How to Make a Rocket Cake Out of a Football Pan

Adding a theme to a party is an easy way to help you decide on decorations, food and other party elements. A rocket cake is a fitting cake design for anyone looking to throw an outer space-themed party. While rocket-shaped pans can be hard to find, you can use football-shaped cake pans, which are easier to find, to piece together your own rocket cake. This will save you a trip to the bakery and a hefty bill from the baker.

Things You'll Need

• Oven
• 2 football cake pans
• Butter
• Flour
• Large mixing bowl
• 2 boxes of cake mix
• 6 eggs
• Water
• Oil
• Large wooden spoon
• Toothpicks
• 2 cooling racks
• 3 butter knives
• Serving platter
• Bread knife
• Frosting
• Red and blue food coloring
• 2 spoons
• 1 small bowl
• 1 ice cream cone
• Hot Tamales or other cinnamon-flavored candies
• 6 red Spree or other round candies
• Red rope licorice
• Red, blue and white piping gel

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Grease the football pans with butter. Then coat them with a light dusting of flour.

3. Mix together in a large mixing bowl the 2 boxes of cake mix, 6 eggs, 2 2/3 cups water and 1 cup of oil. Use your wooden spoon to blend these ingredients together thoroughly so that all the cake mix is moistened.

4. Pour half of your mix into each football pan and bake the two cakes for approximately 30-35 minutes. To test to see if your cake is done, stick a toothpick into the center of each cake. If the toothpicks come out clean, then your cakes are done. If the toothpicks come out covered in cake, then bake your cakes for 5 more minutes and check again.

5. Leave the cakes in their pans on top of the stove to cool for 20 minutes. Then trace around the edges of the pan with a butter knife to loosen the cake from the pan.

6. Flip the cakes over, in the pans, onto cooling racks once they are done. To do this, place a cooling rack over the top of each cake pan. Take the pans one at a time, and while holding the cooling rack over the top of the pan, flip it over and set it on the counter. Leave it there, pan and all, to cool for an hour.

7. Transfer one of the cakes onto a serving tray by placing the tray over the top of the cake and then, while holding the cooling rack, flipping the cake over onto the serving tray.

8. Cut the other cake in half width-wise with a bread knife, so that you have two curvy triangle-like shapes. Cut one of these triangle-like shapes in half from the top point down. Then cut one of the points off of the football-shaped cake about 2 inches from the tip.

9. Place one of these quarter-football pieces on each side flat end of the other cake to make your two cakes a rocket cake.

10. Scoop a quarter of your container of frosting into a small bowl and add red food coloring to the frosting, mixing every few drops, until your frosting is a nice bright red.

11. Add a couple of drops of blue food coloring to the frosting left in the can and mix it well with a spoon.

12. Frost the large part of your rocket cake blue and the two smaller pieces of your rocket cake red.

13. Cut off and discard the bottom 2 inches of the ice cream cone with the bread knife. Place the cone midway along the bottom edge of the large part of your rocket cake. Add a few 5-inch lengths of rope licorice shooting out of the ice cream cone to mimic fire shooting out of the bottom of the rocket cake.

14. Line the curved edges of the main body of the rocket cake with rope licorice. Then add one more curved line, running parallel to the outside lines, on each side of the rocket cake. Place three red Spree candies between the two lines of rope licorice on each side. Place a row of Hot Tamale candies along the bottom of your rocket cake, and another one of these candies sticking out of the top.

15. Use red, white and blue piping gel to write "USA" running down the front of the rocket cake.

References

• Rocket Ship Birthday Cake Design