Mike's Birthday Cake

Since I've been on this cake making kick for a while now, I offered Mike to make whatever cake he wanted for his birthday. He chose basketball theme. So with a little help from Google, here's a cake that I made for our family dinner:

For dinner Mike requested Coq Au Vin with spaetzle and French string beans. Coq au vin is a french chicken dish, slow cooked in red wine, with bacon, pearl onions, mushrooms and herbs. Spaetzle is a dish of German moodles enhanced with fresh herbs. Both of these recipes came from William Sonoma cooking demonstration classes that I did last fall. We really liked the flavors, however I had to tweak the recipes to make them more healthy.