How to make a homemade star- spangled bundt cake drizzled with buttercream frosting and dazzled with red, white, and blue chocolate stars!
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Move over fireworks, there is about to be a stunning new tradition that is going to steal the show this 4th of July and become everyone’s new favorite for many years to come! Yes, I know how exciting and gorgeous fireworks are but this patriotic star- spangled cake is just meant for the spotlight. This homemade 4th of July Bundt Cake is sure to catch eyes and make mouths drop… and water! From the patriotic- colored, sweet, homemade cake and the drizzled buttercream frosting to the homemade red, white, and blue chocolate stars, it is going to be really, really tough to beat a cake like this!
This jaw- dropping 4th of July cake is surprisingly easy to make if you follow the right steps and use the right ingredients. I will cover everything step by step for you from prepping and baking the bundt cake to storing and safely traveling with it. All you need to do is follow along and pay close attention to the details. Get excited because this is going to be the year you leave everyone with little patriotic stars in their eyes!
Bundt Cake Equipment
Luckily, this homemade American beauty is overall pretty easy to make and will not require fancy equipment nor a lot of kitchen tools to make it successfully. If you have ever made a bundt cake from scratch then you pretty much already know what cake- making tools to grab.
- Hand mixer
- Glass mixing bowls
- Bundt cake pan
- Blending whisk
- Round Cooling Grid
- Sifter
- Disposable Vinyl Gloves
4th of July Bundt Cake Ingredients
So, what is the key to making this cake stand out in stunning patriotic colors? It’s all in the ingredients! From the colorful homemade cake to the homemade chocolate stars, it’s all about using the right ingredients!
For Patriotic Bundt Cake:
- 3 cups of cake flour or all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- 1 cup sour cream
- Food coloring: red and blue
Bundt cake pan coating:
- 3 tbsp vegetable shortening
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
Vanilla glaze:
1 can vanilla buttercream frosting
Garnishes:
Red, white, and blue homemade chocolate stars
How to Make A Patriotic Bundt Cake
This 4th of July bundt cake needs plenty of cooling time in between certain steps so it is definitely not a recipe to rush through. To make sure you do not put yourself in a position of trying to rush everything at the last minute and potentially messing up key factors, I would suggest making this cake a day or 2 ahead of time. Don’t worry, later I will go over how to safely store this patriotic bundt cake until it is showtime.
To make the colorful and patriotic bundt cake batter:
- First, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a medium size glass mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Next, in a separate large mixing bowl, use the hand mixer to beat the butter and sugar together until light and pale in color.
- Then, use the blending whisk to whisk the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream together in another separate bowl.
- Add the egg mixture ⅓ at a time into the large bowl with the butter and sugar. Mix between each addition.
- Then, add in the dry ingredient mixture ⅓ at a time into the large bowl with the wet ingredients. Continue to mix well between each addition.
- After the cake batter is mixed and ready, divide the batter evenly into 3 clean glass mixing bowls.
- Use a toothpick to add just a small amount of food coloring to 2 of the bowls, one red and one blue. Leave the third bowl white.
- As the bundt cake bakes the colors will fade some so you want to make sure your batter colors are bright enough to withstand some fading but you still don’t want to overdo it with the food coloring.
- If desired you can add a little bit of white food coloring to the 3rd bowl of plain cake batter but for this recipe I did not do that.
- Then, mix each colored batter thoroughly with a spatula until the color is completely incorporated.
Coating the bundt cake pan and baking the cake:
- First, grease the bundt cake pan with the vegetable shortening by making sure to spread a thin, even layer on the entire inside of the pan.
- Next, sprinkle some all-purpose flour over the coating of shortening inside of the bundt cake pan and roll the flour around to make sure the entire pan is thoroughly coated. Shake out the excess flour.
- Then, it is time to start pouring in the cake batter beginning with the red. Pour batter evenly into the bottom of the cake pan.
- Next, scoop the white batter on top of the red layer. Don’t mix them together!
- Then, scoop the blue batter onto the top of the white layer. Again, don’t mix or blend the layers!
- Transfer the cake batter to the oven and bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake for 10 minutes before removing from the cake pan. Use a butter knife to help separate the sides of the cake from the pan.
- Lastly, transfer the cake from the pan onto the wire cooling rack. Cover the cake with a kitchen towel and let it cool again for 2 hours.
The vanilla glaze:
For this step I used a handy shortcut to save some time. I just used a store- bought tub of buttercream frosting and melted it down into a thin consistency for drizzling. You can use this easy method or you can make a delicious homemade vanilla buttercream frosting from scratch!
- Transfer the entire tub of vanilla buttercream frosting to the candy melting pot.
- Heat up the frosting while stirring with a heat resistant spatula. Continue to cook until a thin, drizzling consistency is reached.
Garnishing the baked bundt cake:
- Once the cake has cooled completely, it’s time to start garnishing and decorating. Transfer the bundt cake to a cake stand.
- Next, drizzle the melted vanilla glave over the entire cake. Let the glazed bundt cake cool completely, about 2 hours, before the next step!
- If you do not let the glaze cool completely then it will melt your beautiful homemade chocolate stars and we just can’t have that!
