Touchdown Cake

This is the cake for football parties, Super Bowl Sundays, and homecoming celebrations. The clever shape comes from cutting a 2-inch slice from the center of a round cake, then pushing the remaining halves together to form the pointed-end football shape. No special pans, no carving skills required, just a sharp knife and a steady hand.

Frosted in milk chocolate to mimic the leather, then crisscrossed with white vanilla frosting laces piped from a snipped corner of a plastic bag, the finished cake looks like the real deal. The center scrap of cake doesn’t go to waste either: frost it separately and serve as bonus dessert squares for hungry game-watchers.

Use a stand-by yellow cake mix and canned frostings for the no-fuss version. The whole project is easy enough for kids to help assemble, which is half the fun.

Pro Tips

• Cool the cake completely before cutting and frosting. Warm cake tears and crumbles, ruining the smooth football shape.
• Apply a thin crumb coat of chocolate frosting first, chill 15 minutes, then a thicker final layer for a clean look.
• Snip a tiny corner from the plastic bag for the piping. Too big and the laces look thick and sloppy.
• Pipe one center stripe of vanilla first, then add 5 to 7 short crosswise laces for the classic football look.

Variations

• Use chocolate cake mix instead of yellow for a richer flavor.
• Swap milk chocolate frosting for cream cheese for a less sweet version (trim with cocoa for color).
• Decorate with the colors of your favorite team using extra colored frosting around the base.