Basketball Cake decorated with Buttercream

Are you celebrating a little rookie of the year or a basketball tournament? This basketball cake will be a hit at any birthday party or celebration! This was one of my first cake designs ever and I'll share everything I learned below. This recipe does not require fondant because I preferred to make it with buttercream for taste and because I think it's easier to work with.

I do recommend getting a 3D cake pan if you're going to make a sphere or speciality shape. You can also use two bowls that are the same size, but this cake pan came with pieces it could sit on in the oven which made it a lot easier to place in the oven! This cake pan is the 6-inch size, so it makes a great smash cake too!

Ingredients

• Cake mix in your flavor of choice (or you can use a homemade recipe- completely up to you!)
• eggs
• oil
• water
• Buttercream frosting (Butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and milk)
• orange and black food coloring

Supplies

• serrated knife
• 3D cake pan
• offset spatula
• cake board (optional)
• cooling rack
• piping bags (I like disposable ones)

Directions

1. Combine your dry and wet ingredients for your cake.
2. Prep your baking pan by spreading crisco around the dish. You could also use a nonstick spray.
3. Add your batter to your 3D mold, filling about ⅔ of the way.
4. Bake following the recipe or box instructions.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Flip cake pan upside down so it can rest and continue to cool on a cooling rack.

Making Your Buttercream Frosting

1. Allow a stick of butter to come to room temperature.
2. Combine butter, vanilla, milk and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl.
3. Using a stand or hand mixer combine until butter is completely combined.
4. Separate into two bowls, ¾ of the buttercream going in one and ¼ in the second. This will be for your orange and black frosting.
5. Add a few drops of gel food coloring to each bowl.
6. Stir with a spatula (I like these silicone ones) until color is incorporated.
7. Add colors to piping bags and set aside. I usually put them in a glass so they stay standing up.

Decorating Your Basketball Cake

Once your cake has completely cooled, use your serrated knife to cut off a bit of the centers of the cakes so that they will sit pretty evenly together. Also use it to cut off a little of the top/rounded part of one cake. This will be how it stands up and how it looks like a basketball.

Put a little icing on a cake board (or plate) and put the bottom of the cake on top. The frosting will act as glue to hold the cake to the plate. Then add your frosting to the top of that cake which will be the middle of the cake. Place the other piece of cake on top and allow to set. The frosting will hold the pieces together.

Add your orange buttercream frosting in a twist/circular motion. When working with a 3D cake I found this to be the easiest way! I did this about halfway down the cake and then used my offset spatula to smooth it out all over the cake, pushing the excess down to cover the bottom piece/section.

To make it a true basketball cake, after it's been smoothed all around take your black buttercream and begin to add stripes to the cake in a basketball pattern/style. Allow to cool and store to serve.

Tips

• If the butter isn't completely at room temp you may get butter flakes in your butter cream. If you don't get them mixed out you can pick them out with a toothpick and smooth the icing over.
• After baking chill the cake, this helps the frosting adhere better.
• An offset spatula isn't necessary but it is really helpful!
• If you don't have a 3D cake pan, you can use two pyrex of oven-safe bowls that are the same size and make them a mold. Any inconsistencies with size you can add more frosting to.

FAQ

📖 Recipe