4th of July cake

Being that today is the 4th of July and Zach is in the military I thought I would make something festive! I decided I would make a cake that looks like the flag. I found my inspiration at the Foodnetwork web site (link at the bottom). What makes this cake great is that it's really not hard to make and it looks awesome! It is also made in a jelly role pan, so no worries on it rising right and how to transport it, or anything like that! I wouldn't normally change a recipe before I've tried it, but today that just had to happen. It stated with Target not having raspberries, not a big deal I used strawberries.

Now it was time to start, I had my music playing, just took the dog out, all was right in the world! Then I realized I only had a cup and a half of sugar, the recipe called for three... I know your probably thinking what kind of cook runs out of sugar?! First of all I'm just an at home cook, not a formal one. Second I just assumed I had enough and didn't bother checking (always check what you have before you start it will save you a lot of undue stress). Now the big question what is one to do in a situation like this? I substituted it with brown sugar, it seemed to work just fine. Some of the supplies this recipe needed I also had to edit slightly, I currently don't have a stand mixer so I used my hand mixer. I also don't have pastry bags, so I used a zip lock bag and cut a little hole in the corner and used the star shaped pastry tip. Personally, I really like the cream cheese frosting, however it's far from healthy... Due to the butter it's an off white color, I didn't mind and once you put the fruit on you notice it even less.

Now for the most important part, how was the flavor? I thought it was ok, nothing amazing. We put more strawberries on it. It's great for a group though. Some of my untested ideas would be to make it with banana bread, or carrot cake. Not only would you get more flavor, but you would also get some health benefits. The problem would be the rising factor...
Hope you had a fun filed 4th! Any questions or comments please let me know!

Flag cake