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"Like many of you, we&amp;#039;ve been seeing a zillion flag cakes on Pinterest \u2014 the most popular is a five-step, how-to collage (that&amp;#039;s it below) that makes the whole project seem totally easy and doable. We had to give it a try.  Let me start out by saying that I don&amp;#039;t consider my attempt a total Pinterest fail. Here&amp;#039;s why: Most pins of this how-to collage don&amp;#039;t link back to a recipe to follow. After a period of searching for the source with no success, I did what I thought most pinners would do \u2014 just wing it using the image as a guide. Also, full disclosure: I decided to make the cake on a super-busy day here in the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen to mimic the stress I&amp;#039;d probably feel at home because (let&amp;#039;s be honest) I&amp;#039;d likely be making this last minute and in a total rush. Sound familiar? With that in mind, here&amp;#039;s what happened\u2026  STEP 1 According to the photo, it looked like I needed to bake 2 white cake layers, 2 red cake layers and 1 blue cake layer. So that&amp;#039;s what I did (see above). Well, I was confused. Since Step 2 looks like you&amp;#039;re cutting the small, inner red cake layer out of one of the regular cakes, I assumed that was how the small cake in the first photo was made. Turns out it should be a separate cake layer baked in a 6-inch pan. I used white cake mix, red velvet cake mix, and white cake mix (dyed with almost a whole jar of Wilton Royal Blue Gel Icing Color) to save time.  STEP 2 As I mentioned above, what I took away from Step 2 was that I was supposed to cut a small circle out of one red cake layer. I did the same thing with one of the white cake layers so the blue cake ring could fit in. STEP 3 This looked like the same procedure as Step 2, but instead of using the small cake circle, I&amp;#039;d be using the outer cake ring. (Are you totally confused yet? It&amp;#039;s not easy to follow!)  STEP 4 Stack &amp;#039;em up! I started with one white cake layer, a layer of frosting, one red cake layer\u2026then realize that in my hurried haze that I was somehow short a red cake layer. I should have sliced each red and white cake in half first. Whoops. I decide to continue on. There was no time to go back now!  STEP 5 Once the blue cake ring was in place, I eased in my small white cake circle and my small red cake circle to complete the pile. The red cake stuck up past the blue cake a bit. I tried to trim it but things started to crumble. I figured I could just pile on extra frosting to cover it, right? STEP 6 I needed to cover my cake with a serious crumb coat to cover the tumbling bits. I stuck it in the freezer for a long time \u2014 maybe 2 hours \u2014 then took it back out when I finally had a free moment. With another layer of clean frosting on top, I started feeling a lot better about things. Then I sliced into it\u2026  Besides my blatant layer counting mistake, things didn&amp;#039;t look too terrible. I like to think of this cake aS my modern, abstract take on a flag. Does it look exactly like the image on Pinterest? No. Would I still happily serve this to my friends and family? Of course! A cake&amp;#039;s meant to be eaten, not criticized.  And when I plated a slice, I was able to nudge the pieces so they stuck together just a little bit better.   And the best part? After a few days passed, I stumbled upon the real recipe these images were pulled from by accident. There it was while I was browsing online. My advice: If you want to really master an American Flag Cake, skip the Pinterest photos and go straight to the source: The Sugar Turntable. You&amp;#039;ll have a lot more success if you follow her instructions. And for another cool twist, check out the Ice Cream Flag Cake that Food Network Magazine just published. Now that I&amp;#039;ve had this experience, I might need to give the cake another try\u2026 Erin Phraner is an associate editor in the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen. NEXT: An Easy Red, White, And Blue Ombre Cake \u00BB "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/party-ideas/a25430/pinterest-flag-cake/>