Need a golf ball smash cake - or a golf ball birthday cake?
I've got you covered! 🙂 As conceptually simple as they look, golf ball cakes can be surprisingly tricky to pull off convincingly. Backstory: my friend’s son was turning one, and I had the privilege of making a golf ball smash cake for his birthday! I couldn’t find many recipes as I was researching the best way to go about making it. So I post this in hopes it’ll be helpful to someone else. If that’s you, I’m glad you found this page and I hope this is helpful!
Design snags I had to work out-
Cake shape.
I started off a touch worried about the shape of the cake. I’d only ever made one half-sphere cake, and sculpted it from 3 8” cake layers – the shape wasn’t what I’d wanted, and I wasted a ton of cake in the process. At the same time, I dislike large cake pans because the edges often get dry before the center is baked through. I knew a half-sphere cake pan was an option, but didn’t really know how to use one. (Hint - flower nail in the pan base, and don't over-fill it!)
Frosting color.
My other worry was the frosting. Buttercream with some added cream cheese is my go-to frosting, and while it’s delicious it’s really not a bright white that would match a golf ball. This was my first go at buttercream with shortening added, and I added some frosting whitener that worked really well.
(I did learn though: don’t try to turn whitened frosting deep green. Doesn’t work!)
Baking method.
I did a ‘tester’ cake about a week ahead of time. Definitely had one big cake-fail my first go at the half sphere. I over-filled the pan - filling it almost to the rim - and batter overflowed during the baking process. Smh. HUGE mess. (Hint: keep the batter level a good centimeter below the edge of the pan!)
Result -
I was SO glad I did the tester, because I was happy with how the real thing came out! Picture above, and the video’s at the end of the recipe card -
If you’re looking to make a golf ball cake, tips are above and the recipe’s below – happy baking! If you try out the recipe let me know what you think!
FAQS:
"I'm having trouble with the divots in the golf ball - tips?"
- Yes! Several, in fact. Putting this section in bullet points for clarity!
- First I just need to re-emphasize - make sure you ROTATE the spoon out of the frosting. Pulling it straight out causes the frosting to stick and deform as the spoon is removed. That said -
- I heard from someone who was having a really rough time getting the indents into the frosting. I got more details on her process, and re-tested with a plastic measuring spoon.
- Turns out - a metal spoon worked MUCH better for me than a plastic spoon. Why it makes a difference I have NO idea. But the frosting stuck to the plastic spoon way more than to the metal one! I also noticed I have several measuring spoons with a bit of a 'lip' around the edge - that lip will just get in your way. Try to find a spoon without any kind of raised rim if you're having trouble.
- As an added bonus, a metal measuring spoon will retain heat much better than a plastic one. If you're using a metal spoon and still having trouble, try dipping the spoon in hot water before pressing it into the frosting. It'll slightly melt the frosting and make it easier to shape.
- If the indents aren't going well, you can also try refrigerating or flash-freezing the cake - sometimes stiffer frosting is easier to work with.
- Last note - again, why this would make a difference I have no idea. But the cake-maker I talked to didn't use any frosting whitener, so I tried the cake again without whitener in the frosting. It still worked okay, but I did have a touch harder time smoothing the divots using frosting without whitener.
"Your recipe calls for cake mixes? Seriously?"
- Yes - but hear me out; I have a reason! I love scratch cakes; nothing beats them for taste. One catch though - all my favorite scratch recipes bake too dense to be easily mash-able. After making tons of smash cakes over several years, I've just found cake mixes to work the best. Littles need to be able to smash their smash cakes! 😉
All that said, if you'd rather use a scratch recipe, a half batch of my favorite Vanilla Cake layer recipe is a great size for smash cakes!
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Golf Ball Smash Cake
Equipment
- Baker's floured cooking spray (optional)
- large flower nail (optional but highly recommended; helps the cake bake evenly)
- Cake turntable (optional, but makes smoothing the frosting much easier)
- rounded measuring spoon (to make indents in the frosting; I recommend a metal measuring spoon and used a rounded ¼ teaspoon)
- Small acetate sheet (or small flexible piece of plastic; to smooth frosting. A folded piece of parchment or wax paper can work, but will tend to leave lines in the frosting.)
