Firecracker Layer Cake

Make your celebration unforgettable with this vibrant red, white, and blue layer cake — a true showstopper for Memorial Day, the 4th of July, or any patriotic occasion. Each colorful layer is tinted with LorAnn Liquid Gel Food Colors and flavored with LorAnn Almond, Strawberry, and Blueberry Bakery Emulsions for bold, bakery-quality taste. It’s a striking centerpiece that’s as delicious as it is eye-catching. Read more about this lovely cake on the Almonds & Apricots blog!

Ingredients

FOR CAKE:
450g (about 3 and ¼ cups) of all-purpose flour
18g (4 ½ teaspoons) baking powder
300g (1 ½ cups) granulated sugar
340 g (1 ½ cups or 3 sticks) of salted butter, room temperature
360ml (1 and ½ cups) buttermilk, room temperature
5 large eggs, room temperature
80g full-fat sour cream (⅓ cup), room temperature
3 teaspoons LorAnn Organic Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste
FOR ALMOND CAKE LAYER:
1 teaspoon LorAnn Almond Bakery Emulsion
FOR STRAWBERRY CAKE LAYER:
1 teaspoon LorAnn Strawberry Bakery Emulsion
LorAnn Red Liquid Gel Food Color
FOR BLUEBERRY CAKE LAYER:
1 teaspoon LorAnn Blueberry Bakery Emulsion
LorAnn Blue Liquid Gel Food Color
FOR VANILLA BEAN BUTTERCREAM:
450g (2 cups or 4 sticks) of butter, room temperature
2 tablespoons LorAnn Organic Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

Recipe PDF

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Directions

FOR CAKE:

Grease and line 3, 8-inch round baking pans. Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and sugar.

Add the softened butter to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix on low speed with a paddle attachment until the mixture looks like coarse sand, approximately 3 minutes. The butter should no longer be clumpy.

In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients: eggs, milk, sour cream, and LorAnn Organic Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste.

Add the wet and dry ingredients to the sandy flour mixture in three parts, mixing on medium speed until everything is combined.

Scrape down the bowl to ensure everything is incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly into three bowls.

To one bowl of batter, add the LorAnn Almond Bakery Emulsion (this is your white cake layer).

In the second bowl, add the LorAnn Strawberry Bakery Emulsion and a few drops of red liquid gel food coloring and mix until the color is uniform. 10.To the third bowl, add the LorAnn Blueberry Bakery Emulsion and blue liquid gel food coloring and stir until smooth.

Pour each batter mixture into your three prepared cake tins.

Bake cakes in the oven for approximately 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Carefully remove the cakes and set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

Wrap in plastic wrap and place on the counter to cool.

FOR VANILLA BEAN BUTTERCREAM:

Beat butter with an electric or stand mixer until it is white, fluffy, and has doubled in size. Then add the LorAnn Organic Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste and the sweetened condensed milk one can at a time until the frosting is smooth and creamy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl with a spatula several times between additions to ensure everything is incorporated well.

Add a dab of buttercream on a cake board or plate, and place the blueberry cake layer on top. Then cover the top with vanilla buttercream.

Place the vanilla cake layer on next and cover with more buttercream. Add the strawberry cake layer on top of the vanilla cake layer and cover with the remaining buttercream. (When sliced, you should have RED, WHITE, and BLUE cake layers stacked neatly in every slice.)

Cover the entire cake, top and sides, with the vanilla buttercream. Use a cake scraper to remove excess buttercream on the sides.

Freeze the cake in-between coats of buttercream to ensure the crumbs are contained.

For colored buttercream decorative piping, divide your buttercream into three bowls and use LorAnn’s Liquid Gel Food Coloring to color each bowl of buttercream individually. Mix each color well with a spatula and add into individual piping bags fitted with your favorite piping tips.

Decorate the cake with your favorite sprinkles and buttercream swirls.

ENJOY!