So I bought the Wilton ball pans with the two semi-circles.. So far, I've only used these for half-balls, hills, the top of a giant cupcake, etc. .. in other words.. I've only used one part of the "ball" in cakes. I attempted to make a whole ball a short while ago but it was FAR from a ball once i "leveled" and iced it. That thing was sliding all over the place. I'm thinking my errors were mainly in leveling the darn thing. Also in cutting off the tip of the ball for it to sit on.

Can someone PLEASE give me some advice in leveling, icing, and covering one of these things in fondant? I'm making two identical cakes with a beach ball on top of each cake. would it be easier to cover the ball in buttercream? I just have such a hard time getting that stuff smooth!

THANKS SO MUCH, you dear person who responds

I have the same problem, I was thinking maybe I should use a sturdier/denser cake because my bottom half is flatten by the time I finished icing and let alone trying to covering it with fondant [aka adding much more weight to it.]
I'm planning to try and use rice krispy for the bottom half of the sphere and see if it works...I hope someone can give a more workable solution!

oh...try using a strip of wax paper to smooth the icing, it works miracles for me when I want the surface round.

Are you putting a cake board and supports (straws) between the two halves?

I can get them pretty damn near perfect, almost that is. I still have a gathered bunch where I finally can't smooth it down anymore, and that just becomes the bottom. I have only ever used the half balls from the old Wilton tin though, glued together with ganache. I have only ever attempted it with ganache icing as well, and a firm ganache at that. Get that ganache as smooth as possible, and smooth the fondant quickly. Oh, I have always used firmly chilled cake as well.

And, I jam a bubble straw into the bottom so I don't have to hold it while applying the ganche. If I never do one again, I'll be happy. Beautiful, yes, aggravating, more so.

I've made the ball a number of times, as bowling balls and once, a Wile E Coyote type bomb. I level it as best as I can before removing it from the pan so it doesn't crack or slip off. I have used pretzel rods or nothing as supports. I never tried using fondant to cover, only frosting but it takes me longer than it looks! It seems like it's always a good idea to put in the freezer when you can to firm up. Good luck!