Thursday, March 21, 2013

Basketball Mini-Quesadillas

March Madness anyone?  If you are hosting a party during this year's tournament or you just have basketball lovers in your life, make these basketball mini-quesadillas.  I thought up this basketball snack while running yesterday.  The quesadillas were easy enough, but how to make the hoop dipping cup I had in mind...Hmmmmm.  Pasta?  No.  Licorice?  No.  By the end of the run, I had it figured out.

To make the basketball hoop dip container, I used a small black plastic to-go cup and gum paste.  Gum paste is similar to fondant and will dry harder than fondant.  Think of gum paste as having a little extra gum to it- making it better to use for molding figures and rolling thin.  For the basketball net, you want to roll about a cm thick and then wrap around the plastic container.  After you get your desired size/shape (I used a pizza cutter to trim the edges straight), place the gum paste back on a flat surface.
Using a small square cutter, cut a net pattern.  The gum paste will become more delicate as you remove the cut-outs- which is why you wan to roll the gum paste thick enough that your net won't break as you pick it up to place it on the plastic container.
Once the net is in place, gently press the gum paste to the container to adhere.  I let the ends of the net dangle away from the container a bit.
Take another piece of gum paste and add red food coloring to make the rim of the basketball hoop.  To avoid red hands you could either wear a plastic glove or you can place your hand inside of a plastic bag and mix the color.
Roll the red gum paste into a long rope and press it to the top of the plastic container.
For the quesadillas, I bought two kinds of tortillas:  Sun-dried Tomato and Jalapeno Cheddar.  Both have a more orange tone to better resemble basketballs than a plain tortilla.  Spread your cheese and top with another tortilla.  Cut with a round cookie cutter close in diameter of the top of your dip container.
Place the cut quesadillas in a skillet warmed to med-high and let them warm until slightly browned.
Flip and lightly brown the other side:
To make the quesadillas look more like basketballs, mix black food coloring in with sour cream.  Not a sour cream fan?  You could also color the guacamole.  Not a food coloring fan?  You could thinly slice black olives and place on top of the quesadillas.  Place the black sour cream in a small Ziplock and make a small snip at one corner to pipe the basketball design on the mini-quesadillas.
To mix the guacamole, I smashed two avocados,  dashed Tabasco, sprinkled garlic salt and season salt and squeezed some fresh lime juice.  I don't ever measure when I make guac, so play with the ratios until it tastes right to you.  Spicier=more Tabasco.  Saltier=more season salt.  Sour=more lime.
Place the guacamole in the center of the basketball hoop container and garnish with fresh cilantro.
 Score two for Mom!
This is a perfect basketball snack for fans and players of all ages.  
Any basketball players in your household?  The most exciting game of our youth basketball season was the game that sent us into the finals of the final tournament last week.  With 8 seconds left, down by two, the ball was brought down the court and passed to one of our guys at the top of the key.  He took a dribble and step forward with one foot and then looked down at the 3 point line, stepped back and shot.  SWISH!  We won the game by 1 point.  We ended up 2nd in the final tournament and the boys played their little hearts out.  It was my second year of coaching and I really like working with the kids and learning their personalities.  Enjoy your March Madness and I hope your teams wins.


  1. Super cute! We are more football fans over here, but I'm pinning anyway, since quesadillas are my kids fave:)


  2. I make quesadillas all the time, but yours are so cool!!!




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