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Soccer Cake
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Lauren Jepsen MaceIf you've got kids who are obsessed with soccer (or maybe it's your husband or wife, sibling, boyfriend or girlfriend .... ), this soccer field cake will definitely earn cheers from your home team. Unlike the actual sport, this isn't hard -- just a batch of cupcakes and some creative icing.
1
Lauren Jepsen Mace
Start with 24 cupcakes and one batch of homemade buttercream frosting for decorating. (If using store-bought frosting, purchase four 16-ounce containers to make sure you have enough. I recommend Duncan Hines, which has a good consistency. Do not use whipped frosting, which tends to droop.) Set aside 2 cups of your white frosting, and keep it covered. Color the rest of your frosting green with food coloring or Wilton Icing colors (available at Michaels or AC Moore).
Wrap a 10- by 14-inch piece of corrugated cardboard with cake foil. Tape edges to under side of cardboard to secure in place. If you don't have cake foil, tin foil or parchment paper will also do the trick. (You can also purchase ready-to-use cake boards at Michaels or AC Moore).
Arrange 15 cupcakes (3 rows by 5 rows) in a rectangular shape on your board. Dab a small amount of frosting on the bottom of each cupcake and lightly press into place on the board. This will keep your cupcakes from sliding. You will have 9 cupcakes leftover.
TIP: A simple sheet cake can be used for the field instead of cupcakes -- the decorating instructions remain the same.
Wrap a 10- by 14-inch piece of corrugated cardboard with cake foil. Tape edges to under side of cardboard to secure in place. If you don't have cake foil, tin foil or parchment paper will also do the trick. (You can also purchase ready-to-use cake boards at Michaels or AC Moore).
Arrange 15 cupcakes (3 rows by 5 rows) in a rectangular shape on your board. Dab a small amount of frosting on the bottom of each cupcake and lightly press into place on the board. This will keep your cupcakes from sliding. You will have 9 cupcakes leftover.
TIP: A simple sheet cake can be used for the field instead of cupcakes -- the decorating instructions remain the same.
2
Lauren Jepsen Mace
Using a pastry bag, pipe a green border around the edge of your cake, then work your way in, moving the bag back and forth and filling in the middle until the top of the cake is completely covered. If you do not have a pastry bag, you can cut the corner off of a freezer bag and use that (just a small cut!).
3
Lauren Jepsen Mace
With a metal spatula, smooth out the frosting until flat.
*TIP: By lightly wetting your spatula while smoothing out the frosting, it will make it easier to flatten out. You will have to wet the spatula more than once throughout the process, but be sure to avoid getting it too wet (this can cause the color to run out of the frosting).
*TIP: By lightly wetting your spatula while smoothing out the frosting, it will make it easier to flatten out. You will have to wet the spatula more than once throughout the process, but be sure to avoid getting it too wet (this can cause the color to run out of the frosting).
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Lauren Jepsen Mace
Using your white frosting in a clean pastry bag or plastic bag (we prefer freezer bags because they are sturdier than regular sealable bags) fitted with a cake tip, pipe the lines of a soccer field onto the top of your field.
TIP: For ease, you can draw out your field lines first with a toothpick, then trace over the toothpick lines with the white frosting.
TIP: For ease, you can draw out your field lines first with a toothpick, then trace over the toothpick lines with the white frosting.
5
Lauren Jepsen Mace
Take one of the cupcakes you have set aside and pipe a white frosting border around the edge, then work your way in, filling in the middle until the top of the cupcake is covered. This is the beginning of your soccer ball. Smooth frosting in the same manner you did with the field.
6
Lauren Jepsen Mace
Take a small amount of your white frosting (about 1/8 cup) and turn it black using Wilton Icing colors gel. The frosting won't be a true black, more of a dark gray, which is fine -- as the frosting dries, it becomes darker in color. Using a pastry bag (or plastic bag) with a cake tip, draw a pentagon shape in the middle of the cupcake, and fill in.
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Lauren Jepsen Mace
From each point of the pentagon, draw a straight line out to the edge of the cupcake.
*TIP: black licorice also makes nice straight lines for your soccer ball.
*TIP: black licorice also makes nice straight lines for your soccer ball.
8
Lauren Jepsen Mace
Where each line meets the edge of the cupcake, draw a triangle (as seen in photo). This is your soccer ball.
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Lauren Jepsen Mace
Put soccer ball cupcake in the center of your field.
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Lauren Jepsen Mace
With the leftover frosting, decorate the remaining cupcakes, and/or add a border to the edge of your field in your team's colors. Go team!
TIP: Most food coloring packs come with green, yellow, red and blue. We chose to use the blue coloring to create the border pictured here.
TIP: Most food coloring packs come with green, yellow, red and blue. We chose to use the blue coloring to create the border pictured here.
11
Lauren Jepsen Mace
This is optional, but really fun: Add some toy nets and soccer players to your field. Wilton's figurine kit (pictured here) can be found at Michaels, AC Moore and amazon.com, or maybe your kids have some in their toy box.
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