World Cup Fever

World Cup fever began at 7 a.m. today in my household. All told, this will be the third World Cup I've endured since meeting my husband. But since it's only every four years, I've learned to roll with the punches -- and by punches I mean very loud dudes in my living room at ungodly hours (4 a.m.), early morning beer drinking, mid-afternoon beer drinking and oh yes, late-night beer drinking. It's a raucous happening, but one I've come to enjoy. I get to see my husband's eyes light up like a kid, and that's the best part. So, to commemorate the 2010 games, I baked a batch of soccer ball cookies to go with all that beer drinking and soccer watching.

Here's a quick and dirty tutorial on how to make these bad boys, though really it's pretty easy. They'll add a touch of class to any World Cup gathering, and you'll score a "gooooooooooal" with anyone who tastes them.

First, bake up a batch of round sugar cookies. I used my favorite recipe for No Fail Sugar Cookies and a round cutter from Michael's. Then, whip up a batch of royal icing using this recipe and flavor it with vanilla or whatever you prefer. Cover the cookies with white icing and let dry for a few hours, preferably overnight.


Cut out a pentagon template. I found a pentagon to fit this particular cookie cutter here.


Place the template in the center of the cookie and trace around it with an edible ink pen -- I used AmeriColor Gourmet Writer in black.


Outline the pentagon with stiff black icing and fill it in with thin black icing.


With stiff black icing, draw a thin line from each point outward to the edge of the cookie.


Add triangles about two-thirds of the way down and fill them in. You'll get the hang of it after one or two attempts.


Here's the finished cookie. It's that easy. Enjoy!