If your handsome son has his birthday in any of these summer days when football championship is the hottest topic for everyone than enjoy him and his friends with this delicious football cake. As you can see from the picture there are foil-covered chocolate footballs which means that in fact it is a surprise piñata football cake.
Football cake ingredients
For the mint cake
1 tbsp milk
50 g cocoa powder, sieved
150 g self-raising flour
4 large egg
200 g soft light brown sugar
200 g unsalted butter
For the chocolate cake
200 g unsalted butter
200 g caster sugar
4 large egg
200 g self-raising flour
½ tsp peppermint extract
about ½ to 1 tsp green food coloring paste
For icing and decoration
150 g unsalted butter, softened
300 g icing sugar, sieved
300 g chocolate balls or foil-covered chocolate footballs (available online)
4 tbsp sieved apricot jam, warmed
500 g green ready-to-roll icing
350 g white ready-to-roll icing
100 g black ready-to-roll icing
a little food coloring paste, choose team colors
novelty candles, optional
Cooking method
Heat the oven to 180 C/160 C fan/gas 4. Grease and base line a 20 cm round cake tin with baking parchment. To make the chocolate cake, put the butter into a bowl and beat until soft. Add all the remaining ingredients and beat well until light and creamy. Spoon into the tin and spread level. Bake in the oven for about 45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool. When cold, slice the top off the cake to make it level.
To make the mint cake, grease and base line your 20 cm cake tin with baking parchment. Put the butter into a bowl and beat until soft. Add the remaining ingredients and beat well until light and creamy. Spoon into the tin and spread level. Bake in the oven for about 45 mins or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool. Do not slice the top level as it needs to be rounded.
To make the butter icing, put the butter into a bowl and beat until soft. Gradually beat in the icing sugar. Slice the chocolate and mint cakes in half horizontally so you have four layers. Using an 8 cm round cutter, stamp a circle from the center of each layer. Place the bottom layer of chocolate cake on a 25 cm cake board. Spread with a little butter icing. Place the bottom green layer on top. Spread with butter icing and place the other chocolate layer on top. Spread with more icing and place the rounded green sponge on top.
Fill the center hole with sweets, almost to the top. Take one of the 8 cm green sponge pieces and slice in half horizontally. Place one piece on the cake to cover the hole containing the sweets. Spread the top with the remaining butter icing. Roll out about 300 g of the white fondant icing to a 20 cm circle and place on top of the cake.
Brush the sides of the cake with apricot jam. Measure the circumference of the cake and the depth. Add 2.5 cm to the depth measurement. Using these measurements roll out the green fondant to a long strip. (You may find it easier to do two shorter strips). Attach the strip around the cake. Use scissors snip around the top edge to represent grass.
Make a cardboard template of a pentagon (5 sides). Roll out the black icing and cut out six pentagons. Place them on the cake as for a football. If you wish to stick them in place use a little icing sugar mixed with water.
With the remaining white icing trimmings make a scarf and paint with food coloring in your team colors. Drape the scarf over the edge of the cake. Add candles as desired.
Recipe source: BBC Good Food
