22 Patriotic Desserts For Every Star-Spangled Celebration
Our easiest red, white, and blue cakes, pies, and icebox treats.
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Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
During patriotic holidays, we honor the men and women who sacrificially serve, protect, and defend our country by celebrating with friends, family, fireworks, and great food. Cap off your Memorial Day and Fourth of July cookouts with one of these patriotic desserts that feed a crowd. Which festive dessert is for you?
Related: 87 Fourth Of July Side Dishes For An All-Star Cookout
Flag Cake
Caitlin Bensel, Food Stylist: Torie Cox
This sheet cake is a holiday classic and for good reason. Not only is it perfectly thematic, but it's easy to make and uses plenty of in-season summer berries.
Blueberry Galette
This fruit-filled dessert comes together in a pinch thanks to frozen puff pastry sheets. The puff pastry gets packed with blueberry filling that cooks down as it bakes. Serve with vanilla whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Strawberry Shortcake Sheet Cake
Enjoy a stress-free 4th of July with our easiest-ever strawberry shortcake recipe. Get a double-dose of strawberries, which are added to both the biscuit base and the topping. After the base is baked, a mascarpone-and-whipped cream mixture is spread on top with a final layer of soft and juicy macerated strawberries. This easy-to-prepare shortcake should be enjoyed the same day it’s made.
Berry Chantilly Cake
Three layers of fluffy cake, creamy frosting, and summer berries add up to a stunning patriotic dessert.
Red, White, And Blue Trifle
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
The secret to this easy peasy trifle? White chocolate instant pudding mix. It creates an effortless creamy filling that's bright white, rather than yellow-colored like vanilla pudding mixes.
Cheerwine Cherry Cupcakes with Cherry-Swirl Frosting
Cherry-flavored soda creates a delectably sweet and airy cupcake. If you can find it, try Cheerwine, the cherry-flavored soda invented in North Carolina in 1917. These cheery cupcakes are piped with pink frosting and a maraschino cherry on top.
Strawberry Shortbread Cookies
Greg Dupree; Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Stylist: Christina Daley
For a patriotic twist, sprinkle a combination of freeze-dried blueberries and strawberries over these beautiful iced cookies.
Red, White, and Blue Poke Cake
There's nothing basic about this poke cake. This special recipe has not one, but two fresh fruit fillings—oh, and a deliciously creamy mascarpone frosting. The fun part of this recipe is poking holes in the cake and then spooning in the blueberry and strawberry fillings alternately to create the red, white, and blue effect.
Berry Upside Down Cake
Greg Dupree; Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Christine Keely
No dessert garners more oohs and ahhs than an upside down cake. Serve slices of this beauty topped with a dollops of whipped cream.
Red, White, and Blue Popsicles
We all remember chasing down this nostalgic popsicle from the ice cream truck. Try your hand at the festive treat at home with this easy and super fresh recipe. Use ice-pop molds to recreate the Bomb Pops and Firecracker treats of our youth but updated with healthier ingredients of fresh blueberries and strawberries.
Watermelon Pie
Refreshing watermelon is a Fourth of July staple. Who knew you could make a pie out of watermelon? This chilled dessert has a tapioca and fresh watermelon base with a more melt-resistant topping of whipped cream and mascarpone cheese.
Red Velvet Ice-Cream Cake
Cool off with a slice of ice cream cake, red velvet edition. This layer cake makes an impressive summer centerpiece. To prevent this frozen cake from melting down in the heat, unflavored gelatin added to the frosting will help it stabilize.
Red, White, and Blue Cheesecake Bars
We declare these cheesecake bars...potluck-perfect! Creating swirls in the cheesecake batter with strawberry and blueberry puree will impress. Make up to two days in advance to save you time before the summer barbecue.
Cherry Pie Bars
Like cherry pie—but better for a party. This is the easiest and most delicious way to make cherry pie portable for the Fourth of July. Not only does this batch feed a crowd, but this recipe can be made up to three days ahead of time.
Strawberry-Lemonade Cake
Have you ever seen a happier slice of cake? We think not. Lemon cake layers spread with tangy strawberry-lemonade jam, and dressed with a fresh strawberry frosting pull together our favorite the summer flavors into one pretty, pink cake.
Mixed Berry Cheesecake Cupcakes
Made-from-scratch cheesecake doesn’t seem so hard when made as cupcakes where there’s no water bath, springform pan, and long chilling time required. These 12 party-perfect portions can be made up to two days ahead of your Fourth of July celebration. For even more flexibility, use whatever berries you choose as your topper.
Berry Tiramisu
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Layers of ladyfingers, creamy mascarpone cheese, and summer berries add up to one showstopping dessert.
Apple-Blackberry Cobbler
Photographer: Greg DuPree, Food Stylist: Emily Neighbors Hall Prop Stylist: Audrey Davis
Sweet, buttery, and crumbly, these adorable fruit cobblers are perfect for any summer gathering.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Cobbler
Greg DuPree; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn
This super-simple dessert performs a delicious magic trick in the oven—the berries sink and the topping rises, yielding a stunning summery treat.
Red, White, & Blue Donut Wands
Store-bought donut holes make this recipe as easy as one, two, three! After dipping the donut holes in white chocolate, it’s time to have fun decorating with bold red, white, and blue sprinkles and sanding sugars. These turn into held-held treats, with three donut holes per straw, that are sharable and fun to pass out to kids on the go at your Fourth of July party.
Classic Strawberry Shortcake
Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox
Buttery and flaky, these individual strawberry desserts are perfectly portioned for your next cookout.
Strawberry Galette
So much easier than making a pie, this simple galette would look even more patriotic with a handful of fresh blueberries and blackberries scattered over the top.
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