GOOOOOAL!

This cake was quite a kick at this 9-year-old's birthday party. I really scored with this one.

Okay, okay, enough with the witty puns. But in all seriousness, I thought this cake was awesome!

And as a friend (Hillary!) said, the grass looks really good, and it didn't take me near as long as it looks, because I have one of those nifty tricks of the trade to make decorating a lot easier. I used a star tip for the grass, but instead of one opening, it has 3 star-shaped openings so that the cake can be decorated in one-third of the time! Cool, huh?

And I love the contrast of the chocolate lettering with the green frosting... almost like mud and grass, right? And speaking of chocolate, the icing was really tasty. I used butter flavored Crisco, since I knew the icing didn't have to be white. Although not as good as real butter (which does not hold up in this Georgia climate), it was still a very tasty buttercream. And the cake itself was chocolate, an added bonus.

The net is made up of royal icing that dried over night. I actually made three nets. Dad actually broke one, but I promise (!!!!!!!!!!) I don't hold it against him, because I broke the other one. And that's why I made three.

The soccer ball is actually a little clock that stopped working. The birthday boy got it from one of his soccer seasons, I think (he's played seven), and he graciously let me use it for his cake.

The only thing I don't like is that the J looks funny... but that's just how I write them. Oh well. And the writing is a bit off-center, but again, the person who really matters didn't care. If the birthday boy likes it, so do I!

There was definitely no foul with this cake!