Take me out to the ball game. A Glove, Bat and Baseball cake.

Spring is just around the corner. That is what the calendar says. With 33 inches of snow left on the ground, I have a hard time believing it! But the longer days and sunshine give me hope that it might be true. To get us into the spring spirit I thought I would feature a baseball cake that I made for my niece. Because nothing says spring is here like the start of baseball season.

To recreate this cake you will need a half sheet cake (single layer), Rice Krispy Treats (homemade or store bought), buttercream frosting, fondant, icing coloring (brown, green and black), brown sugar, and cake boards (2 half sheet size or one full sheet size). On this cake, The home plate and pitchers mound are cake and the glove, baseball and bat are made out of Rice Krispy Treats covered with fondant.

Let's start with the home plate and pitchers mound. These will be carved out of a single layer half sheet cake. First cut the pitchers mound out of the cake by making a simple cut across the full length of the short side of the cake (refer to the diagram). Then to make the home plate, cut triangles out of the bottom corners of the remaining cake (refer to diagram). These triangles are "extra". (This would be a good opportunity to sample the cake!) Now you have a pitching mound and home plate. Next you will need to prepare your cake board. Spread a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake board using light brown frosting. Next sprinkle a layer of brown sugar over the frosting. This gives it a more realistic appearance of dirt. Place your cakes on the cake board and frost with white frosting.

Now prep your second cake board. On this one, spread a thin layer of green frosting. To add some texture, I swirled green frosting using a #5 tips. However you could use the grass tip or dye some coconut green and cover the board with that. Now you are going to use your Rice Krispy Treats to form a Ball, Glove and Bat. After forming the shapes, cover them with a thin layer of frosting. For the bat I covered it in tan frosting. But if you prefer you could cover it with fondant. the ball is covered in white frosting with black frosting used with a #2 tip for the details. The glove is covered in brown fondant. The detailing of the glove is also done with brown fondant. I used my "real" baseball glove for inspiration on the details.