This was a 17th birthday cake for a young man who, at 6′ 8″ and still growing, is, unsurprisingly, a keen basketball player.  I started with a rectangle assembled from layers of cake and buttercream and covered it with coloured fondant.  The baskets and backboards are royal icing runouts, with the lines and nets piped in place in white royal icing.

Picking up on one of the birthday boy’s other interests, a Lego Harry Potter was placed at the free throw line.