Smart Cookie Football Cake Food

FOOTBALL CAKE

Steps:

• Bake two 9-inch round cakes according to package instructions. Let cool completely.
• Beat the butter, sugar and salt on low speed in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if using a handheld electric mixer) until mostly combined. Add the vanilla, increase the speed to medium-high and beat until smooth. Adjust the consistency of the frosting with milk as desired, adding 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove 3 cups of the frosting and transfer into a pastry bag or a resealable plastic bag. Add the cocoa powder to the remaining frosting in the bowl and beat on low until mostly incorporated. Then beat on medium-high until completely smooth. Set both frostings aside at room temperature until ready to use.
• Use a ruler to measure a 2-inch-wide strip across the entire center of one cake. Cut the strip out and remove (the cake will now be 2 half circles). Repeat with the other cake. Transfer the cutout strips to a medium bowl.
• Transfer the halves of one cake to a cake round or parchment-lined work surface. Push the two halves together snuggly to form a football shape. Trim and level the domed top and transfer the trimmings to the bowl along with the cake strips.
• Snip the tip off of the pastry bag and pipe three-quarters of the white frosting all over the bottom cake layer (the remaining frosting will be used for the laces and stripes). Top the frosting with the remaining two cake halves, domed-side up, pressing them together to create another football shape. Remove 1/4 cup of the chocolate frosting and set aside. Use the remaining chocolate frosting to frost the top and sides of the football. Chill the cake for a least 30 minutes.
• While cake is chilling, crumble all the cake trimmings into tiny crumbs. Add the reserved 1/4 cup chocolate frosting to crumbs and mix until completely combined. Add coconut to a resealable bag with a few drops of green food coloring. Shake and knead the bag until the coconut looks like grass (add more coloring as needed).
• Press the cake and frosting mixture directly onto a cake stand or serving platter into a 9-inch circle about 1/4-inch-thick (this is the "dirt"). Press the coconut grass into the chocolate dirt so that it adheres. Chill while you finish the cake.
• Remove the cake from the refrigerator. Use the remaining quarter white frosting to pipe laces and stripes onto the top and sides of the cake. Carefully remove the cake from the cake round or parchment transfer to the center of the coconut-covered stand or platter.

GAME DAY CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Butter and line the bottom of 9 by 13-inch cake pan with parchment paper, overlapping on 2 sides to create flaps.
• Put chopped the chocolate in a bowl. Heat cola just to a simmer over low heat and pour over chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes; stir until smooth.
• Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
• In another large bowl, beat the eggs and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until slightly thickened and pale, about 3 minutes. Gradually add the oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs. Beat on low until combined well, but not aerated. Add the flour mixture and continue to beat until just combined. (Stir lightly with a rubber spatula to remove any pockets of flour.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until the cake springs back lightly when touched, and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
• Cool cake completely in the pan on a rack. Run a knife around edge of the pan and invert cake onto a rack. Carefully remove parchment paper and cool completely. (The cake may be made in advance, tightly wrapped and kept at room temperature for up to 2 days.)
• Whisk the flour and salt in a medium bowl.
• Beat the butter and sugar in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla mixing until fully incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture, and continue beating just until the dough comes together, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Divide dough in half, pat into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
• Generously flour a clean work surface. (Tip: for a nice, even layer of flour, sift flour over work station.) Roll chilled dough about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into desired shape using a cookie cutter, working quickly enough that the dough stays chilled. (If dough gets warm and soft, put it in refrigerator on a lined baking sheet to chill, about 30 minutes.) Transfer cut cookies to un-greased baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch between cookies. Lightly dust off excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Refrigerate the formed cookies for at least 30 minutes. (Excess dough can be gathered together, pressed into a disk, chilled and rerolled.)
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Bake the cookies, until the bottoms and sides are barely golden, about 12 to 15 minutes depending on shape. Cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to transfer to a rack to cool. Decorate as desired and serve. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

SMART COOKIE FOOTBALL CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line the bottom of three 8-inch cake pans and one 6-inch cake pan with parchment paper and spray the bottom and sides with cooking spray.
• Pour both packages of cake mix into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add milk, melted butter, and eggs while mixing on low speed. Add vanilla extract and salt and increase speed to medium. Beat for 2 minutes. Divide the batter between the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 28 to 33 minutes. Note that the smaller cake may be done before the larger ones. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out and cool completely on a wire baking rack for at least 30 minutes. Chill for an additional 30 minutes.
• While the cakes are cooling, make the buttercream frosting. Beat butter on medium speed in an electric mixer until creamy. Add confectioners' sugar alternately with milk and beat until it reaches a spreadable consistency. Stir in vanilla extract.
• Scoop 1/2 of the frosting into a bowl and set aside. Scoop two-thirds into another bowl and dye with green food coloring to your desired shade of green. Stir the melted chocolate into the remaining frosting. You should have three bowls of frosting: white, green, and brown.
• Trim the tops of the cooled 8-inch cake layers until flat. Stack the cake layers on a 10-inch cake board, filling the middle with white buttercream. Apply a thin layer of white frosting to the sides for the crumb coat. Chill cake for another 30 minutes or until frosting is set.
• Frost the chilled cake with green buttercream. Tap the surface of the cake with the flat side of a spatula to create a grassy look.
• Lightly score a line down the center of the 6-inch cake. Make a cut 1/2 inch from either side of the center line and remove the middle section. Sandwich the two sides of the cake together using some of the chocolate buttercream, forming a football shape. Finish frosting the outside of the football cake with the chocolate buttercream. Place 'football' on top of the green 8-inch cake.
• Fill a piping bag fitted with a small round pastry tip with the remaining white buttercream. Pipe a 3-inch line in the center of the football cake. Pipe small lines over it to create lacing. Switch the pastry tip to a large round tip, and pipe a thick line on either side of the football cake about 2 inches from either end.

SMART COOKIE FRUITCAKE

Steps:

• Combine dates, cherries, raisins, blueberries, apricots, and ginger in a bowl. Pour spiced rum and chai on top and let soak 8 hours to overnight.
• Mix soaked fruit with orange juice, zest, butter, sugar, zest, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer and cook until butter has melted and sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 30 minutes.
• In the meantime, combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in a medium bowl.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray 4 mini loaf pans with baking spray.
• Remove cinnamon stick from the soaked fruit; stir in the flour mixture until combined. Add eggs, mixing to combine, and fold in mixed nuts. Divide batter between the prepared loaf pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, about 1 hour.
• Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edges of each loaf and turn out of the pan. Brush warm cakes with more rum and let cool completely, at least 1 hour.
• Place cooled cakes in airtight containers and store in the refrigerator for 6 to 7 weeks. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.