Fourth of July Pie Cake
This Fourth of July Cherry Pie Cake is picture-perfect-pain-in-the-ass-ahhhhaaamazzing. Deliciously tart yet sweet at the same time. It not only looks stunning, but it honestly tastes incredible. The tartness of the cherries combined with the sweet vanilla frosting and soft white cake with the occasional pop of blueberry makes for an awesome happy little party in your mouth. And YES, it was a pain in the ass. I never lie to you! For all of you who want to start blogging, do you have any idea what went into this pretty little cake post?
2 days of cooking
2 hours of photographing
3 hours of photo cropping and correcting
4 hours of uploading and posting
5 hours of screwing around and getting up to go into the pantry to eat
3 hours of turning on cartoons, making food, changing diapers, and making milk babas
BUT ... do not get discouraged. I have some shortcuts that will make this whole process go a hell of a lot quicker.
Above is the cake I made in 2023. Below is the first cake I made 10 years ago in 2013! Time flies : )
Seriously, pretty awesome, right?!
Fourth of July Cherry Pie Cake
Cherry Pie Ingredients
(Recipe is for 1 pie ~ double for the 2 layer cake above)
1 recipe pastry for a 7 inch double crust pie (Can find in the frozen aisle or you can make from scratch)
4 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
4 cups pitted cherries
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
** TIP: You can also use store-bought pies.
Directions for Cherry Pie
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Place bottom crust in pie pan. Set top crust aside, covered.
2. Roll out half the crust and line a 7-inch pie pan. Refrigerate until needed. Roll out the top crust and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine tapioca, salt, sugar, cherries, and extracts. Let stand 15 minutes.
4. Turn out into bottom crust and dot with butter. Cover with top crust, flute edges and cut vents in top.
5. Place pie on a foil-lined cookie sheet--in case it drips.
6. Par-bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Let cool. NOTE this is not fully cooked. You now need to prepare your cake batter. If you are using a completely cooked pie that is totally OK!
White Cake Mix - 2 boxes
Follow the recipe on the back of the box.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Ingredients
9 cups confectioners' sugar
3 cups butter
3 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 or 6 tablespoons whipping cream
Directions
1. In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.
2. Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.
TIPS
1. If you are using store bought pies let them defrost on the counter before baking them inside the pie.
2. If you are putting your cake on the top rack cook at 325 degrees for 1 hour. If you are using the middle rack I find that 350 degrees works just fine.
3. Two boxes of packaged cake mix will cover two pies, but you will have left over cake mix. It is what it is. I have used white cake mix and poundcake mix. I think the poundcake mix made a more “sturdy” cake in my non-professional opinion.
The recipe was adapted from the amazing original Cherpumple!