How to Bake a Soccer Ball Cake?

Written by Tania in Baking Tips and Tricks,Recipes

an image of a black and white soccer ball cake on a stove

Whether it’s your dad, husband, or sports-loving son or daughter, if they like soccer, they will surely love getting a soccer ball cake!

My father-in-law is an absolute soccer nut, and so, for his last birthday, I decided to bake him a soccer cake. Needless to say that he was very pleasantly surprised and touched!

Baking a soccer-ball-shaped cake or half cake is pretty easy. All you need is a ready-made sponge cake, chocolate ganache or fruit cream, some black and white fondant, jam, and cornstarch. You can bake your soccer cake in 5 simple steps with those ingredients.

This article includes all the needed ingredients, tools, and a detailed, easy-to-follow step-by-step guide on how to bake a beautiful and authentic-looking soccer ball cake.

What Ingredients Do You Need for a Soccer Ball Cake?

  • 1 ready-made sponge cake
  • alternative 1: chocolate ganache (1 cup heavy whipping cream or heavy cream + 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate )
  • alternative 2: fruit cream (1 cup of heavy whipping cream + 1/2 cup of fruits or your favorite jam)
  • 5 oz of black fondant
  • 1 pound of white fondant
  • 1 pound of white fondant
  • 2 oz jam
  • cornstarch or icing sugar to prevent the fondant from sticking

Extra detail: To put grass under the soccer ball, use 5oz of desiccated coconut with a few drops of green gel food coloring diluted in a tablespoon of water or vanilla buttercream with green gel food coloring (see notes below)

What Baking Tools and Utensils Do You Need to Bake a Soccer Ball Cake?

These are the tools and utensils you will need for your soccer ball cake creation. The links in the bulletin list will lead you to the respective product pages on Amazon if you need to buy any of the equipment:

How to Bake Your Soccer Ball Cake (Step-by-Step)

Step 1: Slice your sponge cake into three even layers

Step 2: Prepare your cream

Alternative 1: Prepare your chocolate ganache

Chop the chocolate into small chunks ( the finer you chop the chocolate, the quicker it will melt into the cream) and put it in a large bowl. Put your whipped cream in a pan and bring it to a boil (stir the mixture if you use coconut milk). Then pour your whipped cream onto your shredded chocolate.

Let it sit for a few minutes before stirring until smooth. Let it cool completely for 2 hours or put it in the fridge to speed up the process while stirring the ganache so and then.

Alternative 2: Prepare your fruit whipped cream

Put your fresh fruits in a food processor to puree them, then strain the puree to remove the seeds. Then cook the puree over medium heat until it thickens.

This process will enhance the flavor. Refrigerate completely in the fridge. Then mix the cold fruit puree /jam with the cream in a large bowl and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Step 3: Build your cake

Use a large bowl to build your cake. Use a pastry brush to spread nonstick spray or butter into the bowl. Spread a food plastic wrap to be able to take out your cake when it’s done.

Put one layer of cake, then spread some ganache or fruit cream. Add a second layer of cake and spread more ganache or fruit cream.

Finish the cake with the last layer of your sponge cake, put a plate on the cake, and press. Now, put the cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Step 4: Cut your fondant

Alternative 1: Using a paper model

I cut the shapes ( hexagons and pentagons) out of paper and use them as a model. Roll out your fondant using cornstarch or icing sugar on your surface and a rolling tool to prevent the fondant from being sticky.

Use a pizza cutter instead of a knife to prevent your fondant from being dragged when you cut it. Place your templates on the fondant and trim around it.

Alternative 2: Using pattern cutters

I cut the shapes (hexagons and pentagons) using the soccer pattern cutters. Roll out your fondant using cornstarch or icing sugar on your surface and a rolling tool to prevent the fondant from being sticky.

Dust your cutters with cornstarch or icing sugar. Place your cutters on the fondant and trim around your shapes.

Step 5: Cover your cake with fondant

Now, take your cake from the fridge and release it from the bowl upside down. Take the food plastic wrap and spread jam on the cake with a spoon or a pastry brush.

Start with a black fondant pentagon and place around it white fondant hexagons. Continue the process until your cake is completely covered. Cut the extra fondant at the base of the cake.

PRO TIP: You can use a skewer and drag it along to join your hexagons and pentagons so that it looks like the soccer ball is stitched together.

Notes

  • Dairy-free alternative to whipped cream: full-fat coconut milk, 1 cup or (240 ml)
  • Semi-sweet chocolate alternative: white chocolate, but reduce the cream to about 2/3 cup (160 ml)
  • You can store your ganache for up to 5 days in the fridge when covered tightly and freeze it for up to 3 months, then thaw it in the fridge and warm it /thin it on low heat on the stove in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl placed over simmering water.
  • You can do the hexagons and pentagons yourself, but it will require some measuring work. For the white hexagons (6 angles with each angle being 120 degrees ) and the black pentagons (5 angles with each angle being 108 degrees). If you want the perfect shape, follow this method: Calculate the circumference of the cake*2/30. This will give you the size of 1 side of a white hexagon or one side of a black pentagon.
  • If you want to do a whole soccer ball, double the amount of the recipe and make two half-cakes, then glue them together before decorating your soccer ball.

Bonus Tip: How to Make A Grass Base for Your Soccer Ball Cake

Mix the green food coloring gel you’ve diluted in water with the desiccated coconut to make the grass under the soccer ball.

On your cake plate, spread a thin layer of melted chocolate and sprinkle the green coconut on top of it. Place your soccer ball cake in the middle.

An alternative to the coconut grass is colored buttercream piped with a grass tip instead. Do a basic buttercream:

Beat 1 cup of butter or dairy-free butter (softened) with an electric mixer until smooth. Next, add 2 1/2 cups of icing sugar progressively. Then, add a tablespoon of vanilla extract and the green coloring gel.

Lastly, you will have to add 1-5 tablespoons of heavy cream, depending on the desired consistency of the buttercream. Use a grass piping tip.

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