I’ve been decorating cakes for two years now, and while I wouldn’t call myself a prodigy or an expert (yet), I thought I could handle making a realistic basketball cake for my class project.
Boy, was I wrong!
The amount of money, ingredients, and time I wasted was insane. I went through five dozen eggs, pounds of butter, and maybe a cup of oil trying to use the Fat Daddio’s hemisphere mold. I started with a 10-inch cake but my og rvanulka recipe I always used just didn’t work. So I moved to an 8-inch one and I had no success; because just when I thought I’d nailed it, the cakes tasted off—like a stage just before gummy.
I had never worked with fondant before. No amount of YouTube could ever get me to use it again honestly. I feel so bad for my business professor, who bought a cake from me to support my small l business, and for the person who volunteered to be the cake recipient. I was genuinely excited about it, but after two energy sucking days filled with 20-hour troubleshooting sessions, I didn’t even cry, I just laughed to myself and emailed the professor telling him what happened and offered to refund.
My poor hands are so dry from all the washing, and I even cut my palm, so I went through a bunch of gloves.
Sigh. I needed to vent—sorry about that. A huge shout out to everyone who knows how to work with fondant.
I’m haven’t given up entirely. I’m planning to make a round layer cake with a basketball theme instead. I have several edible images of the NBA and Spalding logos left over, so I’ll find a way to incorporate those into the new cake, even if it won’t be a realistic basketball. If you’ve read this far, any basketball cake theme ideas? I’ve checked Pinterest but more novel ideas are welcome. 🙏🏾
Here’s my expectation vs reality pics…..
by Key_Entertainer1223
11 Comments
I mean for a first attempt that’s pretty solid!
Ugh… I’ve definitely had my share of cake fails. It’s all part of the learning curve, ryt?? I think a round cake is a great idea. Maybe u could do some fun basketball-themed decorations on top? You’ve got this!
Praises for your valiant effort!
Oh yes, round cakes are difficult, but yours came out better than you think! In general, cake fails are how we learn and become even better. Even if we want to scream in frustration at the time, lol.
Went to the kitchen to show you guys how the front came out. Laugh with me please 😂😭
[how the front looks](https://imgur.com/a/SWIas15)
I think you’re being overly critical! This looks hard. I wonder if you could pour white chocolate in a rounded sphere mold and then layer the cake inside, freeze in between, then cover in fondant?
Wow, it sounds like you really went all out for this project! It’s awesome that you’re not giving up after a tough experience. 🎉 I love the idea of using edible images for your next cake—that’ll definitely give it a fun twist!
I’d eat this 💯
ngl that cross section looks fire! i didn’t even notice that it’s round or basketball. It looks so delicious!
The cake in the picture is probably done by a person with several years of cake decorating experience, if not over a decade. Don’t beat yourself up! First thing I thought, is that cake likely requires a dowel to support it upright. Then the fondant needs to be rolled out quite thin. Smoothing out the fondant must be a b—ch at those angles. Also you’d need to press the fondant with that speckled imprint basketbslls have.
The letters would require a stencil. It’s just a complicated decor job no doubt about it. Getting those colors right too
Oh man, you are my hero for tackling this. I would have made a standard cake and then put a small (like 6″ sphere max, prob 4″) « basketball » on top. And I definitely would have just made an orange entremet with a mould like [this](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silicone-Non-Stick-Chocolate-Decoration-ZA_11-8×6-8×0-16/dp/B0C2PVHCZ2) for texture, then painted stripes on. I can get fondant to work with me on a flat surface but I would probably melt into a puddle of tears if I tried to do a sphere. You deserve a medal🏅