This Pull-Apart Soccer Cupcake Cake is the best alternative to a traditional cake for any soccer-themed party or game day gathering. It’s easy to make and a great option for those new to cake/cupcake decorating. With its realistic green soccer field and intricately designed soccer ball, this delicious masterpiece can become the star of your kids’ birthday party or other sports celebration. 

We served this pull-apart soccer cupcake cake at one of our soccer-themed birthday parties. Make sure to check out all the soccer-themed posts on my website to see lots of soccer-themed dessert ideas, party games, snacks, decorations and much more!

Ingredients

• 32 cupcakes of your choice – I made these Perfectly Moist Chocolate Cupcakes
• frosting of your choice – I used:
  • for the base frosting layer, 1 kg of whipped chocolate ganache made out of 700 ml whipping cream and 350 g semi-sweet chocolate 
  • for the grass, 400 g Swiss meringue buttercream coloured in green using gel food colouring 
  • for the white pattern on the soccer ball, 150 g mascarpone and whipped cream frosting but Swiss meringue buttercream can be used as well 
  • for the soccer ball outline and black pattern, 100 g Swiss meringue buttercream mixed with 2 Tbsp melted semi-sweet chocolate (melted and cooled to room temperature) and further coloured with black gel food colouring 
• Wilton star piping tip # 24 for the soccer ball
• grass piping tip for the green grass 
• 3-4 piping bags, one for each colour used
• black and green gel food colouring 

Directions

Bake your cupcakes and let them cool off. 

Make your frostings. If you want to keep things simple, you can just use buttercream instead of the different types of frosting. The whipped chocolate ganache is also optional.

Colour about 100 g (7 tablespoons) of frosting in black. 

Set aside about 150 g (10-12 tablespoons) of your white frosting and colour the rest in green. 

If you’re using buttercream and want super intense colours (black & green), follow the steps in this other post to learn how to use an immersion blender and achieve intense colours. 

Arrange the cupcakes on a serving platter or cake board. Ensure they are placed as tight together as possible with little to no gaps. 

Spread the whipped chocolate ganache on top. 

Use black frosting placed in a piping bag and cut its tip to have a very small opening. Trace the soccer ball outline as well as you can. Start with a pentagon in the middle and then trace all the hexagons and half pentagons around it. You might find easier to trace the outline of the soccer ball with a toothpick before you start piping it.

Fit the piping bag with the # 24 star tip and add black frosting into it. Start piping little stars to fill in each pentagon-like shape. 

Place white frosting in a piping bag fitter with the # 24 star tip. Start piping little stars to fill in each hexagon-like shape.

Place green frosting in a piping tip fitted with the grass piping tip. 

Hold the piping bag at a 90-degree angle to the surface of the cupcakes. The tip’s holes should be facing downwards.

Start piping the green frosting onto the cupcakes, all around the soccer ball. Gently squeeze the piping bag to release the frosting as you move the tip slightly above the cupcakes’ surface.

As you squeeze the piping bag, the frosting will come out of the tip through multiple small holes. This will mimic the appearance of grass blades.

Apply consistent, gradual pressure to the piping bag as you move it up and down in short motions. This will create varying lengths of frosting strands, simulating the texture of grass.

Slightly overlap each new row of piped frosting with the previous one, just like you would with real grass. This overlapping effect will give your grass a natural look.

The kids loved eating these cupcakes, although I must admit, not as much as the soccer ball cake pops and cakesicles 🙂 ! They definitely had plenty of options to indulge in!