Whether you call the world’s most popular game soccer or football, these themed cupcakes are sure to be a hit with fans young and old. I made a batch for the birthday party of a friend’s six year son. Although I chose a lively shade of lime, you may alter the colours to reflect the birthday boy’s or girl’s favourite colour or team. 

For the base, just use any butter cake based batter, selecting your preferred flavour you prefer. I mixed up a batch of Chocolate Fudge Cake, as per the recipe published on the 10th November 2013. Paper cupcake wrappers were then filled two thirds of the way and baked for 18 minutes at 180 degrees on a conventional setting.  

The vanilla butter icing was tinted with lime green decorating gel, scooped into a piping bag and carefully applied to each cupcake. It’s essential for the cakes to be completely cool when icing, otherwise you risk having the whole sweet, sticky topping melting and sliding off. 

Tinting coconut to resemble grass is a cinch. Simply scoop shredded coconut into a plastic snap-lock bag and add a couple of drops of tint. It’s better to add a little first, review the effect and then add more if needed. Seal the bag and rub the sides between your hands to distribute the colour over each tiny strand of coconut. When satisfied by the hue, open the bag and sprinkle over the icing. Tip – wear food safe disposable gloves or risk staining your fingertips!

As for the edible football themed motif perched on top? I found this fondant football in The Essential Ingredient – I went in for tint and walked out with a bagful of ingredients for various other family dishes and must-have kitchen items…my favourite kitchenware store! Back to the cupcakes…you can easily make your own decorative toppers by rolling cake decorating moulding paste into either spherical balls or semi-spheres. Cover with baking paper and allow to dry at room temperature for at least four hours or overnight to harden Paint the pentagons onto each fondant ball with edible black decorating paint. 

Now the question remains, should these enticing cupcakes be eaten before or after kick-off? Make a double batch and and enjoy them twice over!