This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, read my disclosure policy.
Learn how to make a Football Cake with my easy tutorial! This cake is unbelievably easy to make and it doesn’t need any special pans or equipment. You can make this cake for game day or a birthday and wow your family and friends!
EASY Football Cake Recipe
I’m all about football…food. Yep, I’m the typical “don’t watch football but love football food” person. My husband watches football religiously and I don’t have anything against it but the anxiety of it stresses me out SO much.
This year my daughter has started watching too, much to her dad’s elation. It’s become a family affair: they watch football and I watch my iPad.
When it comes time for playoffs or the Super Bowl I always go into overdrive thinking about fun football food to serve. Football shaped food is my favorite (see below for a list of ideas) and I decided this year I needed to make a football cake.
I’m going to show you how to make a football cake without a special pan with just a few simple steps.
How do you make a football cake?
First, start off with any flavor cake recipe or mix. I used a cake mix for this but you can also make a yellow cake or homemade chocolate cake, or even a red velvet cake or funfetti!
You only need one 9-inch or 8-inch round to make the football, so if you have extra batter you can make cupcakes or make a second round cake to freeze for later (or make a double layer cake).
To make the cake in the shape of a football, you just need to cut out the center of the round cake!
- Slice an inch strip out of the center of the cooled cake. To do this, locate the center and make a slice 1/2-inch above and below the center.
- Remove the strip of cake.
- Place the two semi-circles together to form the oval/ellipse/football shape.
- Frost like a football!
How to frost a football shaped cake:
I used a can of chocolate frosting but you could also use your favorite homemade chocolate frosting. Frost the outside of the cake.
To pipe the laces, use vanilla frosting or a can of white icing to pipe the laces. Place the frosting in a pastry bag and frost one of two ways:
- Simply snip off the corner of the pastry bag and pipe round laces without using a special tip, or
- Use Wilton tip 47 or Ateco 45 to pipe the flat laces and piping.
Then, for decoration, you could use a grass tip with green tinted icing for the grass around the edges!
An easy for a birthday or game day – whenever you make this it will be a huge hit!
Other fun football shaped desserts:
Have you made this recipe?
Tag @crazyforcrust on Instagram or hashtag it #crazyforcrust
Football Cake Tutorial Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 15 ounce box cake mix, any flavor
- Milk, water and eggs to make the cake (called for on the box)
- 1 16 ounce can chocolate frosting
- 1 16 ounce can vanilla frosting
- Green food coloring optional
Instructions
- Note: you only need one round cake to make this football cake, unless you want to make a two-layer cake. See notes for baking options.
- Prepare one 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray (use the kind with flour in it). Alternately, you can butter and flour the cake pan.
- Mix cake batter according to package directions. Pour half the batter in the prepared pan (see note about remaining batter). Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 22-28 minutes. Cool completely.
- Remove cake from pan. Level off with a serrated knife, if needed.
- Cut out about a 1-inch strip from the center of the cake. To do this, locate the center of the cake and move your knife down about half inch, slice. Repeat, moving up half an inch. You’ll then half two semicircles and one long skinny rectangle of cake. Remove the rectangle strip of cake. Push the two semicircles to meet and you have a football shape.
- Place cake on serving plate. Frost cake with chocolate frosting.
- Fit a pastry bag with the Wilton 47 or Ateco 45 tip. Place a small amount of the white frosting in a pastry bag (about 1/3 of the can). Frost laces and piping on the cake. (You can also do this without a tip; just snip off the tip of the piping bag. Your piping will be round instead of flat.)
- If desired, tint the remaining frosting green and pipe around the cake, using the grass tip (Wilton 233 or Ateco 234).
- Store loosely cover until ready to serve.
Recipe Video
Recipe Nutrition
Learn how to make a football cake easily using a cake mix! This simple football cake is great for a birthday or for watching the super bowl or any American football game! See step-by-step how to make this easy cake recipe football shaped without a special pan!
Last Updated on January 23, 2023
The two halves do not stay together at all, they gradually and steadily slide apart so you end up with a giant crack in the middle of the cake
Did you use melted chocolate? That should harden and hold it together.
Featured In
Rate This Recipe