- Finally, once the glazed bundt cake has completely cooled, decorate it with the red, white, and blue homemade chocolate stars.
- It helps to use food- friendly disposable gloves for this step because the heat from your hands can also melt the chocolate stars.
Transporting and Storing A Homemade Bundt Cake
Taking the cake to a different party location? No problem! You can pack up this patriotic bundt cake nice and neat in one of these cake boxes for worry-free travel. These paper boxes keep the cake safe, secure, and in place while on the road, plus they have a cute window on top for a pleasing presentation for when you get there. This is also a great option if you’re making this cake as a gift to drop off to loved ones or friends.
If there is leftover cake then you can easily store and save it for future enjoyment! If properly stored, your homemade cake can last for quite awhile. Here are a few bundt cake storage options:
- Store the remainder of the cake in an airtight cake container and keep up to 3 days on the counter at room temp.
- Store the bundt cake in the fridge, either wrapped with plastic food wrap or in an air-tight container for up to 1 week.
- I would suggest this storing method if preparing the cake a day or 2 ahead of time.
- Individual slices can be frozen for longer-term storage. First, wrap the individual slices in cellophane then wrap again in kitchen foil. These slices will stay good in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Always use a marker to label the date on the outside of the wrapping to keep up with freshness and quality.
Bundt Cakes
Serving Up Patriotic Treats
By now you already know that this 4th of July is going to be a blast with such a stunning star- spangled cake! Need some other homemade treats to complete your patriotic food spread? Here are a few of my favorite ideas:
- Chocolate- Covered Pretzels for the 4th of July
- Pinwheel Cookies for the 4th of July
- 4th of July Charcuterie Board
- Fruit- Infused Water
- Watermelon Bites Dipped in Chocolate
- Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
4th of July Bundt Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 Cups Cake flour or all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 4 Eggs
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 Cup Sour cream
- 1 Cup Butter room temperature
- 1 ¾ Cups Sugar
- Food coloring Red and blue
- White food color optional
Bundt cake pan coating
- 3 tbsp Vegetable shortening
- 2 tbsp All-purpose flour
Vanilla glaze
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a medium size glass mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Next, in a separate large mixing bowl, use the hand mixer to beat the butter and sugar together until light and pale in color.
- Then, use the blending whisk to whisk the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream together in another separate bowl.
- Add the egg mixture ⅓ at a time into the large bowl with the butter and sugar. Mix between each addition.
- Then, add in the dry ingredient mixture ⅓ at a time into the large bowl with the wet ingredients. Continue to mix well between each addition.
- After the cake batter is mixed and ready, divide the batter evenly into 3 clean glass mixing bowls.
- Use a toothpick to add just a small amount of food coloring to 2 of the bowls, one red and one blue. Leave the third bowl white.
- Then, mix each colored batter thoroughly with a spatula until the color is completely incorporated.
Bundt cake pan coating
- First, grease the bundt cake pan with the vegetable shortening by making sure to spread a thin, even layer on the entire inside of the pan.
- Next, sprinkle some all-purpose flour over the coating of shortening inside of the bundt cake pan and roll the flour around to make sure the entire pan is thoroughly coated. Shake out the excess flour.
- Then, it is time to start pouring in the cake batter beginning with the red. Pour batter evenly into the bottom of the cake pan.
- Next, scoop the white batter on top of the red layer. Don’t mix them together!
- Then, scoop the blue batter onto the top of the white layer. Again, don’t mix or blend the layers!
- Transfer the cake batter to the oven and bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake for 10 minutes before removing from the cake pan. Use a butter knife to help separate the sides of the cake from the pan.
- Lastly, transfer the cake from the pan onto the wire cooling rack. Cover the cake with a kitchen towel and let it cool again for 2 hours.
Vanilla glaze
- Transfer the entire tub of vanilla buttercream frosting to the candy melting pot.
- Heat up the frosting while stirring with a heat resistant spatula. Continue to cook until a thin, drizzling consistency is reached.
Garnish
- Once the cake has cooled completely, it’s time to start garnishing and decorating. Transfer the bundt cake to a cake stand.
- Next, drizzle the melted vanilla glave over the entire cake. Let the glazed bundt cake cool completely, about 2 hours, before the next step!
- Finally, once the glazed bundt cake has completely cooled, decorate it with the red, white, and blue homemade chocolate stars.
Video
Notes
- As the bundt cake bakes the colors will fade some so you want to make sure your batter colors are bright enough to withstand some fading but you still don’t want to overdo it with the food coloring.
- If desired you can add a little bit of white food coloring to the 3rd bowl of plain cake batter but for this recipe I did not do that.
- If you do not let the glaze cool completely then it will melt your beautiful homemade chocolate stars and we just can’t have that!
- It helps to use food- friendly disposable gloves for this step because the heat from your hands can also melt the chocolate stars.
Nutrition
Food Photography & Video Tips from My Studio
Here’s a peek at the tools, gear, and camera setups I use to film my recipe videos and photograph food at home. Over the years, I’ve tested dozens of different setups, and now I’m sharing what actually works for me—whether I’m filming overhead shots for YouTube or styling still photos for my blog. If you’re curious about how I create the content you see here, these posts are a great place to start.
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