Julie Clark
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Basketball Cake
Learn how to make a basketball cake from orange and brown M&M candies. This easy 2 layer round cake is perfect for a basketball theme party.
Whether it is for March Madness, a birthday party or a basketball season year end party, this easy basketball cake is fun for kids to make and colorful to serve at a party.
M&M Basketball Cake
Although there are many ways to decorate a basketball cake, one of the easiest ways is with M&Ms. Start with your favorite chocolate cake and vanilla frosting, then use orange and black M&Ms to “draw” the lines on the cake and fill them in. No special cake decorating skills required! Here are some hints to make the cake.
Favorite Layer Cake Recipes
If you are short on time, use your favorite box cake mix brand to make a 2 layer round cake. If you’d like to make a from scratch cake, here are our favorites:
Favorite Frosting Recipes
We think that vanilla frosting tastes best on this cake. You can color it orange if you’d like to give a more solid orange background.
Here are our favorite recipes:
How to Make a Basketball on a Cake
Let your cake cool and frost with white frosting.
Use the brown M&M’s to make a vertical line down the center of the cake and a horizontal but slightly curved line
across the cake.
Now make one vertical curved line with the brown M&M’s on each side of the straight vertical line to create the
basketball lines.
Fill in the remaining areas on the top of the cake with orange M&M’s.
And that’s it! You’ll end up with a cake looking something like this. If you have more M&Ms you could decorate the sides or put an M&M border around the bottom edge of the cake.
Do I have to refrigerate cake?
Once the cake is fully covered in frosting, it is best if you do not refrigerate the cake. The frosting will act as a seal to keep that cake moist.
After the cake is cut, store it in an airtight container.
Where to Buy Colored M&Ms
To make sure you have enough M&Ms, you’ll need to purchase a 42 ounce bag of M&M candies (purchase here).
Another option is to purchase all brown and all orange M&Ms. This is a more expensive option, but you won’t have as much waste. (As if M&Ms were a waste! 🙂 )
Purchase orange M&Ms or brown M&Ms.
Basketball Cake
Servings 15
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Ingredients
- 2 round white or chocolate cake layers (baked)
- 4 cups Favorite white frosting
- 42 ounces bag of M&M’s candies (to make sure there’s enough orange and brown)
Instructions
- Bake your favorite cake in 2 8″ or 9″ round cake pans. Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Place one cake layer on a cake plate. Top with frosting.
- Place the second layer of cake on top.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake with frosting, making it as smooth as possible.
- Use the brown M&M’s to make a vertical line down the center of the cake. Then make a horizontal but slightly curved line across the cake.
- Now make one vertical curved line with the brown M&M’s on each side of the straight vertical line to create the basketball lines.
- Fill in the remaining areas on the top of the cake with orange M&M’s.
- Store the cake at room temperature.
- Once the cake has been cut you’ll need to store it in an airtight container.
