David’s birthday was a few weeks ago, and I decided to make him a basketball cake. The little guy is all about sports and balls, and I figured a basketball cake would be a fun novelty that wouldn’t require a special pan.
I took an informal cake decorating class a couple of years ago, built up some supplies, and had been practicing when I could. This was my first “real” cake, though, the first one needed for a specific event.
The last cake I baked turned out quite lopsided, and I was terrified to mess with a cake leveler, so I treated myself to Wilton baking strips. Imagine my frustration when I took the cake out of the oven to find that, once again, the cake was crooked. I remembered that my holiday pies had been slanted as well and realized — oops — my oven was crooked (later confirmed by husband using a level).
Unwilling to bake an entirely new cake, I rotated each layer so that they were facing opposite directions — two wedges creating a level surface, essentially. The end result, while still leaning a bit, was quite workable.
Next I got started on the buttercream icing. I found that it took many, many drops of gel coloring to get the lovely bright orange I needed for my basketball. Mixing color into the icing probably was the most tedious part of the process.
I thinned the icing and got to work on the cake. Frustratingly, the cake showed through the icing every time I smoothed the sides. I slathered and smoothed and slathered and smoothed and finally had to call it good enough. I had experienced the same issue with a practice cake I made last fall, and I could not figure out how to fix the problem.
Then, when I was checking a Wilton book for reference before decorating the cake, I found my problem.
Icing needs to be a certain consistency depending on its job. Decorating with stars calls for icing that is moderately stiff, while spreading icing on the cake requires a thin consistency. The way to determine consistency is to stick a small spatula in the icing bowl, shake the bowl, and see what happens. Does the spatula lean to the side? Great for most decorating! Does the spatula fall over? Great for spreading icing on the cake! But here’s the key — you have to shake the bowl. SHAKE THE BOWL, CHRISTY, SHAKE THE BOWL.
Yes, friends, I was forgetting to shake the bowl, expecting my spatula to fall over on its own. To achieve that falling spatula, I had made my icing super-thin. Doh.
I thickened the icing after that discovery so that I could decorate with a star tip, but it was still thinner than the ideal. (I look forward to remembering the “shake the bowl” rule and seeing how the next cake improves.)
I used a decorating bag and tip to fill in the details of the basketball and to create a shell border around the bottom of the cake. However, I think an easier (and yummier?) method might have been to use chocolate chips instead. I enjoyed the decorating practice, though.
Overall, the cake was several hours of frustrating, tedious labor…which was awesome! I love creating things with my hands, so I was happy for the excuse.
I think David like the cake, too.
