Anyone for tennis.....cake that is? How to make a tennis cake

Last summer we were invited to our brother in-law John’s 50th birthday party. John and Jane live in Cambridge so we don’t get to see them as often as we would like to, so it was great to be able to be part of the celebrations Tennis Racket cake

I offered to make John’s birthday cake as our gift to him and asked Jane what I should create. John is a tennis coach and is mad on the game, so to make a tennis racket was a no brainer! Jane sent me a shot of his raquet and then the fun began.

The cake had to be a little bit thicker than a regular racket (obviously) so there would be enough cake in the design to eat. I started by making a paper template of the racket so I could see how I could make the whole design from one rectangular cake. I cut the basic shape and then removed the parts that dipped in like where the strings are and at the top of the handle then I added all the layers of sugar paste. Icing the strings at the end was the scary part as if I slipped up it would affect all the straight lines I had already done. I just had to go for it.

The ball is also made of more cake but layered up. I literally had to cover the ball shape with sugar paste and then roll it in my hand to make it as smooth and round as possible. I then added the lines on the ball.

John was overwhelmed by the cake which made it a brilliant present to give and a fab surprise!