Our ancestors might have baked a cast-iron apple stack cake for special occasions in the Appalachian Mountains, but today with July 4th parties and potlucks around the corner, everyone in The Old Mill Kitchen is thinking Flag Cake.

It’s the fun sheet cake covered with stripes of red berries and blueberry stars that really looks like the American flag. Well, sort of…and that’s the fun part. We think there is always room for creative expression! It’s just the cake to bake with your girlfriends, kids or grandkids, or just by yourself.

How to make a flag cake

• Begin with a sheet cake — baked in a 13-by 9-inch pan — made with your favorite white or yellow cake mix or with our from-scratch recipe using our unbleached flour. Let it cool completely.

• Whip up an easy cream cheese frosting to spread on the top and sides.

• After that, line up fresh strawberries and raspberries for the seven red stripes and small blueberries for the stars. (A bit of a history lesson: Our flag contains seven red stripes and six white stripes to add up to 13, which symbolize the original 13 colonies. And those 50 blueberries each stand for an American state.)

Once you bake our flag cake, take a photo of it! We’ll be sharing photos of your flag cakes on our social this summer!