Avoid This Type Of Fruit On Your Flag Cake This 4th Of July

There are certain dishes every Fourth of July celebration needs. Some good grilled protein is a must. Hot dogs and hamburgers are classics — there are pork chops if you're cooking Bobby Flay's favorite Fourth of July dish, and if you want to go fully Revolutionary War with it, there's always America's strangest food tradition: turtle soup. And then there's dessert. But what to choose? Ice cream melts in a summer cookout, but if you opt for a flag cake, well, as the saying goes, these colors don't run — provided you choose the right fruit.

A flag cake is as delicious to the palate as it is to the eye. A spongey cake with a cream cheese or mascarpone frosting, topped with blueberries and your choice of strawberries or raspberries, this dessert balances lightness, richness, and that satisfying fresh crunch from the fruit. But if you decide to use frozen berries instead of fresh, you might find yourself looking at a cake that's more fitting for Holi or a Grateful Dead concert tailgate than a celebration of all things 'Murica. 

The problem with using frozen berries in a dessert like this is twofold. The first issue is that frozen berries are, well, frozen. That means that as they sit out on top of a cake waiting to be eaten, they begin to thaw, leading us to problem number two. As they do, not only do they get mushy, but the colors will start to bleed, transforming your immaculately decorated dish into a hippie tie-dye masterpiece. 

That's why it's important to only use fresh fruit when it comes to making the perfect flag cake. And that doesn't only apply to the exterior. While some, like Ina Garten, prefer a straight layer of cake with no filling, others prefer to fold some berries into the dough for an added bit of delicious texture. 

Here, too, it's best to use fresh fruit, so you don't end up with an overly-waterlogged dessert — after all, this is a flag cake, not a tres leches. Just as the frozen fruit thawing on top of the frosting could leave little, unappetizing puddles of ice water (and who wants that when biting into a cake?), using frozen fruit in the dough can cause textural issues you don't see coming as they release moisture during the baking process. 

If fresh fruit is not an option, it's crucial to follow the most important step of using frozen fruit in baked goods. Thaw the fruit ahead of time and strain out any of the excess moisture. If you're still worried about the water quotient, toss the fruit in a bit of corn starch to help absorb any remaining liquid. While the thawed fruit won't have the same crunch or structure as the fresh fruit, it will still add a bit of flavor and color to the interior of the cake.