How to make and decorate a football cake

This cake is so convincing you’ll be worried it will be mistaken for the real thing. Whether you are celebrating a birthday party or a footballing triumph, kids and adults alike will delight in this fun bake.

The simple sponge recipe couldn’t be easier to make. It is cooked in two pudding shaped tins and the two sponge halves are then sandwiched together with delicious vanilla frosting and jam. Naturally you can change the sponge recipe to suit your preferences, but the traditional Victoria sponge is a reliable favourite.

One of the things that make this delicious novelty sponge so great is that once you’ve mastered the techniques, you can make variations on the spherical design for all manner of occasions.

How to decorate a football cake

It’s all in the preparation, so once you’ve baked your perfect sponge you’re ready to get decorating.

1. Once your two sponge halves have been given time to cool, sandwich them together with delicious raspberry jam and Renshaw Vanilla Frosting.
2. Next you’ll need to smother the entire cake sphere in vanilla frosting. It doesn’t matter too much if crumbs get caught up in the frosting as it will be covered in fondant icing too.
3. The next step is to prepare the football field for your cake, so lightly dust a work surface with icing sugar and then knead and roll out Renshaw Lincoln Green Ready-to-Roll Icing.
4. Dampen an 8in cake board and cover with the green icing so it sticks and then create a grass effect by stippling the icing with a wire brush.
5. Now it’s time to cover your cake, so knead and roll out Renshaw Black and White Ready-to-Roll icing on a work surface lightly dusted with icing sugar.
6. You might want to first create cardboard templates to help you to cut black pentagons and white hexagons from the rolled out icing. When you’re happy with them stick these onto your cake.
7. You may find you need to stretch your shapes a little to fit as you go further down the cake.
8. Now it’s time to place the football onto the green cake board. To stop your cake from rolling off use a little Royal icing to fix your cake into place.

There you have it: the perfect football fan’s cake. If you want to experiment with recipes other than Victoria sponge here are a few for you to try:

Chocolate sponge – another classic cake. Ideal for the chocoholics in your life

Red velvet cake – where the name is as lovely as the cake itself

Ginger cake – homely, tasty and gooey – another cake classic

Tropical fruit cake – a reliable favourite that stands the test of time

Why not explore further baking recipes and decorating tips?