I need to know if there is another way to make a 3d ball if you do not want to buy the Wiltons 3d ball pan? I am making a cake that has Big bird and elmo on the sheet cake. I was told to use the 3d ball pan but if i can find another way to make it without the ball pan i will do that. Please Help!!!

I am doing this cake in the middle then on the sides for my twins 1st birthday i am making Big Bird,Grouch,Cookie Monster, and elmo cupcakes..
Please if you have any more suggestion I am open. Thanks

I have heard of others using pyrex bowls that are glass but they must be oven safe.You could get your round hump that way!!

Just an idea, but you could make a 8 inch single layer and chill, cut, and stack to get a round ball

Ok, this may sound silly, but kids love icing anyway, so they may just love it.

Do you have a small round pan? If so, then I would make a small round cake, or if not then just make a single layer and cut into a circle in the size you feel that it needs to be.
Then, ice one completely with the color of elmo and one the color of big bird. THEN, make a mound of icing, to eventually look like a ball and smooth over and then add your furry icing.

I did this in one of my classes on my basket weave cake (look in my pictures, you can see under the flowers, that the icing is mounded up) You can acheive the ball shape by adding alot of icing. Maybe even to REALLY round it off after you have iced it, you could put a piece of wax paper in a small round bowl and gently press down. But I don't really think that would be necessary.

I hope my description made some sort of sense. If not let me know and I will try to do better.
Also, there is a post here on CC discussing baking in food cans. You could use a tuna or chicken can (thoroughly cleaned) to make the round cake, if you don't want to cut up a cake...then just ice and mound it up. I think it might have been Mac (if it was someone else, I apologize) that said she did this, and she baked it at 325 and just watched it carefully.

Leslie

I have made a cake in a big ravioli can....just do what the previous poster said - use a flower nail as a heating core, bake it at 325 for longer than the recipe calls. Be sure to grease and flour (or use cake release) thoroughly because the grooves in the pan can prove tricky.

I let mine cool in the can for more about an hour, because on my first one, I turned it out pretty quickly and it all fell apart.

With the second one, I baked it, let it sit on one side for about 20 minutes, then rotated it about 1/3 of the way and let it sit on that side for about 20 minutes. I turned it again 1/3 and let it sit for another 20 minutes or so. Then I used a filet knife to be sure it wasn't sticking anywhere, said a quick prayer, inverted a salad plate, and flipped that baby right out.

What part of the country are you in?

I read somewhere here that if you mix cake crumbs with pudding (just enough to make them stick) that you could use the crumbs to mold....so make a batch of this then use a small bowl for a mold and pop out....

alternate use for bowl (rather than baking in it): if you have a bowl the right size (in any material), what you can do is line the bowl with plastic wrap, and then use thin jelly-roll type cake sheets, cutting strips and pieces to press into the bowl (bottom and up the insides), put a layer of icing, and then more cake, kind of like making an ice-cream bombe -- really pack it in so it's firm (you can even weight it down with a plate); chill the bowl of cake, and then invert, and remove the plastic. you'll get the perfect shape of the "half-ball cake" without having to bake in the ball cake mold OR the bowl itself, which is great if you have the right size bowls but not in pyrex. i've done this to make "turtle" cakes, which are also filled with caramel and cream and chocolate and nuts and then decorated to look like turtles with little pecan feet and such.

Quote: What part of the country are you in...

Thank you all for allthe lovely response that I always recieve on this site.

sdfgarcia I live in Cincinnati Ohio I do not know what is the easiest way to go yet so i will keep all of your thought in my mind.

The good thing is that I have about a month to plan this but i am looking for a quick way to get the ball look because I have alot to do the day before.
I have to make the cake for about 30 people and also the baby smash cake, I still have to make all the food and HOMEMADE CREAM HORNES>>>>>YUMMMMMY. I think that the easiest way would be the wiltons ball pan... I also have a 40% off coupon to Micheals so I will get it cheaper than what they sell it on Ebay... Thanks again for all of you ideas..... WISH ME LUCK... on November 18

Good luck to you - my baby will be celebrating her second birthday on 11/20, and I'm using my ball pan to create a teapot birthday cake for her, otherwise I would have loaned it to you.

I'm sure you'll come up with a creative solution, and your kids' cake will just be perfect!

i did a cookie monster cake with out the ball pan. I used 2 9" pans and stacked them and then made the round look with the icing. it is in my pics

I often bake in my bowls, you can use pyrex, anchor Hocking, Bakers own etc, you can also bake in stainless steel bowls. I place my flower nail in middle and fill 2/3 to what I want the cake to be, takes a little longer than a regular cake to bake. I grease with Wilton cake release never had any problems. I bake in bowls, casserole dishes, cans, whatever has the shape I want and is heat tolerant (oven safe).

I did Cookie Monster and Big Bird some years ago using the pyrex bowl method. They were just great because neither are really round so the bowl works well. Now you could use the wonder mold or the mini wonder mold if you have one of them.
Kae