Shape a Game-Day Football from Two Round Cakes

Recipe Overview

You don't need a football-shaped pan to make this game-day centerpiece. Two 9-inch round cakes are trimmed and pressed together to form the football, while every scrap is put to use as a crumbly "dirt" layer beneath the cake. Green-tinted coconut stands in for grass.

Info

• Cook time: 1 hour
• Total time: 2 hours
• Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

• 1 box (15.25 ounces) chocolate cake mix, plus the ingredients called for on the package
• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 8 cups confectioners' sugar (one 1-pound box)
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 cups sweetened coconut flakes
• Green food coloring

Instructions

1. Bake the cakes. Prepare two 9-inch round cakes following the package directions. Allow them to cool completely.
2. Make the frostings. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer), beat the butter, sugar and salt on low speed until mostly combined. Add the vanilla, raise the speed to medium-high and beat until smooth. With the mixer running, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the frosting reaches the consistency you want. Take out 3 cups of the frosting and put it into a pastry bag or a resealable plastic bag. Add the cocoa powder to the frosting still in the bowl and beat on low until mostly incorporated, then on medium-high until completely smooth. Leave both frostings at room temperature until needed.
3. Cut the cakes. Using a ruler, measure a 2-inch-wide strip across the center of one cake. Cut out and remove that strip; the cake will now be two half circles. Do the same with the second cake. Put the cutout strips into a medium bowl.
4. Form the first football layer. Place the halves of one cake on a cake round or a parchment-lined work surface. Press the two halves firmly together to make a football shape. Trim and level the domed top, then add those trimmings to the bowl with the cake strips.
5. Add the filling and second layer. Snip the tip off the pastry bag and pipe three-quarters of the white frosting over the bottom cake layer; save the rest for the laces and stripes. Set the remaining two cake halves on top, domed-side up, and press them together to create another football shape. Remove 1/4 cup of the chocolate frosting and set it aside. Use the rest of the chocolate frosting to coat the top and sides of the football. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes.
6. Prepare the dirt and grass. While the cake chills, crumble all the cake trimmings into fine crumbs. Stir the reserved 1/4 cup chocolate frosting into the crumbs until fully combined. Put the coconut in a resealable bag with a few drops of green food coloring. Shake and knead the bag until the coconut resembles grass, adding more coloring if needed.
7. Build the base. Press the crumb-and-frosting mixture onto a cake stand or serving platter into a 9-inch circle about 1/4 inch thick; this is the "dirt." Press the coconut grass into the chocolate dirt so it sticks. Refrigerate while you finish the cake.
8. Decorate and serve. Take the cake out of the refrigerator. Pipe laces and stripes on the top and sides using the remaining quarter of the white frosting. Carefully lift the cake from the cake round or parchment and set it in the center of the coconut-covered stand or platter.