Thursday was Bean Boy's 12th birthday!
I had planned to make a football cake weeks ago.
How ironic was it that they rescheduled his Flag Football Super Bowl game the night of his birthday?
Some things are just meant to be, right?
Since my first foray into fondant HERE, Bean boy has been insisting on a fondant cake for his birthday. He firmly believes that he likes to "bite" into his cake instead of icing.
Who am I to complain about being creative?
Here's what I came up with.
Football Fondant Cake
Supplies: Cake Batter (box or homemade)
Buttercream icing (about 2 cups)
Rolled Fondant (Wilton)
Food Coloring (Wilton paste)
Rolling Pins
Toothpicks
Cake Release
2 qt covered bowl (Pampered Chef)Powdered Sugar
Pastry Brush
Decorating bags and tips
Squirt about a teaspoonful of cake release in the bowl.
Using pastry brush, spread the cake release around the bowl. If you don't have cake release, you can easily use Crisco oil and then sprinkle flour. I am really a huge fan of the cake release lately. I bought it on a whim a few cakes ago, and am so glad I did!
Pour cake mix in!
I baked at 350 degrees. However, it did take almost an hour for it to thoroughly cook all the way through. I started checking on it around the 35 min mark and it just took a lot longer than I expected!
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In the meantime, I prepared my fondant, icing, and cake board for decorating!
First I grabbed a portion of the Ready-to-Use fondant and set it aside for the laces of the football.
Then I grabbed my rolling pins, powdered sugar, and rolling mat.
And added brown gel paste with toothpicks.
I twisted and kneaded
And twisted and kneaded several applications of the gel paste to finally get the depth of color I desired.
A half a jar of gel paste and about 10-15 minutes of strong arm action and I finally had two balls of fondant.
Note: Use the powdered sugar to keep fondant from sticking!
My cake still was not completely baked at this point, so I placed them in Ziploc bags and let out as much air as I could to keep it from drying out.
In order to not waste time, I decided to get my green icing ready for the grass.
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It's not the first time I have used the green icing and it is messy. You may have also noticed that I wear gloves when using the gel with the fondant and icing. It stains. Every single time. I now keep a pack of gloves (non-powdered) around to keep my fingers safe!
Add the green gel to the icing to get your desired color.
Prepare your icing bag. I buy a box of disposable decorating bags by Wilton. I don't have to wash them and can have several colors of icing at the same time with different tips!
For the grass, I used Wilton's tip #233.
Place the inside plastic piece to the end.
Trim off the end so it is flush with the end.
Twist and tighten the coupler on the outside of the bag.
And add your icing. I fold down about a quarter to halfway down so the icing doesn't get on the outside of the bag.
All set to go!
What do you put the cake on?
I sometimes use a platter if I am going "pretty", but if I am making a fun cake like this, I make a cake board.
I take leftover cardboard and wrap it like a present with Wilton cake board wrap. There are also foils available. Hindsight? I would have split my fondant again because I had plenty of left over and dyed it green to cover the board. I plan to keep that in mind for my next cake!And finally the cake was ready!!!!
Take it out of the oven and allow to cool for a bit. Then flip the cake out upside down on your board.
Cut in half.
Lay the pieces down so that the larger ends meet in the middle.
Trim the puffed up parts so that they meet better and ice with buttercream. I got a little excited and put it on when it was still warm....Had to re-ice after it cooled a bit!
Time to roll out the fondant large enough to fit the cake. Lay it gently over the cake.
Press the fondant down at the edges and trim the excess with a pizza cutter.
Then use the smoothing tool to make sure it is secure to your cake.
Then roll out your white ball of fondant.
Trim a long line about 1 inch wide and 9 inches long. Place it on the length of the football. Use a knife to make a small line in the middle so it looks like two laces meeting each other.
Cut two lines that are 1/2 inch wide and 9 inches long.
Cut them into approx 1 1/2 inches long segments to make the dividing lines of the laces.
Place them on the cake. Then see if you have a tool that can make small circle indentations if you can. I had a hole punch from my scrapbook tools that I used.
Randomly place circles on the cake to make the look of leather.
The boys made me use a knife to make cuts at the ends and along the sides to mimic the seams of the ball.
Add grass with the green icing all around the bottom. See? I think green fondant would have looked so much better at the base.
Oh well!
He was thrilled with his cake!
Did I mention that his wish came true and his team won their Superbowl game?
Love ya Bean boy!!!!
