Name: AFL Football Birthday Cake recipe
Prep time: 90 min
Cook time: 220 min
Total time: 310 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 500g unsalted butter; 500g dark chocolate, chopped; 4 cups caster sugar; 2 1/2 cups milk; 6 eggs, lightly beaten; 1 cup milk; 2 cups self-raising flour; 2 cups plain flour; 2/3 cup cocoa powder; 125g butter, softened; 1 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture; 1 tbs milk; 700g ready to roll red fondant icing; 100g ready to roll black fondant icing; 100g ready to roll white fondant icing

by Australia's Best Recipes Team Last updated on 01/14/2021

Cheer on your favourite team with our over-the-top footy birthday cake. - Australia's Best Recipes Team

Ingredients

500g unsalted butter
500g dark chocolate, chopped
4 cups caster sugar
2 1/2 cups milk
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
2 cups self-raising flour
2 cups plain flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder

Buttercream

125g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture
1 tbs milk

Decorations

700g ready to roll red fondant icing
100g ready to roll black fondant icing
100g ready to roll white fondant icing

Method

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 160C/140C fan-forced . Grease and flour a Dolly Varden cake tin; line base with baking paper.
Step 2

Combine half the butter, chocolate, sugar and milk in a large saucepan and stir over low heat until smooth. Remove from heat. Transfer to a large bowl and cool 15 minutes.
Step 3

Whisk half the eggs into the chocolate mixture. Then whisk in half the sifted flours and half the cocoa until the mixture is smooth.
Step 4

Pour mixture into prepared tin. Bake for 13⁄4 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out almost clean (a small amount of sticky cake mixture is fine). Completely cool cake in the tin, then turn out onto a plate. Cover with plastic wrap.
Step 5

Repeat steps 1-4 with remaining cake ingredients to make a second Dolly Varden mud cake.
Step 6

To make buttercream, using electric beaters, beat butter in a bowl until very pale. Gradually add icing sugar, in batches, beating well between batches. Add the milk and beat to combine.
Step 7

Trim tops off cooled cakes so they fit together like a football, join halves with a little of the buttercream. Trim a slice off the base so the cake sits flat. Trim cake all over to ensure a smooth surface. Make ends of football slightly pointier by joining on a little piece of extra cake (from the trimmings) with some of the buttercream. Place cake on cake board, securing with a little buttercream.
Step 8

Spread remaining buttercream all over the football to coat. Knead the red fondant on a surface dusted with icing sugar until smooth. Roll icing out to about 3mm thick on an icing sugar dusted surface, large enough to cover the cake. Gently lift onto the cake and using your hands and smooth all over, gently easing the icing in and under the cake trying not to pleat the icing. Trim off any excess icing and smooth all over with your hands.
Step 9

Roll out the black icing to about 5mm thick on an icing sugar dusted surface, cut out letters and numbers using cutters or with a sharp knife, and attach to the cake with a little water. Roll the white icing into a thin sausage, flatten slightly and cut into 3cm lengths. Make small holes in top of cake for the shoelaces to fit into, using the end of a paintbrush. Moisten holes lightly and insert a piece of shoelace. Using a fork, mark the football into sections and around the laces to represent the stitching.