Martha Stewart served a 250-piece American flag cake at Cantitoe Corners on Saturday, June 27, turning a Founding Father theme into a dessert built for 250 generous squares. The event honored John Jay and tied directly to America’s 250th anniversary, with the cake doing as much of the storytelling as the menu around it.
The cake was striped with raspberry and piped frosting, with a blueberry corner capped by frosting stars. Stewart said it was meant to serve 250 generous squares, and she framed the spread with fried chicken, potato salad and Alexis’s Chopped Salad alongside drinks from STILL Gin, Veuve Clicquot, Patz & Hall Winery and Captain Lawrence.
Molly Wenk and Sarah Carey
Private chef Molly Wenk and Martha Stewart food content director Sarah Carey designed the cake, and Wenk later showed the build in three Instagram Reels. The process was not a single-bake shortcut: it used sheets of cake made in separate mixers, then whipped cream and 24 lbs. of berries were layered in before assembly. For anyone trying to copy the idea at home, the method matters more than the patriotic motif — it is a large-format sheet cake, not a sculpted centerpiece.
Stewart wrote, “In celebration of our nation's 250 th birthday we served a large flag cake,” then followed up in a comment to Wenk and Carey: “Thanks ladies You did John Jay proud the cake was meant to serve 250 generous squares and it did!!!!” She also added, “Somehow both Molly and Sarah are consummate professionals and did not freak out during the two day they baked and baked and slathered berries and whipped cream over and over !!! Thank you!!!!!”
John Jay at Cantitoe Corners
The event was titled An Evening on Jay Street: Celebrating an Unsung Founder at America's 250th, and Stewart said it honored Founding Father John Jay. John Jay was the first chief justice of the United States, and he helped negotiate the Jay Treaty in 1794, which explains why the party leaned on history instead of generic patriotic decor.
That framing also fits Stewart’s broader role in the restoration of John Jay’s historic home through New York State Parks, where she is leading the landscape committee. Cantitoe Corners sits at the corner of Jay Street and Cantitoe, and the farm includes a summer cottage from 1776, so the setting itself was already doing part of the commemorative work.
250 pieces, 250 people
The complication is simple: the cake was designed to serve 250 people, but the event description does not say whether exactly 250 guests were there. That leaves the dessert as both a practical serving plan and a symbolic nod to America’s 250th anniversary, which is the cleaner read on the night.
Chris Herbert sang America the Beautiful and the national anthem, while the food and drink list stayed intentionally broad and approachable instead of formal. For readers trying to recreate the format, the useful takeaway is the scale: sheets baked separately, berries and whipped cream layered in, and a final count built around 250 squares rather than a single showpiece slice.
