All-American Cake

Note: You need a plastic (so that it’s microwaveable) Jello mold in the shape of the USA, size 8x12x2-1/2, for this recipe.

Prepare the 2 cakes separately: Place 1 cake mix, 2 tablespoons meringue powder (or 3 egg whites) and 1 box of pudding mix in a bowl, and stir to mix. Add 1/2 cup cooking oil, one of the cans of fruit (including juices), 2 tablespoons lemon juice and the appropriate icing color (red with cherry or raspberries, blue with blackberries or blueberries). You can add a little cinnamon and almond extract if you are using cherries. Use an electric mixer to blend for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times to be sure everything is mixed. The batter is thick, the fruit should be broken up, and the color should be intense.

Coat the USA mold on the bottom and sides with cooking spray and pour the batter into it. Be careful to build up the batter in Florida and New England so that it is even with rest of USA. This batter is thick and won’t level on its own.

Place in a 1500 watt (= 1.5kw) microwave with turntable and cook for 16 minutes at 70% heat. When finished, open the door of the microwave to check it. Cake should be firm but somewhat tacky on top. Close door quickly and let it rest in the microwave oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and place pan on rack to cool. Cake will be fragile, and needs to stay in the pan for about 30 minutes more to firm up. Then carefully turn it from pan out onto a rack and leave to cool. Cake should be completely cooked through. When cool, cover with plastic wrap and freeze, if made in advance.

Repeat with the other cake layer and ingredients, so you have 1 red layer and 1 blue layer.

Move 1 carton of ice cream from the freezer into the refrigerator to soften. After about 1 hour, spoon it into the (now empty) USA mold packing it so there are no air spaces and it is level on top (again, watch out for Florida and New England and make sure they are completely filled). Cover with plastic wrap and press the wrap into the ice cream, making it is as level as possible. Be sure the plastic wrap covers without air pockets, and completely covers the edges, so no air gets in. Return to freezer.

Assembling the cake: Remove cakes from freezer. Split each cake layer horizontally if you are making 2 cakes. If making 2 cakes, set aside 1/2 red layer and 1/2 blue layer for the other cake. Place the bottom cake layer on a serving plate. Remember-California is on the left and Florida/New England, etc, are on the right!

Remove ice cream mold from freezer and take off plastic wrap. Place it in the sink with about 1 inch of very warm water for about 5 to 10 seconds, or until the ice cream separates from the sides of the mold. Work as quickly as possible from this point: The ice cream can then be placed on top of the cake layer sitting on the plate. (A simple way to do this is to place the bottom layer of cake back in the mold on top of the ice cream and turn both out onto a serving plate.) Place the contrasting colored cake layer on top of the rest of the cake. Adjust so the layers line up (check Florida and New England). Press down gently on top so they rest on top of one another. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze.

If you are going to make a second cake, repeat the mold/freezing process with the second carton of ice cream and then assemble the cake as above.

Just before serving, decorate as desired.

To serve: Place cake in refrigerator 1 hour before cutting so it’s softened a bit. The ice cream will be still frozen, but easy to cut.

The picture shows the undecorated cake made with half-layers. This cake is 4″ tall. I found that using the whole layers made a very tall cake (6″) that is difficult to serve. That’s why I split both colors of cake in half, horizontally. I have the unfinished layers in the freezer and will make another cake for a friend whose birthday is also 7/4. These layers can remain frozen and used for another cake for Labor Day, Veteran’s Day, or any other day you want to celebrate your nation!

I will add a new photo on 7/4 of the decorated cake.

Happy birthday USA!