How to decorate a red, white, and blue flag cake

You have baked a 13 X 9 inch cake and have removed it to a cake-board and it has been allowed to cool, now it is time to lavish this cake with the white buttercream icing you made.

Ice the sides of the cake first and smooth the edges.

Frost the cake top using around one-third of the icing. Make it as smooth as you can get it. The cake top will need to be level, to prevent your fruit toppings from sliding right off the top.

Using a toothpick, draw your flag pattern on the cake top. Making marks for 4 red and 4 white stripes and a square place in the left hand corner to make the blue background, unto which you will place 13 stars.

Slice the strawberries in thin slices and place in a bowl. Sprinkle 2 tbsp. sugar over the slices and toss very gently to coat all slices.

Starting at the top of the cake, place the strawberry slices on the cake top laying flat, overlapping each one to complete one or two rows. Do every other stripe red.

Continue this until all red stripes are complete.

Using your fingers, grab small handfuls of the shredded or ground coconut and spread it in between each strawberry «stripe» creating the the white stripes of your flag cake.

Gently press the coconut into the icing to make sure it stays where you want it.

Open the can of blueberry pie filling and pour it into a bowl for easy access.

Try to use only the pudding part of the filling, this will make a smooth blue background from which to build the stars into the flag.

Spoon as much of the blue pie filling into the left hand corner where you have marked for this purpose.

Smooth the blueberry filling out as flat as possible.

Fill a small pastry bag with white icing. Using a size 12 star tip create a shell border around the blueberry filling.

It is now time to put the stars on the cake.

Mark out the positionof the 13 stars — you will have three rows of 4 stars and one row of 5 stars to equal the thirteen stars.

If you are piping the stars onto the cake, assemble the pastry bag with its cooupler inside and fill with white icing. Position the #16 or larger tip onto the bag and begin making stars directly onto the blueberry topping.

Place the end of the tip directly into the blueberry topping and pull up as you squeeze the icing out. Stop squeezing before you pull the tip away from the star.

If you are using the premade stars simply position them on top of the bleuberry topping and gently push each one down so it sticks in place. (So much of a time saver.)

The final step on this cake is to pipe a border all around the bottom of the cake to seal it and to create a finished professional look to your flag cake.

Using the same large bag and coupler set up, fill the bag again with icing and begin piping the same border you used around the stars. (Shell border.)

Start at the back of the cake and pipe the connected border all around the cake, finishing again at the back of the cake.

You are now finished with your masterpiece!