2 boxes cake mix, baked according to directions in round cake pans
2 tubs vanilla frosting
1 tube orange gel food coloring
1 tub chocolate frosting
red and brown M&Ms
1 drinking straw
wax paper
Bake the cakes according to the package directions and let them cool completely (take them out of the pans 10 minutes after coming out of the oven).
Put half a tub of vanilla frosting in a sturdy zip-lock bag (or a piping bag fitting with appropriate tip). Color the remaining 1 1/2 tubs of vanilla frosting a nice shade of orange. I used the entire tube of Betty Crocker's Neon Gel Orange Food Coloring.
Glue (with a dab of frosting) first layer of cake (positioned upside down so that the level surface is on top) to a cake board or whatever you will be serving your cake on. At this point, take time to place thick strips of wax or parchment paper under the edge of the cake. This will keep your surface clean while you decorate the cake.
Frost the top of the first layer with orange frosting. Refrigerate for 15 minutes (this firms up the frosting and keeps it from moving around while you decorate the rest of the cake). Position the second layer of cake right side up and frost the top. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Repeat for third and fourth layers (no need to frost the top of the fourth layer).
Carving the rounded shape is the hardest part of this cake. All I can tell you is to use a good serrated knife, and look closely at the picture of the cut cake and try to match the angles shown. Notice how steep the angle of the top layer is. The bottom layer should not be carved at all, leaving a nice straight edge. You will have a lot of leftover cake. Make some kind of trifle with it, or throw it away without guilt (think of it as leftover craft supplies).
Now that you have a lot of cut cake to frost, you want to put on a crumb coat of frosting. Put a thin layer of orange frosting all over the basketball part of the cake. Don't worry about all the crumbs that work their way into the frosting. They will all be covered up by the next layer of frosting. You don't really need a crumb coat on the bottom layer, since it was not cut and should have a nice edge on it (if you really dumped it out of the pan 10 minutes after coming out of the oven). But if you want to, you can do a crumb coat of chocolate frosting on the bottom layer. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes. You want the frosting really firm.
Now for the final coat of frosting. Spread it on nice and thick and do your best to keep a neat, straight line where the orange and chocolate frosting meet. Keep the frosting smooth on top.
Cut a small corner of the zip lock baggie for the white frosting to come out. Pipe on the "net" by essentially making large connected "X"s all around the bottom layer. Cover the line where the orange and chocolate frosting meet with a row of red M&Ms to make the rim. (I was in a hurry and if you take more time than I did it may look a little nicer). Use brown M&Ms to make the lines on the basketball. To make the texture on the basketball, refrigerate the cake for 15-30 minutes, then use the edge of the drinking straw to make little circle marks all over the ball.
Carefully remove the wax paper strips. Keep the cake refrigerated until serving (just my personal preference--I think cakes taste better chilled and the decorations stay in place).
