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How to Make a Firecracker Cake for the Fourth

By Betty Crocker Kitchens
Created January 10, 2017
Close your Fourth of July feast with a serious bang! This firecracker cake is crazy-impressive, yet surprisingly easy.
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Want to steal the show this Fourth of July, but don’t feel like spending hours in the kitchen? This is the recipe you’re looking for. Guests will marvel at how you layered the inside of this pretty cake with red, white and blue, but only you’ll know how easy it really is! Here’s how to make it.

What you’ll need:

  • Ingredients for Firecracker Red, White and Blue Cake
  • 1 generously greased 12-cup fluted tube cake pan
  • 1 medium mixing bowl
  • 2 small mixing bowls
  • 3 small microwavable bowls
  • Cooling rack
  • Baking sheet
  • Spoon
  • Electric mixer or mixing spoon

How to: 

1.  First, gather your ingredients and preheat the oven to 325°F.

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2.  Next, make your red, white and blue batters. In a medium mixing bowl, make the batter as directed on the box of Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ white cake mix using the water, vegetable oil and egg whites. Pour one cup of the prepared batter into a small mixing bowl and stir in red food color until well mixed. Do the same with another cup of the white cake mix batter in a separate small mixing bowl, except stir in blue food color.

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3.  Once your red, white and blue batters are ready, it’s time to start layering! For the first layer, pour all of the red cake batter into the bottom of a generously greased 12-cup fluted tube pan.

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4.  Once all of the red cake batter is in the pan and distributed evenly, carefully pour all of the white cake batter over the red batter.

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5.  Once the white cake batter is in the pan, carefully pour the blue batter over the white batter. The blue batter doesn’t need to cover the white batter completely! In fact, it looks better if it just forms a ring in the center of the white batter as pictured below.

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6.  Bake the cake as directed on the box or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for about 30 minutes. Place a wire cooling rack over a cookie sheet and turn the pan upside-down onto the cooling rack. Carefully lift the pan up and allow the cake to cool completely.

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7.  Now comes the fun part! Divide an entire can of Betty Crocker™ Whipped fluffy white frosting evenly into three small microwavable bowls. Microwave one bowl on high just until it’s smooth enough to drizzle over the cake (about 5-10 seconds). With a spoon, drizzle the white frosting back and forth around the cake in a striping pattern until you’ve used up all the frosting.

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8.  Microwave the second bowl of frosting until smooth. Before drizzling, stir in a few drops of blue food color until well blended. Repeat the back and forth drizzling technique around the cake. Do the same with the third bowl of frosting, mixing in red food color before drizzling.

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9.  Give the frosting enough time to set at room temperature, and there you have it! A beautiful, impressive-looking cake for your July 4th celebration that’s not nearly as hard as it looks. Guests will swoon over this treat and the surprise colors inside.

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Expert tips:

  • Have you had your fair share of flip fails when removing the cake pan? Don’t worry—you’re not alone! We’ve found that one of the tricks to preventing the cake from sticking to the pan is using cooking spray with flour. Also, make sure you give the cake enough time to cool.
  • To get your layers of cake batter looking just right, don’t mix them with a spoon after pouring them into the pan. Rather, just let the batters rest on top of one another in the pan. It doesn’t have to look perfect! It will still bake beautifully (promise).
  • Don’t have time to make this cake all in one day? No problem. You can make it up to two days in advance and store loosely covered at room temperature.