As the Fourth of July approaches and we eagerly anticipate colorful firework displays and backyard barbecues, why not celebrate with a red, white and blue sprinkle-covered confetti cake?

This delicious lemon-almond cake, filled with fresh strawberries and blueberries and layered with cream cheese icing, is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

The number of steps to make it may seem daunting — and, to be fair, this recipe does take some finesse — but it is doable and absolutely worth it.

Here are some of my favorite pro tips for success:

Use a bit of shortening to make the cake a brighter white, which also makes it easier to color. If you prefer, you can substitute butter for the shortening.
Be sure to scrape down the sides of the mixer bowl as you add the ingredients to your cake batter. This will ensure your batter is smooth.
To customize your cake, flavor the batter with extracts. One of my favorite combinations is vanilla and coconut extracts. Alternatively, if you prefer a plain vanilla cake, replace the almond extract with an additional one teaspoon vanilla extract, for a total of two teaspoons.
I love to use a cardboard cake round to invert my cakes from the pans. It gives them a sturdy surface to fall on, which prevents the cake layers from tearing. Ask your local bakery for a few or cut out some rounds from a cardboard box.
Don’t have a cake turntable? Not to worry! My favorite kitchen hack is to use the plate and wheel from a microwave to layer and frost my cakes.
Instead of worrying about your cake layers sliding around as you frost the top and sides of the cake, try this trick — use a long bamboo skewer to hold everything in place.
A flat, metal bench scraper (more often used for cutting bread dough) makes for amazingly straight sides on your frosted cake. If you don’t have a bench scraper, use a metal icing spatula, like the one in the video.
Don’t worry about having a perfectly frosted cake for this recipe. As long as it’s relatively smooth, once it’s covered in sprinkles, it will be a showstopper no matter what!

One last trick: Cut parchment paper into a circle to line your round cake pan. This ensures your cakes don’t stick to the pan. To do this, use the paper snowflakes technique. (Remember the kind you made in elementary school?)

For a round cake pan, simply fold a piece of parchment paper in half three times to make a triangular wedge of paper (kind of like a slice of cake). Turn your cake pan upside down and place the tip of the paper wedge directly in the center of the pan. Trim the wider edge of the paper wedge to the length of the radius of the pan, or the very edge of the cake pan. Unfold et voila!.. a circle of parchment paper to perfectly line the inside of your round cake pan. Check out this video to see how it’s done.

Explore the Art of Cake Decorating at ICE.

Ingredients

2 sticks (8 ounces) butter, softened
½ cup (4 ounces) shortening
3 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3 large egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
½ cup buttermilk
Red food coloring
Blue food coloring
3-4 tablespoons red, white and blue sprinkles

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly spray three eight-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment paper.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, egg whites, almond extract and vanilla extract, and mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
Add half of dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until combined.
Add milk and mix until combined.
Add remaining half of dry ingredients, followed by the buttermilk and mix until well combined and smooth.
Divide batter evenly between three bowls. Add blue food coloring to one bowl and red food coloring to second bowl, mixing and adding coloring in drops until the desired color is reached. Place sprinkles in third bowl and stir until evenly combined.
Pour batter into three prepared cake pans. Bake until very light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Allow cakes to cool in pans 5 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature.

Lemon-Almond Simple Syrup

Yields ½ cup

Ingredients

½ cup simple syrup
2 teaspoons almond extract
2 teaspoons lemon extract

Directions

Combine simple syrup, almond extract and lemon extract and refrigerate until ready to use.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Yields 6 cups

Ingredients

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups (16 ounces) cream cheese
6 cups powdered sugar, sifted
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until soft and very smooth.
Add cream cheese and mix until smooth. Slowly add powdered sugar and salt, and mix until fully combined.
Add vanilla extract and whip on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container up to 5 days.

Assembly

Ingredients

1 blue cake layer
1 sprinkle cake layer
1 red cake layer
½ cup Lemon-Almond Simple Syrup (recipe above)
6 cups Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe above)
1 cup blueberries
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups red, white and blue sprinkles, to decorate

Directions

Slice tops off cake layers to create a flat surface. Place blue cake layer on top of an eight-inch round of cardboard.
Use a pastry brush to lightly soak blue cake layer with simple syrup. Spread 1 cup of frosting on blue cake layer and cover with fresh blueberries.
Top with sprinkled white cake layer and repeat by soaking cake layer with simple syrup, covering with 1 cup frosting, and topping with fresh strawberries.
Place red cake layer on top. Frost tops and sides of cake with remaining 4 cups of frosting.
Freeze cake 20 to 30 minutes.
Place sprinkles in a large bowl. Hold cake over a rimmed baking sheet and gently cover sides and tops of cake with sprinkles by pressing them against the frosting and allowing excess to fall back onto tray.
Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to two days. If refrigerated before serving, let cake stand at room temperature 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Make tasty desserts with ICE Chef-Instructors in Pastry & Baking Arts.