I was asked to make these football cupcakes a few weeks ago for a friend who loves my cakes, and well, can you say no to a friend who loves your cakes? I certainly have a hard time of it, that’s for sure. And so, my little football toppers were born.

These simple football cupcake toppers are most popular to be made for… (drum roll please)… The Superbowl! Clearly, if there was ever a time to make these, that would be it! Game day is the day for these easy cupcake toppers.

These also make great toppers for a football-themed birthday party, a gift for a friend, or whatever else you may desire.

Are these football toppers easy to make?

Yes! If you are a beginner in the cake world and you’re wanting to try something new, this is the perfect place to start. In addition to being super easy to make, this project is such a good way to give you some experience handling basic cake decorating skills. A simple tutorial like this one will give you a feel for working with fondant, which is a great step for a beginner to take.

What are these toppers made of?

I have made these cupcake toppers with fondant icing for the football and royal icing to create the white laces on top.

Do I need a lot of special tools to make these cupcake toppers?

Not at all. In fact, I am happy to report that this is a project that requires very few special tools and ingredients at all! You will need a few cake making staples (listed below), but beyond that, a sharp knife, a work surface, and dedicated hands will be all you need.

Can you make these footballs for other things?

Absolutely; you can use these adorable football toppers for whatever football themed thing you can dream up. Cakes, cookies, and you-name-it! I can’t say I recommend making them to go on top of something savoury, however. These little guys are made of pretty much pure sugar.

Let’s talk about teams… Did I choose these colors?

No I did not; and furthermore, I’ll take this opportunity to raise my white flag and say that I know nothing about football teams and their colours! So before you start getting excited or mad, you can just note that for all I know, I’m cheering for team Spider Man with these colors.

A note about the bold icing color of these cupcakes…

To be honest, these cupcakes made me a little nervous at first because when it comes to adding color to buttercream, it’s my preference to keep the colors a little less bold. Maybe it’s my reserved(ish) personality that makes something like this feel so out of character for me. Still, regardless of how insecure I felt, these brightly colored cupcakes turned out beautifully!

You Will Need:

Cake fondant (or a 50/50 mix of fondant and Gum Paste)
Vegetable shortening
Brown gel food colouring (I recommend Americolor gel food colours)
Royal Icing (you will need less than 1/2 a recipe for this tutorial)
Piping bags
#2 Piping Tip
Tip coupler (optional)
Sharp knife
Plastic wrap

Football Cupcake Toppers [Tutorial]

These adorable fondant football cupcake toppers are super simple to make! Ready in just a few minutes.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cupcake toppers, fondant, football

Prep Time 20 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 12 football toppers

Author Naomi

Ingredients

Cake fondant (or a 50/50 mix of fondant and gum paste)
Vegetable shortening
Brown gel food colouring
Royal icing (you will need less than 1/2 a recipe for this tutorial – see notes for the recipe link)
Piping bags
#2 piping tip
Tip coupler (optional)
Sharp knife
Plastic wrap

Instructions

Knead and color the fondant

Lightly grease a work surface with vegetable shortening and knead the a piece of fondant, about the size of a small plum (slightly larger than a golf ball), till smooth and pliable. Add a couple of drops of food colouring and knead in until well-combined, adding more as necessary to get a football-brown colour.

Divide into sections

Cut the ball in half and roll into two 6-inch logs. Slice each log into 6 equal-sized pieces. Cover with plastic, and uncover only as you work to shape each section, keeping the remaining pieces covered (this will keep the fondant from drying out as you work).

Shape the footballs

Using your fingertips, dull the sharp corners of each small segment, and then gently shape into little footballs.
Note: The heat of your hands will cause the fondant to shape to your wish, so holding it gently as you work will cause it to bend and meld to the shape you desire better than quickly forcing it into the right shape.
Set the shaped pieces aside to dry, and continue until each piece of brown fondant is formed to the right shape.

Pipe the laces

Spoon some of your prepared royal icing into a piping bag fitted with a #2 round piping tip, and pipe a long line down the centre of each football lengthways.
Next, pipe 4 small stitching lines across in the opposite direction. Set aside to dry.

Dry time:

These are best made at least 1-2 days ahead of time so that they have a chance to dry out and hold their shape; however, since the shape is so simple, they can be made and used for decor as soon as 1 hour after they are made.

Recipe Notes

You can get my homemade royal icing recipe Here.

How to Make Fondant Football Cupcake Toppers

Directions

1 -Knead and color the fondant

Lightly grease a work surface with vegetable shortening and knead the a piece of fondant, about the size of a small plum (slightly larger than a golf ball), till smooth and pliable. Add a couple of drops of food colouring and knead in until well-combined, adding more as necessary to get a football-brown colour.

2 – Divide into sections

Cut the ball in half and roll into two 6-inch logs. Slice each log into 6 equal-sized pieces. Cover with plastic, and uncover only as you work to shape each section, keeping the remaining pieces covered (this will keep the fondant from drying out as you work).

3 – Shape the footballs

Using your fingertips, dull the sharp corners of each small segment, and then gently shape into little footballs.

Note: The heat of your hands will cause the fondant to shape to your wish, so holding it gently as you work will cause it to bend and meld to the shape you desire better than quickly forcing it into the right shape.

Set the shaped pieces aside to dry, and continue until each piece of brown fondant is formed to the right shape.

4 – Pipe the laces

Spoon some of your prepared royal icing into a piping bag fitted with a #2 round piping tip, and pipe a long line down the centre of each football lengthways. Next, pipe 4 small stitching lines across in the opposite direction. Set aside to dry.

Dry time:

These are best made at least 1-2 days ahead of time so that they have a chance to dry out and hold their shape; however, since the shape is so simple, they can be made and used for decor as soon as 1 hour after they are made.

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And that’s it! I hope you find this simple and easy to follow.

If you made these cupcake toppers, please remember to tag me on Instagram @naomicakesofficial because I would love to see your beautiful work!

One question to sign off with: How do you feel about bold icing colours?

Back soon,

–Naomi

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