Celebratory Decorated Cake!
Categories: All, Baking Tips, Cakes, Desserts, Frosting, Recipes
Tags: , Allergy Friendly, Dairy Free, Desserts, Football, Gluten Free, Gluten Free Party Recipes, Gluten-Free Baking Ingredients, New Gluten-Free Products, Superbowl
Hey, it’s the Superbowl! … or maybe it’s not.
Maybe it’s just any other fun occasion at which the most appropriate (certainly the most yummy), fun and edible celebratory confection is a cake made into your favorite super-fun shape! Well, look no further. This cake recipe is one of my all-time favorites, and not just because it is so versatile. It truly makes every occasion happy–because everyone can share something this truly yummy!
Hailing from the parties of our past, where someone invariably brought a store-bought or pridefully displayed homemade cake in some fancy shape, and it was positively devoured on the spot, perhaps before a picture was even snapped of its remarkable resemblance to a medieval castle, a pirate’s treasure chest, a near-life-sized R2D2 or a Spiderman superimposed upon a towering Gotham skyscraper … all out of a meticulously carved and frosted cake. 
You know what I’m talking about. You were either embarrassed by your mom or you were secretly jealous because someone else’s mom made one of these amazing cake-idols for a party, and it’s all you remember of the party. Until now. Now you have the opportunity to make any cake you desire, Superbowl or other super-ceremony, … out of cake.
Run, don’t walk, those typing fingers over to my birthday cake recipe and start imagining the possibilities inspired by my Super Bowl Cake! How fun is that? (Trust me, it’s not hard!)
To make this cake recipe into another shape like a football, use 7-inch round cake pans if your cake design does not need to be as wide and requires a larger crown (like a football).
If using smaller pans like these, the cakes will be thicker and may need to bake for longer. To test the cakes for doneness, insert a cake tester or toothpick in the middle of each cake and be sure it comes out clean. The cakes will also begin to pull away slightly from the sides of the pans. Add time if necessary to fully bake the cakes.
I cut Junior Mints in half for eyeballs with a dot of black frosting in the middle; antennae were cut from gluten-free peel-apart fruit strips!
Shaped cakes like this caterpillar are made using a bundt pan. Bake my white or chocolate cake recipe or use one Jules Gluten Free Cake Mix and bake in the bundt pan, checking for doneness after 35 minutes, adding time as necessary to be sure the cake is baked through. Once cooled, and removed from the pan, cut the bundt cake in half and cut one of the halves again. Arrange pieces touching one another to make this cute crawling caterpillar!
Frostings make the cake, so don’t skimp! Homemade frosting is easy, inexpensive, and not preservative-laden. Plus, following my recipe, you’ll be able to smooth the frosted cake just like a professional!
Buying ready-made frosting in a can may look like the perfect shortcut, but those frostings can be difficult to spread on a cake, and tend to pull the crumbs off and into the frosting.
If you really want to use the ready-made kind though, I’d recommend making cupcakes – they’ll turn out just fine. Companies which have frostings not containing gluten include Pillsbury and Betty Crocker (but always check labels!).
Regarding food colorings (necessary for most shaped or themed cakes), there are several options. Ubiquitous brands like McCormick are gluten-free, but if you are looking for all-natural food colorings, choose brands like Seelect, Nature’s Flavors or India Tree.
Decorative sprinkles are another nice touch – try some from Illinois Nut & Candy, which thoughtfully delineates between its sprinkles which are gluten-free, casein-free, lactose-free, etc. I have also seen “Let’s Do Sprinkelz” (from Germany but distributed in the US by Edward & Sons Trading Co) gluten-free, naturally-colored sprinkles carried by most of the organic grocers near me, so look for those next time you are at your favorite organic grocery.
India Tree’s Nature’s Colors line of sprinkles use cabbage and beet juice for colors.
I baked these cupcakes in fun gluten-free cones and the kids had a great time running around the party with them! Let’s Do or Goldbaum’s or Barkat are some good brands of gluten-free cones to look for. So have fun making your next party the tastiest and sweetest yet!
