I am the first to admit that I am not the baker, or cake decorator, of the family. My husband is not only an artist, but he loves to bake and spent a good chunk of his high school years working at Baskin Robbins, as their cake decoration specialist. Those things combined generally equal really cool desserts and cakes. How can I possibly compete with our things like our sons 2nd birthday cakes (below)???
That being said, when it comes down to preparing ourselves for a houseful of rowdy boys he usually takes the stuff like preparing the yard and pool, refereeing the sports, and after party clean up, while I take the decorations, menu planning and the cooking (which usually means the birthday cake baking too). This year my son really wanted a football party and, while my Pinterest wall speaks wonders of the ways to decorate football themed cakes, I wasn’t ready to botch an outlandish dessert with something you’d find on “Nailed It”. Instead I tried something simple, and cute…a football shaped cake.
Note: If you are an advanced baker, or can do wonders with fondant and frosting, this post is NOT for you. This tutorial is the simplest football cake you can make- and one that pretty much no one can mess up 🙂 It may not be the most beautiful of all sports cakes, but the boys loved it and I was awed by how truly easy it was.
I started by baking two 9″ round yellow cakes (made with one box of yellow cake mix) per the instructions and allowed them to completely cool.
Once cooled, I stacked the cakes on top of one another, using a thin layer of frosting to adhere. Once stacked, I measured and cut/removed 2″ stripe from the very center of the cake and then placed the two pieces together into prolate spheroid (or football shape). Mine was still a bit “fat” and if I were to make this cake again, I would add another 1/2″ or so to the center being removed.
I then frosted the two cakes together with chocolate frosting, ensuring that they were frosted together in one piece. I read a few great blogs and how-to’s that suggested using paper towels to press into the frosting once dry for the football texture. I would have done this, had I not waited till the day of to make the cake…next time!
Last, I used a premed tube of Wilton white decorating icing to make laces and seams. And presto- the simplest football cake you can make! Cute for the kids, yet easy for the (non-baking) parents!! Enjoy!
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