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A baseball decorated cookie cake on a black wire trivet on a cement background.
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Basketball Cookie Cake

Score a slam dunk with this Basketball Cookie Cake!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Resting/Cooling Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes
Servings 8 people
Author Mara

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup shortening room temperature
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
  • cup granulated sugar ( 6 tablespoons)
  • cup dark brown sugar ( 6 tablespoons)
  • 1 large egg room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 & ⅜ cups all purpose flour (165 grams)
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips set aside 2-3 tablespoons

Vanilla Buttercream

  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
  • 1 & ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • orange and black gel food coloring

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a 9-inch round springform pan and set aside. Start the base: Cream together butter and shortening together with a stand mixer for roughly 1 minute.
  • Add in sugar and beat again for another 2-3 minutes. Scrap bowl the bowl as need.
  • Add in egg to the stand mixer. Beat it together until everything is combined for about 1-2 minutes. Scrap bowl the bowl as need. Then, add in vanilla and milk and beat again for another 1-2 minutes.
  • Dump in all the dry ingredients to the stand mixer and mix until just combined (it's okay if there's are a couple of streaks of flour).
  • Set aside 2-3 tablespoons of chocolate chips and add the rest of the chocolate chips to the dough. Gently fold into the cookie cake dough with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula.
  •  Press the dough into the prepared 9-inch springform pan. Gently press extra chocolate chips onto the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes in the pre-heated oven, until the edges turn a golden brown. Cool: in the pan on a cooling rack until completely cooled. Carefully remove the cookie cake from a spring form pan.

Frosting Instructions

  • Start by beating butter with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes until creamed.
  • Then, add in powdered sugar, vanilla extract and heavy cream. Beat on low speed for about 30 seconds, increase to medium speed for 30 seconds and then increase to medium-high speed and beat for another 2 minutes.
  • Divide frosting and color as needed.
    Black ~ ¼ cup using an Ateco #6 Round Piping Tip.
    Orange ~ 1 & ½ cups using an Ateco #21 Star Piping Tip.
    Frosting Tip: If you are using gel food coloring, you will want to start with a small account, mix and let it sit as the color develops as it sits.

Decorating Instructions

  • Spread 6-8 tablespoons of orange frosting on to the cookie cake with a small offset spatula. Spread it out thinly.
  • Draw in basketball lines with an offset spatula. I used a dinner plate to help trace the curved lines and then used a zester to help trace the straight lines. You could also use the spring form pan for the curved lines or edge of a small cutting board for the straight lines.
    Expert Tip:If you mess up the lines you can easily re-smooth out the base frosting and try again!
  • Pipe black basketball lines with frosting using an Ateco round #6 piping tip.
  • Use an Ateco #21 star tip, pipe a drop flower using orange frosting to fill in the areas between the black lines. Create a drop flower by piping a star shape and pulling straight up as you release pressure. I recommend starting from the center and working out, working 1 section of the basketball at a time.
  • Re-pipe black basketball frosting lines again using an Ateco round #6 piping tip.

Notes

Cool it completely! - Make sure to let the cookie cake cool completely before you frost it. It takes about 90 minutes - 2 hours roughly for my cookie cake to completely cool. But you can make this cookie cake the night before serving, let it cool completely overnight, and frost it the next day.
Properly Measure Flour - If you just dip your measuring cup into a bag of flour, chances are you have way too much flour due to packing. I keep a small digital scale to accurately measure flour BUT you can also use the spoon and level method too if you don't have a scale. To do this, use a spoon to fluff up the flour within your flour bag or container. Then use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup and finally use the straight edge of a knife to level the flour across the measuring cup.
Room Temp Ingredients are Key - a room temperature egg and butter form an emulsion and traps air and blend/combine together very easily since they are warmer creating a seamless dough. Cold ingredients don't incorporate together easily and can result in dense puffy baked good and also seize up the dough.
Warning! Weird Taste From Cooking Spray - I found that olive oil cookie sprays, can sometimes create a bitter taste in the cookie cake. I recommend using original pam or a neutral cooking stray.
Frosting Tips! - Gel color can be incredibly concentrated. You only need just a little bit to get your desired color. Also, color develops after waiting some time so you can make and color the frosting as the cookie cake cools and that should be enough time to allow the colors to fully develop. Note, if you use TOO MUCH food coloring that can negatively effect the texture.
 
Nutritional information for this recipe is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. Please calculate your own nutritional information if you want it exact to what you make and use my calculations as a guide only.