Football Cupcakes (without any gunk)

For his birthday party this year, G chose a football theme. So for weeks I was on the hunt for football plates, napkins, and all the fun football things a 5 year old would enjoy for a party.

When it came to the cake, I asked G a rather open-ended question to which he answered rather specifically (note to self: open-ended questions aren't always the best route).

"G, what sort of cake do you want for your birthday party?"

(pause for thinking)

"Cupcakes. I want lots of cupcakes, decorated to look like the Green Bay helmet. I want the frosting to be lime flavored and the cake should be peach-y tasting."

Sigh.

I suggested vanilla football cupcakes, and since G is one of the most good-natured people I know, he happily obliged.

These were the best homemade birthday cupcakes I've ever made, thanks to my wonderful SP&P fan Jo, who suggested Anne Burrell's Sour Cream Cupcake Recipe. They turned out perfectly!

After the cupcakes were cooled, they need some decorations to get from plain to:


I've been trying to come up with gunk-free (read: no artificial colors or dyes) cookie and cake decorating methods for years. We've had great success with things like our Naturally Orange Frosting that uses canned pumpkin for color.

But this time I needed green, so I sized up my options and decided to use:


Spinach.

Spinach, steamed in water for several minutes and strained, to make about 3 tablespoons of spinach mush (culinary term, to be sure). I combined it with 2 tablespoons of vanilla soy milk (to add the vanilla flavor) and pureed it in my blender and then strained out the excess pulp:


I then combined the green spinach "dye," with 4 oz of light cream cheese, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon additional soy milk. I then blended it with about 1 1/2 - 2 cups confectioners sugar:



Sure, it is not kelly green, it is a light mint, but for our purposes, it suited G just great and (and this is important!) it did not taste like spinach.

A little chocolate frosting (1/4 cup melted chocolate added to 4 oz light cream cheese, a dash of vanilla and milk and 1 1/2 - 2 cups confectioners sugar) in the shape of a football with some white icing (about 2 tablespoons milk with 1/2 - 1 cup confectioners sugar) laces, and G was over the moon about his football cupcakes!


Try some if you are hosting a Super Bowl party or football birthday party yourself!

Life is sweet,
SPC