Ball cake

To prepare the ball cake, start with the sponge cake: in a bowl, pour the eggs, sugar, and a pinch of salt 1. Beat them for about 20 minutes with an electric mixer 2, then add the oil 3,

the water 4 and continue working the ingredients with the electric mixer. Split a vanilla bean 5 and extract the seeds, then pour them into the batter 6.

In a small bowl, mix the flour 7, baking powder, and potato starch; sift them into the batter and mix again with the mixer to combine all the ingredients 8. Transfer the obtained batter into a greased and floured semi-spherical mold (you can also use a smooth one) with a capacity of 1.8 liters 9. Bake in a preheated static oven at 350°F for 70 minutes (if using a fan oven, 320°F for 60-65 minutes).

Once baked, remove from the oven 10, then turn it over and let it cool on a rack 11. Meanwhile, prepare the filling cream: in a small bowl, soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for at least 10 minutes 12.

Heat 75 ml of cream, pour it into a small bowl and add the drained and squeezed gelatin sheets 13. You can stir with a teaspoon to completely dissolve the gelatin: set the mixture aside to cool. Continue the preparation by collecting Greek yogurt, seeds from a vanilla bean, and powdered sugar in a bowl. Mix 14 and when the cream in which you dissolved the gelatin is lukewarm, pour it over the yogurt cream 15 and work everything with a spatula.

In another bowl, whip the cold cream with an electric mixer 16; when it is well whipped, add it to the yogurt mixture 17 and mix to obtain a homogeneous cream. Once ready, cover it with contact plastic wrap 18 and let it set for about 1 hour in the refrigerator.

When the cake is cold, cut out a circle with a knife leaving at least 0.6 inches from the edge 19, going slowly in depth to gently hollow it out. Level the surface of the dome and make 2 disks, cutting it across the width: they will form the layers (alternatively, carve piece by piece and for the layers you can collage pieces). Pour the cream into a piping bag and fill the cake with one layer; spread evenly with the back of a spoon 20. Then lay a sponge cake disk 21,

again a layer of cream 22 and finally the last layer to close the cake 23. You can trim off the pointiest part, because once turned over, the cake will rest well on the serving plate. Then put the cake back in the mold 24 to turn it over more easily without breaking it. Brush the surface of the cake with the remaining cream.

Take two packages of fondant and divide them into 4 equal parts: leave one white to cover the ball, while the other three blocks can be colored with a few drops of blue food coloring to make the light blue 25, a mix of yellow and red to get orange, and color the other block red. Knead each block to mix the color, being careful to wear disposable gloves to avoid staining; then wrap the three blocks with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying until ready to use 26. Roll out the white fondant into a thin sheet 27

and cover the entire cake 28; carefully adhere the fondant, trim the excess parts and use a special spatula to level the surface of the cake 29. Also, roll out the other colored fondant blocks and cut out the hexagon shapes: 3 red 30, 4 orange, and 4 light blue each with a side of 2 inches.

Brush the surface of the ball with water 31 at the points where you will place the colored hexagons 32, alternating colors just like a colored ball 33.

At this point, prepare the decoration with whipped cream colored green to simulate the grass: in a bowl, pour the liquid cream and start whipping it with the beaters 34, then add the powdered sugar and continue to whip it for a couple of minutes. Color the whipped cream by mixing a few drops of yellow 35 and blue 36 food coloring: mix to combine the colors and reach the desired shade of green.

Transfer the colored cream into a piping bag with a star tip 37 and decorate with tufts all around the ball cake, which will look as if sitting on a green lawn (38-39)!