Vanilla or Chocolate Frosting Recipe
13 Comments
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Trackbacks/Pingbacks
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01. Feb, 2011
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jules Dowler Shepard, kbouldin. kbouldin said: RT @JulesGlutenFree: New Post: A sweet way to celebrate the Super Bowl – Try this Football Cake! http://bit.ly/dU5hIT #glutenfree #dairy … [...]
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06. Feb, 2011
[...] Football Cake from Jules Gluten Free [...]
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07. Apr, 2011
[...] (with plenty of supports as well) without crumbling,” Shepard told me. She thought her white cake was up to the [...]
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13. Jun, 2011
[...] Frost the cakes only when fully cooled, or in the alternative, you may wrap the cakes with wax paper or plastic wrap and seal inside freezer bags to freeze or refrigerate until ready to use. For all kinds of fun decorated cake ideas, hop over to my post on celebration cakes! [...]
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Dena said: on April 1, 2011
I have a daughter getting married this Summer and we’re working with the bakery to make a second smaller wedding cake for myself and several other family members who must eat GF. Can you recommend a frosting recipe that will work to give the cake a professional look, as well as being used for decorating with frosting roses, etc.?
Thank you so much for any help you can give.
Dena said: on April 1, 2011
I forgot to mention, the recipe cannot contain chocolate, due to several people also having that allergy.
Jules said: on April 2, 2011
The easiest, tastiest and most versatile frosting recipe I know is an old fashioned, traditional confectioner’s sugar frosting that can be colored or remain white and need not contain chocolate. Send us pictures of the cake for the wedding! Lots of people have used this frosting recipe and my cake recipes for the WHOLE wedding cake for EVERYBODY to eat … it will surely be a hit for your event too!
Jaimie said: on February 13, 2012
Jules, as always, thanks for sharing your recipes. They are truly THE BEST!
I plan to make this cake for my dad’s birthday, and his all-time favorite is “wedding cake” (white cake, no egg yolks, with white frosting, baked in a sheet pan). I am concerned about adapting the recipe–do you think it would be alright to leave out the yolks & replace each egg with 2 egg whites?
Also, would you adjust the temperature as well as the baking time? Any suggestions for that? I feel like I’m aiming at an unknown target in the dark, so any guidance would be immensely helpful.
Again, thanks for sharing your experiences–both as a celiac patient and a baker. Your recipes are keepers in our household: pancakes, sandwich bread, pie crust, cookies . . . I just made your chocolate chip cookies this morning, with a mixture of chocolate and butterscotch chips. They turned out fabulously!
Jules said: on February 17, 2012
Hi Jaimie – I think you could try the egg white switcheroo here, but since there are supposed to be FOUR WHOLE eggs, that’s a lot to sub. If you want to give it a go, here’s what I would suggest: replace half the amount with egg whites; the other half, use a homemade egg sub like 1 full egg = 1 Tbs. oil, 2 Tbs. water & 2 tsp. baking powder. You need to get some oil back into the cake to replace the yolks’ emulsifying effects. Hopefully that will be enough to do it without adding color to your white cake. Also, pure vanilla extract is going to add color, and it’s an essential part of the flavor here. You’ll need to opt for artificial vanilla flavoring (clear), but be certain that it’s gluten-free. It appears that Wilton’s is, but check with their customer service department to be sure that the ingredients haven’t changed.
Regarding time and temperature, it will take longer to bake in a large sheet pan — I’d start checking the center at 35-40 minutes or so, and see how it’s going. The temperature should be ok for you.
I’m so glad you’re loving my recipes! That’s the greatest compliment in the world, to know that they have made others’ families so happy!!!
Teresa said: on February 15, 2012
Hi, having a hard time finding powdered milk on short notice – any subsititions for this item?
Jules said: on February 17, 2012
Hi Teresa, can you eat almonds? Making your own almond flour is a great alternative here!
jessicamanus@hotmail.com said: on February 2, 2013
i would like you send me a superblow cake please 152 dogwood trail tyrone ge 30290
Jules said: on February 3, 2013
Ha – funny!
It’s really easy to make your own!