- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream, cold
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 lbs strawberries, hulled and halved
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9×13-inchpan and line the bottom with parchment.2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, andsalt in a bowl; set aside.3. Cream butter and sugar together on medium-highuntil pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, then thevanilla and almond extracts.4. Alternate adding the flour mixture andbuttermilk in three additions, starting and ending with flour. Mix just untilno streaks remain.5. Spread batter into the pan and bake 28–32minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan.6. For the topping, beat the cream cheese andpowdered sugar until smooth, then slowly pour in the cream and vanilla, beatinguntil stiff peaks form.7. Spread the topping over the cooled cake. Markoff a rectangle in the upper left corner and fill it with blueberries. Laystrawberry halves in even rows across the rest of the cake to form stripes,leaving a thin gap of white topping between each row.8. Chill 20 minutes before slicing so the toppingfirms up. For the 250th, top the blueberry corner with a lit “250” sparklercandle right before serving.
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Pat the berries dry before arranging them so they don’t bleed into the topping. The cake can be baked a day ahead and topped a few hours before serving.
Make Ahead Tips
For the freshest presentation, decorate your Liberty Berry Flag Cake the same day you plan to serve it. If you're getting a head start, you can bake the cake, frost it, and refrigerate it (covered) up to one day in advance. Wait to add the blueberries and strawberries until just before serving so the fruit stays vibrant and fresh.
You can also prep the individual components ahead of time:
Cake: Bake the cake up to 3 days ahead. Once it's completely cool, wrap it tightly in two layers of plastic wrap and store it at room temperature. Make sure the cake has cooled fully before wrapping so excess moisture doesn't get trapped.
Frosting: The cream cheese whipped topping can be made up to 3 days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Before frosting the cake, let it sit at room temperature for 20–30 minutes, then give it a quick whip with an electric mixer until it's smooth, light, and fluffy again.
