4th of July

We've been invited to an American friend's 4th of July party tomorrow afternoon, and I'd seen an idea on the Betty Crocker website that looked fun. It used box cake mix and bought icing, but I have a sponge cake recipe that I've successfully coloured in the past.  And I think the bought icing is less tasty than my homemade, so figured I'd make my own of that too.

However... I must have not split the sponge mix into thirds correctly, as there's way more plain than blue and red, so the effect is lost.  And the colour faded loads on baking, adding to the poor effect from outside.  Then I tried to hide the cake by icing it in white and drizzling red and blue icing in stripes all around.  It seemed ok to me, but Mr Becca's face was a picture when he walked into the kitchen.  I still can't decide if he was being honest or a tad cruel in his assesment - so I added the red, white and blue stars.  It looks like fireworks, right?