Football Pitch Party Cake

• vegetable oil↗200ml ml

  plus extra for greasing

• wheat flour↗250g g
• cocoa powder↗80g g
• baking powder↗2½ tsp tsp
• baking soda↗1 tsp tsp
• soft light‑brown sugar↗325g g
• natural yogurt↗250ml ml
• vanilla extract↗2 tsp tsp
• eggs↗3
• butter↗200g g
• powdered sugar↗500g g
• milk↗1-2 tbsp tbsp
• vanilla extract↗1 tsp tsp
• green food colouring (gel)↗few drops of
• mini football figurines

  and chocolate football ball for decoration (optional)

Step-by-step instructions

1. 1

   Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C with convection/gas 4. Grease the bottom and sides of a 33 × 23 cm baking tin (at least 2.5 cm deep) with oil and line it with parchment. In a large bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, leavening, soda, sugar and a pinch of salt. Rub any sugar lumps between your fingers to break them up, then give the bowl a few shakes to bring the sugar to the surface.

2. 2

   Whisk oil, yogurt, vanilla and eggs in a jug, then pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix well with a spatula or whisk until no flour lumps remain. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 30 min, until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. If wet batter remains on the skewer, bake another 5 min and check again. Let cool in the tin for at least 20 min, then turn out onto a rack and let cool completely.

3. 3

   For the icing, beat butter, sugar, 1 tbsp milk and vanilla until soft and fluffy, adding the remaining milk if the mixture is too stiff. Transfer 4‑5 tbsp of icing to a piping bag with a 1 cm round tip and pipe a border around the cake, leaving a 1 cm gap between edge and border. Sketch a centre line, a centre circle and penalty zones, then push the remaining icing back into the bowl. Colour the remaining icing green using a few drops of gel‑type food colouring. Transfer the green icing to a star‑tip piping bag (1‑2 cm or grass/feather tip). Pipe small drops of icing over the whole cake, avoiding the field lines, until the sponge is fully covered. Decorate with mini figurines and a chocolate football, if desired. Store the cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days.