Holidays don’t have to be complicated. More and more, I’m embracing simplicity. Yes, the food can be festive – but it doesn’t have to tie you up in the kitchen all day. It’s the people that are important.

This patriotic cake is deceptively simple. A little food coloring takes a boxed cake mix and a jar of icing to a whole other level. You’ll look like you spent all day on this, but you’ll be left with plenty of time to play!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Directions
• More patriotic treats
• Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 box of white cake mix
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• Red food coloring
• Blue food coloring
• 1 container white icing
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• Red, white, and blue sprinkles

This cake is just a dressed up box mix – but it’s a really great option when you’re short on time and want something easy! A little bit of food coloring really transforms this into a centerpiece dessert!

Because it’s so simple, I like to spurge on the sprinkles. The sprinkles I used for this cake were from Sprinkle Pop. (Not an affiliate link or sponsored post – they’re just awesome!)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Grease your bundt pan well and set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat together the cake mix, water, oil, and eggs until thoroughly combined and light. Divide this cake mix equally into 4 bowls.
• Add a few drops of red food coloring to one bowl and stir well to evenly combine. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to another bowl and stir well to evenly combine. Do not add any color to the last bowl – this will be your white!
• Pour the bowl of red cake mix into the prepared pan. Tap the pan lightly to make sure the batter is evenly spread out. Gently pour the white batter in next, then pour the blue batter in.
• Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.
• Divide the frosting equally into four microwave-safe bowls.
• Microwave one bowl for 8 seconds, then stir well. The icing should be of a consistency you can drizzle with. If it’s still too thick, microwave for another 3-4 seconds. If it’s too thin, let it cool for a few minutes to thicken up.
• Drizzle the white icing over the cooled cake.
• Add a few drops of red food coloring to the second bowl, and microwave for 8 seconds. Stir well to make sure the color is evenly combined. Drizzle over the cake.
• Add a few drops of blue food coloring to the third bowl, and microwave for 8 seconds. Stir well to make sure the color is evenly combined. Drizzle over the cake.
• Add the powdered sugar to the fourth bowl and beat to combine. This icing should be stiff. Transfer it to a piping bag and pipe stars or swirls along the top of the cake.
• Decorate with sprinkles.

I think this is best made the day of. It can sit on the counter for a few hours (in air conditioning, or the icing will start to melt) – but trying to keep it covered usually results in melted or mashed icing.

More Patriotic Treats

I love making festive treats, so there’s a bunch on the blog that are also perfect for the 4th or July or Memorial Day! Firecracker Cookies and Ice Cream Sandwiches are both perfectly patriotic when made with red, white and blue sprinkles.

I’ve also rounded up some of my favorite red, white and blue foods, from my blog and my friends’, in this post! More cookout perfect desserts can be found here.

Recipe

Patriotic Bundt Cake

This dressed up boxed cake is perfectly patriotic!

Print

Ingredients

• 1 box of white cake mix
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• Red food coloring
• Blue food coloring
• 1 container white icing
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• Red, white, and blue sprinkles

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Grease your bundt pan well and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the cake mix, water, oil, and eggs until thoroughly combined and light. Divide this cake mix equally into 4 bowls.
3. Add a few drops of red food coloring to one bowl and stir well to evenly combine. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to another bowl and stir well to evenly combine. Do not add any color to the last bowl - this will be your white!
4. Pour the bowl of red cake mix into the prepared pan. Tap the pan lightly to make sure the batter is evenly spread out. Gently pour the white batter in next, then pour the blue batter in.
5. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.
7. Divide the frosting equally into four microwave-safe bowls.
8. Microwave one bowl for 8 seconds, then stir well. The icing should be of a consistency you can drizzle with. If it's still too thick, microwave for another 3-4 seconds. If it's too thin, let it cool for a few minutes to thicken up.
9. Drizzle the white icing over the cooled cake.
10. Add a few drops of red food coloring to the second bowl, and microwave for 8 seconds. Stir well to make sure the color is evenly combined. Drizzle over the cake.
11. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to the third bowl, and microwave for 8 seconds. Stir well to make sure the color is evenly combined. Drizzle over the cake.
12. Add the powdered sugar to the fourth bowl and beat to combine. This icing should be stiff. Transfer it to a piping bag and pipe stars or swirls along the top of the cake.
13. Decorate with sprinkles.