Is there a trick to icing the ball pan cake smooth? I need to make a baseball (large and small) but I don't want to use stars. I've not tried yet, but to save myself a migraine and tearing up the cake, I thought it best to ask first.

Thank you.

Ok, i have no idea if this will work but if you are making a baseball when why not actually cut fondant into the shape of the pieces to cover an actual ball? Then when you put them on the cake they should fit together and you can do the red stitching over the seams. Just a thought. I must say I would love to know how to cover a full ball with one piece of fondant also.

There is a baseball glove and ball in my photos, done in buttercream. Just get it as smooth as you can by using a spatula (roughly pipe the icing on with a basketweave tip then smooth with the spatula if you like, or just use your spatula in the first place, either way) and then use a Viva paper towel to get it smoothed out the rest of the way.

HTH,
Deanna

Thanks

I should have mentioned it's gong to be BC only ~ I was trying to keep the cost down for them... but still be fair to myself.
I also would love to know how to covere a 3-d ball in fondant without it buckling, crimping, or bulging, etc.

I'll try the Viva paper towels on this order. I didn't even think of that ~ I've only done that technique on round cakes so far.

When I did the round head of Pablo...I made my icing super smooth by adding some piping gel, then I got a nice thick layer then thinned it off like regular. After it crusted a bit I used parchment paper to smooth it all out. It worked fantastic!
HTH