Wow! I can't believe it's been a full year since I made this cake for my friend D's 30th birthday. Since she was getting ready to go on an international trip for work in the summer, we threw her an "Around the World"-themed surprise party. After all of the planning, the night couldn't have turned out more perfectly. D was totally surprised, the food and drinks were awesome, and I think everyone had a great time.
The cake was a Devil's food recipe straight out of The Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook (classic!) with my basic buttercream frosting. The cupcakes were yellow cake with the buttercream, and I honestly can't remember if I made them from scratch or not (It's my turn to turn 30 this year...my brain must be getting old). I bought the sphere pan specifically for this cake so I could achieve my vision of 1/2 baseball-1/2 globe (It makes more sense when you know that D was traveling with a baseball team for her job). I cut the continents out of premade Wilton fondant, and piped the baseball seams right onto the baseball. Honestly, the most difficult part of making this cake was procuring the right mix of toothpick flags. Start looking for an assortment of international flags & it's hard to do without buying a trillion. I finally found (online) a small shop in Glen Burnie, MD, that was able to help me out. The most expensive portion of the whole transaction: expedited FedEx shipping ($17.00!!!). It was totally worth it, though, because the cake turned out just like I had planned, and how often does that ever happen?
Anyway, after we hacked into the globe/baseball, it was delicious & there were no leftovers. All in all, sweet success. So good!!
