Basketball Cake

Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?! Pssh. Please. When it looks this good and tastes this good, it’s going in my mouth. This is a quintessential March Madness recipe. It oozes basketball about as much as it oozes deliciousness. Make this. Don’t think about it. Make it. You and your friends won’t be sorry. It’s the perfect addition to second half watching.

Basketball Cake

Recipe by Addie of Addie’s Confetti Kitchen

Cake
1 1/2 cups salted butter, room temp
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 egg whites
3 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk

Frosting
1 1/2 cups butter
1 1/2 cups shortening
12 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
6–7 tbsp milk
Orange food coloring
* 1 black cake decorating icing tube

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the egg whites and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, no more.
4. Combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a medium sized bowl.
5. Add about one-third of the flour mixture to the batter and beat on medium speed until incorporated.
6. Add about half of the milk and beat on medium speed until incorporated.
7. Continue alternating adding dry and wet ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, and beating until incorporated after each addition.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.
9. Cool completely before frosting.
10. To make icing, combine butter and shortening and mix until smooth.
11. Add 6 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
12. Add vanilla extract and 4 tbsp of water or milk and mix until smooth.
13. Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
14. Add more water or milk until desired consistency is reached.
15. Frost the cake, adding a basketball design as desired, and serve!

Adia Benson, known as Addie, was born and raised in Minnesota, where she spent cold winters playing hockey on her frozen over backyard and summers on her brother’s soccer team (the girl is competitive!). Although her career took her to a kitchen, she has remained a sports fan and finds any opportunity to host friends and family around a game. She has worked for the likes of Thomas Keller, Martha Stewart and in culinary innovation for two years at gravitytank in Chicago. She currently lives in Lake Forest, IL with her fiancé, Alex, and puppy, Paisley, and works at Prime Publishing overseeing the production of culinary content for web platforms and testing recipes that will be published in cookbooks beginning in 2017. Addie also runs Addie’s Confetti Kitchen, where, for the next month, she’s helping us make March Madness eats effortless, appetizing, and a whole lot of fun for everyone!