This Sports Balls birthday cake was based on a wall hanging (I think!). Â My customer sent me this picture (below) and asked that I make it into a cake. Â If you know the source, please let me know!
The only changes she wanted was the addition of a baseball and that the soccer ball be 3-D - standing up off the cake!
So, I baked a 12x18 sheet cake, then baked a cake in the Wilton Soccer ball pan and cut it down to fit on the cake!
I used my grass tip to cover the surface of the cake and the borders. Â That's alot of piping! Â This cake was vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream!
And that’s it!  Do you have any questions about this cake?  Please leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer and help out!
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Denise
What a great cake! And the way you did the soccer ball was genius. I've done a few character cakes and I know how tiring all the piping can be, but it is always worth it. Again, love your cake
Rose
Thank you!
Christine
I've just found your site and am in awe of your talent! Please tell me you do this for a living. I'm a beginner and thought I would try the sports ball cake for my nephew's 2nd birthday. Balls are his life! Do I need to put a cardboard cutout under the 3D soccer ball? I'm worried it might sink into the sheet cake below. Also, any advice on decorating the soccer ball? Oy! That looks scary! Can't wait to try it. Think I'll do a test run after I run out and by the sports ball pan. Thanks for your time!
Rose
Hi Christine! Thank you!! I did not put a cardboard round under the soccer ball, but that small of a piece of cake is not very heavy and if you use a good dense recipe (like my vanilla cake recipe), it won't sink! If you use the Wilton Soccer Ball pan to bake the ball, it'll have the indentations for where you draw the the lines. If not, you'll have to wing it 😉
Jennifer
Love the cake and am going to try to do it for my son's birthday. Would you be able to tell me how much cake mix and icing you used? Thanks
Rose
I think I probably used 4-5 cake mixes! My vanilla cake recipe is here and be sure to read this post about adjusting for smaller mixes. I can't remember for sure about how much frosting - I'd guess maybe 10-12 cups but that may not be accurate! It was several months ago! Sorry I couldn't be more helpful!
Melissa
I love this cake and I think I might try to make it for my son's first birthday but I had a couple of questions. First off did you make your black and red icing and if so how? The other question was did you back two sheet cakes and stack them or was this just one? And for this cake you used the recipe 5x the recipe to make the sheet cake? Thanks!:)
Rose
Yes, I made my vanilla buttercream recipe and used LOTS of Americolor Black and Red Gel Coloring! For this cake, it was a single layer 12x18 with the ball cake on top.
Melissa
Also what tip did you use to decorate the sports balls with?
Rose
I don't remember exactly, but probably a #16 or maybe a #20 star tip?
ash 123
how much does it cost?
Rose
I would charge at least $105 for this cake.
Wendy Sullivan
Did you ice the entire cake with a crumb-catcher layer of icing before you did the piping?
Rose
Yes, exactly!
Elizabeth
Did you pipe entire cake in green and then pipe sports balls on top of that ?
Rose
No, I actually did all the balls first, then filled in all the blank space with green!
Elizabeth
I thought if that after I inquired lol. Duh me !!
Elizabeth
of that*
Becky
This is adorable and I'm going to make it for my son's upcoming party. Can you help me with a timeline? For example, how far in advance can I bake the cake, make the frosting, etc. Is it best to frost it the day of the party? Lastly, did you do a frosting layer in either the sheet pan or the ball? Thank you so much - great website and tips!
Rose
I usually bake 2 days ahead and decorate the day before. Yes I put frosting between the sheet cake and the ball cakes!