilla Buttercream

1. Cream butter for a couple of minutes and then add in the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, salt until smooth and creamy.
2. Frost cake and sprinkle some sprinkles on top and serve.

This summer, put a twist on the classic red, white, and blue theme with the Retro Red White and Blue Cake. As always, don’t forget the sprinkles!

With the Fourth of July quickly approaching, there’s no better way to show your patriotic pride than by serving a classic Retro Red White and Blue Cake. A symbol of national pride and remembrance, this cake is sure to get the party started with a pop of Red, White, and Blue.

Now Let’s Party Man!

More Patriotic Desserts!

• 4th of July – Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cup Double Stuffed Oreos
• 4th of July Oreo Truffles
• Red White and Blue Chocolate Chip Bars! 

You may want to swoon over this amazing Chocolate Cream Layered Dessert as well! Definitely yummilicious!

Retro Red White and Blue Explosion Cake

Kim Lange

Rock out this 4th of July with this festive, Retro Red White and Blue Explosion Cake!!  The vibrant colors literally explode with the red, white and blue tie dye effect, marbled in a light and fluffy vanilla white cake easily by using your favorite cake box mix!  It's topped with a super creamy, vanilla buttercream frosting and pretty patriotic sprinkles and stars. 

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12 Servings

Calories

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

Red White & Blue Cake

• 1 box vanilla cake required for a 9 x 13 pan, using egg white version on box
• red gel paste
• blue gel paste

Vanilla Frosting

• ½ cup unsalted butter softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons almond milk or milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ⅛ teaspoon salt

Sprinkles

• Red white and blue sprinkles

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

 

Retro Red White and Blue Cake

• Make vanilla cake according to box instructions, then evenly divide your cake batter into 2 other small bowls, keeping the vanilla in the original bowl you mixed it in.
• Use red gel paste in one bowl and blue gel paste in the other bowl and mix until color desired.
• Pour the white cake batter into a 9 x 13 cake pan, sprayed with non-stick spray.
• Then add the blue or the red by pouring on top, then swirl with a knife a few swirls, but not a lot, or you'll get other colors and it won't be red, white and blue.
• Bake cake until done and let cool.
• Once cake has cooled, make the frosting.

Vanilla Frosting

• Cream butter for a couple of minutes and then add in the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, salt until smooth and creamy.
• Frost cake and sprinkle some sprinkles on top and serve.

Keyword 4th of july, 9x13 pan, cake, cake box mix, red white and blue

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