This little cake started off as cupcakes, then turned into a pull-apart cupcake cake, and finally transitioned into what you see below:
I was excited to have an excuse to make grass! I've always thought this was the coolest technique. Through this cake I learned that grass + gravity are not a good combination. I guess there's not enough surface area for the little bits of grass to stick to and not fall off the cake. Instead I just made the sides green to match and piped little sprouts of grass in the corners of the base and stars to match the ones on top around the rest of the base. I made the lacing more toward the top of the cake to leave some room for the message.
The inside of the cake is a two-layer chocolate cake (that really moist version that I use for cupcakes works for a full-size cake too, I am happy to report!) with a layer of buttercream icing between them. The football on top is chocolate, too.
Happy birthday Sorin!