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 box cake mix (Flavor's up to you; I used strawberry mix + ½ cup mashed strawberries)
- ½ cup butter, melted and cooled
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk (room temperature, or use 1 cup milk mixed with with 2 tsp lemon juice)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Frosting
- ¾ cup butter (room temperature)
- ¾ cup shortening
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons frosting whitener (optional; see instructions before adding)
- 1-3 Tablespoons milk (if needed to reach a spreadable consistency)
- 2-3 large drops green gel food coloring
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177℃). Prepare a 6-inch half sphere pans with baker's floured cooking spray (or grease and flour pan well). Place flower nail in the base of cake pan.
- Combine melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl and mix until combined. Add in cake mix and stir until moistened (about 30 seconds), then beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
- Pour batter into prepared pan (I didn't use all of the batter; an overfilled sphere pan will overflow and make a mess in your oven). Batter level should be about a centimeter (not quite half an inch) below the cake pan rim. (Might not hurt to place a baking sheet in the oven below the pan just in case.)
- Bake for 35-45 minutes, (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean). Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing cake from pan.
- Cool to room temperature before decorating. (Place in the fridge to accelerate the cooling process if desired.) While you’re waiting…make your frosting!
Frosting
- Beat together butter and shortening; beat in powdered sugar and vanilla until well combined.
- (If using frosting whitener, remove ½ cup of frosting into another bowl - color this deep green for the 'grass' frosting border. Add whitener to remaining frosting.) If not using whitener, remove ½ cup of frosting and color it green whenever you'd like :)
- Add milk if needed until frosting reaches an easily spreadable consistency.
Assembly & Decorating
- (If desired, use a cake leveler or large serrated knife to slice cake into 2 or 3 layers to fill with frosting).
- Place a smear of frosting on a plate or cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center cake in the center of the circle. Spread a thin coat (crumb coat) of frosting around the outside of the cake and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Once your crumb coat has set, add another thicker layer of frosting to the outside of the cake and smooth. I used a small offset spatula and credit-card-sized piece of acetate for this part. Set cake in the fridge for about 10 minutes to semi-set the frosting.
- (This will be the most time-consuming step-) Make the golf ball indents! Gently press the back of a rounded measuring spoon into the frosting and rotate it out to form an indent in the frosting. I found it helpful to very lightly grease the back of the spoon with a bit of cooking spray every 4-5 indents. If you're having any trouble at this step - first, make sure you twist/rotate the spoon out of the frosting. Pulling it straight out will deform the indent. Next, I found a metal spoon worked better than a plastic one. You can try heating it or wetting it if just the oil isn't working well enough. Chilling the cake may also help. (More details in the post intro if you're having trouble - and please leave a comment or shoot me an email if the divots still aren't working.)
- Transfer green frosting to a piping bag fitted with a grass tip, and pipe a rim of grass around the cake base. High-five yourself on your awesome cake - and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this Golf Ball smash cake?
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I love the way this cake looks but I can’t get the divets in the ball to work. The icing sticks to the back of the measuring spoon. I’m using oil and cooking spray and freezing the cake but it still isn’t working.
Ugh, NOO! I’m so sorry to hear that!! I feel your frustration.
I’m bummed to hear it’s not working; oiling the back of the spoon worked so well for me. Few ideas + questions so I can hopefully help troubleshoot!
I remember reading a post from someone who was just wetting the back of a rounded spoon handle with water, and that was working pretty well for the divets – I couldn’t get that to work but obviously our icings are behaving differently. :/
Another option might be heat (?) I sometimes warm up an icing spatula in hot water and dry it before smoothing frosting. I wonder if putting your spoon into hot water and drying it before making the divets might work (?) It’ll probably be a little more time-consuming, but less frustrating than divets that aren’t working.
If neither of those are working, I wonder if adjusting the icing thickness might help. If you have icing left in the bowl, you might try thinning or thickening it a bit and just doing a couple of ‘test divets’ with the frosting in the bowl to see if a change in the frosting consistency makes any difference.
Those are my ideas so far – but I’ll keep thinking about it! Let me know if any of those help – lol and let me know if they don’t!