How to Make a Revolutionary War Cake

It was 9pm, just two nights before my son’s tenth birthday when he said, “I’m so excited about my Revolutionary War cake!”

Pause the world. What was he talking about??? I had not plans for a Revolutionary War cake! But as he talked about it, I began to vaguely recall him mentioning wanting one. The thing is he seemed to want something different every two days, so I had not married myself to any one particular plan. I did not want this to be a total failure, though. He was already not having a party. I could not mess up his cake too!!

So I took to Pinterest. I found very little there. Apparently, this is not a popular cake to bake.

Fellow parents of history buffs, teachers of Revolutionary War, or whoever else may want an American Independence themed cake, allow me to present my creation.

I made this as easily as I could think to make it. And yes, I took several short-cuts, and I’m going to explain exactly how I did it.

Step 1: Bake any two layer round cake from a boxed cake mix.

I don’t even remember which one I used. He wanted chocolate, so I used whatever moist boxed cake mix was a good deal at the store that week.

Step 2: Cool your cake.

Step 3: Make buttercream frosting, or used canned frosting.

I actually covered the cake in chocolate ganache, per Daniel’s request, but that is not required. You can frost the cake in a layer of whichever kind of frosting you like because you are just going to cover it up with fondant anyway.

If you want to make chocolate ganache like I did, this is a delicious and easy recipe on Sally’s Baking Addiction.

HOWEVER, you do have to have white icing also on hand for the decorating part. I made buttercream frosting from a family recipe. It is delicious. You will use it to make the stars and the white stripes and any writing you want to do on the cake.

Now y’all, I know people knock canned icing all the time, but it is also a huge time saver, and my family loves it too. Feel free to also use that shortcut.

Here’s my buttercream frosting recipe, courtesy of my aunt, Pat Smith:

Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 C butter 3 T Milk

1/2 C coconut oil 1 t vanilla

1/8 teaspoon salt 1 box confectioner’s sugar

Cream butter and oil in mixer. Add vanilla and salt. Beat in 1 cup sugar at a time. Add milk and beat at high speed until light and fluffy. Makes 3 cups.

Pat Smith. (Original recipe uses Crisco instead of coconut oil.)

Step 4: Ice your cake with whatever you chose to make or buy.

Step 5: Prepare your fondant. I totally used boxed fondant. You need both red and blue.

This was my very FIRST time using fondant, but Daniel had requested it, so I decided to take the plunge.

No, I did not make my fondant from scratch. No way was I about to add that to this long process. Instead, I went to partycity.com, and I bought both red and blue fondants. Then I selected curbside pick-up and picked it up without ever having to get out of my car. This all took less than an hour. Our store was so quick, but give yourself more time than that, of course.

You can also order it on Amazon.

(I do collect advertising fees when you order through my Amazon links.)

Step 6: Knead your fondant, and then roll it out.

Basically, just follow the fondant box directions. If you have extra time and want to make your own, go for it.

I do not own a “fondant roller” like the box directions said, so I just used a good old fashioned roller.

Yeah, I made a mess. For the blue one, I used way too much powdered sugar, so my fondant was all blue/white by the time I was done. Thankfully, I realized by accident that if you rub tiny drops of water on it, the white comes off. I just used a slightly damp paper towel to remove white smudges that were too obvious, but be careful about it.

I did a much better job on the second try, with the red fondant.

Step 7: Ever so carefully, cover the cake in the blue fondant like a sheet.

You may want to watch a tutorial on how to do this. Roll the blue fondant over the rolling pin loosely. Have your cake like right next to where you’re working so you don’t have to go far. I made my fondant way bigger than my cake. That way I could just trim off the excess rather than be horrified by its not meeting the bottom of the cake. That worked well.

Step 8: Trim and Smooth the Blue Fondant

Yes, my fondant had a few wrinkles on the sides. It was my first time. I did smooth over it, but I let a few wrinkles be honestly. The boxed directions said to use some special fondant tool I don’t own, so I just rubbed the cake all over with a large spoon. Ha! Basically you want to make sure it’s all stuck to the icing good. It really did not require too much smoothing.

Here’s a video presentation of covering the cake with fondant for my fellow newbies.

Step 9: Cut and apply the red fondant trim.

Your buttercream frosting is your glue. Put it under all your fondant decorations and little Risk soldiers to hold them in place.

I just made long rectangles of the red fondant. Then I piped my buttercream frosting on top of the blue fondant in all the places I wanted to stick the red stripes. It was a lot like making a gingerbread house, where the white icing is your glue.

I did a long strip of red around the bottom of the cake. Then I cut another long strip that I tuck folded near the ends to lay on top of the cake like a ribbon. See the picture:

I put buttercream frosting under the strip on top of the cake too, to hold it in place.

Step 10: Trim cake in white buttercream frosting in a piping bag.

I did icing on the bottom and then a thick stripe of icing around the middle, to give it the red, white, and blue look.

Then I used that same icing to make the circle of stars on top of the cake and to write Daniel’s name.

I also used the white frosting to hold down all the Risk soldiers.

Step 11: Place on the little Risk soldiers.

I guess if you don’t already own a game of Risk, this would be the most expensive part. It just worked so perfectly because it is the right time period. Most toy soldiers have more of a World War II helmet/ green uniform vibe. These Risk soldiers come in different colors, are tinier, and have cannons and horses. They are just so perfect for the 1776 theme! Plus, red for the British and blue for the Americans! So perfect!

This cake might work well for a Hamilton fan as well, come to think of it….