In today's cake video tutorial, I'm going to show you how to make a soccer ball cake!
In the video tutorial, we will show you how to assemble a round cake, frost with ganache and then how to decorate as a soccer ball.
However, knowing how to make a 3D round cake is a skill that you will be able to apply to an endless list of creative designs-- from beach balls, to volleyball and baseballs, to cartoonish animals with round bodies...the list goes on and on!
One problem that I faced in the past when making spherical cakes (and a common complaint among decorators), is that within hours or at least by the next day, my perfectly round cakes always seemed to deflate. It is hard to be excited about a deflated soccer ball cake! ;0) -- SO, we are putting an end to all of that with this tutorial.
For me, the key to creating a round cake that will hold it's round shape over time is to use a support and board within. Frosting the cake in ganache gives an added layer of insurance as it sets up firmer than a crusting buttercream. (If you go the buttercream route, I would keep it chilled until closer to the event time, just to be on the safe side.)
As for creating the soccer ball, you will learn some helpful tips on working with templates (that don't always fit together so well as you work your way down the cake, lol) --
I hope that you enjoy our tutorial! Make sure to scroll beneath the video for our materials list and other tips~
Materials
*In today's video, we are working with our White Almond Sour Cream (doctored Mix) recipe. Use whatever you'd like, but I prefer a cake that is somewhat dense for 3-D cakes.
Wilton Sports Ball Pan Set (aff.)
White Chocolate Ganache- (ratio of 3 parts chocolate to one part cream) - We used 1000g. of ganache.
White Fondant- (700g.) I used Liz Marek's recipe found HERE
Fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting (for filling and grass)
TEMPLATES (Pentagon & hexagon for the soccer cake)
Pre Colored black fondant for my pentagons
Toothpick and Wilton wheel tool (use one or the other or both) for impressions
Wilton Leaf Green for our buttercream grass
Grass Tip
Additional Notes
There is more than one way to make a spherical cake. As we mentioned in the video, it is common to hear of decorators using a styrofoam half-ball for the bottom portion of their ball cakes. In fact, we may give this a whirl in an upcoming video. This is great way to eliminate any worry of the bottom half drooping. Because of some unexpected happenings in the past week that threw our schedule a bit off, our finished soccer ball cake has been sitting on Mom's dining room table for over a week now! It has not changed a bit. No sagging or dragging ;0)
Templates~ We made a couple of soccer ball cakes in the past two weeks in preparation of the video. Both times, we had the same result-- the templates worked well on the upper portions of the cake, but did not fit so snugly by the mid and bottom portions. I imagine that the thickness of the ganache and fondant (or frosting), as well as how perfectly spherical your cake is will effect how snugly these templates fit together. -- So, the method that I demonstrate is an easy fix to those not-so-perfect moments
Please let us know if you have any questions!
Thanks so much!
Hi Melissa my ball cakes keep sagging on the bottom to the point it gets crushed quick I can put the top ball on and within 10 mins its deflated what can I do I've tried it several times
Hi Trina, I'm sorry for the delay! Are you using supports in the bottom of the cake to hold the weight of the top of the cake? Are you using a dense cake recipe? (Dense recipes will hold up a little better). Also, when the cakes settle into the deflated look, you can trim around the edges with a serrated knife to round things out. As you ganache your tier, you can also build out the frosting a bit where necessary! Let me know if you have any more questions!
I am going to attempt to make a volleyball cake for a friend's birthday, but I plan on covering with buttercream, since I am more comfortable using it rather than fondant. I have 2 questions, do I need to let the cakes "settle" after filling and before icing? And also. Could I ganache the cake as if I were going to cover with fondant for the " insurance" of keeping the shape, and then apply buttercream? I have very little experience with anything more than basic cake decorating, and this makes me nervous! :)
Hi Brandi! Yes, I would let the filled layers settle before stacking & frosting just to be on the safe side. The fact that you are covering with ganache will minimize the chances of bulging but I still think it's a good idea. I have heard of people successfully ganaching and then frosting their cakes as you mentioned. I don't see a problem with this at all, although I haven't done it myself. It's funny, Mom and I were just talking about doing this on an upcoming cake and so I'll soon give this a whirl myself. I'm sure your cake will be great!
Love this video. Thanks so much! One question, how do you "level" the cake halves? They don't sit level being round??
Thanks!
Thanks Grammy Sue! I don't remember it being an issue with leveling the half ball cakes. I just try to keep the knife as level as possible as I turn the cake. Or if it's just a small dome in the middle, I just lop it off. You can always adjust as needed once it's time to piece the two halves together with more trimming or filling.
Also, I can't believe I made this video 7 years ago! Ack! :0) Time flies!