Ever wanted to show your love for eSports with something edible? Read ahead to learn how to make some cupcakes to celebrate the rapidly approaching ESL One Frankfurt Dota 2 tournament.

With ESL One Frankfurt just around the corner, we thought what better way to celebrate than with cake? Whether you’re planning on having a few friends over to watch the games or are going to a viewing party, these cupcakes will be perfect to show your support for your favorite team! As Julia Child said, a party without cake is just a meeting - never forget that, folks.

Before we begin, I’d like to start with a small disclaimer: these cupcakes are a little time-consuming. However, they don’t require too much attention. You could actually make them while watching ESL One if you wanted. Alternatively, I have made some cupcake toppers that you can simply print, cut out, stick on a skewer with some tape and pop into your cupcakes.

In order to make the decorations, you will need:

White, black, blue, yellow and red fondant or modeling chocolate (I used a 50/50 mix of both)

A rolling pin

A 68mm circular cookie cutter (or something similar)

A craft knife or a paring knife

Cornstarch - if you’re using a silicone mat like I did this might be optional

You can make all of the team logos or simply pick your favorite team (in which case you might not need all of the colors of fondant listed above). The templates I made were a little small for my cookie cutter so I enlarged them slightly, which also makes them easier to cut out. The technique to cut out each logo is the same, although for some of the logos there are additional instructions on the template.

Download the templates

Print out the templates and cut out the logos that you would like to use Knead an orange-sized ball of black fondant to soften it slightly. Before using any colored fondant, you want to knead it slightly so that you can work with it. As fondant dries out if left uncovered, ensure you keep unused fondant covered with cling film Roll out to a 2mm thickness and cut out ten circles using your cookies cutter - if you are not using a silicone mat, you will need to dust your work surface with cornstarch Place the templates on top of the correct color of fondant and press down slightly in order to adhere, holding them in place with your least dominant hand Roughly cut around the logo and remove excess fondant Cut around the template with a knife. I found that, rather than dragging the knife like a pen, small cuts created a cleaner edge. Where the templates are quite difficult to cut, I found it easier to freehand rather than use the template With the template still in place, use your knife to push against the edge to neaten it up Allow the logos to harden a little bit so that they are easier to handle Stick the logos to the circular discs of fondant with a paintbrush and some water Leave to harden overnight

For the cupcakes, you can either buy them or make your own. Personally I think your lovingly crafted decorations deserve homemade cupcakes, so below is a recipe for the lemon cupcakes I made. However, feel free to use any cupcake recipe, or your favorite box mix.

Ingredients

225g self raising flour

175g softened butter

175g caster sugar

100g natural yoghurt

3 large eggs

Zest of three lemons

1 tbsp toasted poppy seeds

1 tsp vanilla extract

Step-by-step instructions

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F Line a 12 hole cupcake pan with paper cupcake cases Using a hand or stand mixer, beat the butter until it is light and fluffy Add the sugar to the butter and mix until incorporated - scrape the sides down occasionally to make sure it's all mixed Add the rest of the ingredients apart from the flour and mix - the mixture will look like it is has curdled so don’t be alarmed Add the flour and fold in with a spatula until the flour has fully incorporated while ensuring you do not over mix Divide the mixtures between the 12 cases - the batter should be fairly thick Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean Cool in the tray for 10 minutes and then remove and place on a wire cooling rack until completely cool

Finally we move onto the buttercream frosting, which will secure your cupcake topper in place. You can use any type of buttercream you want but for these I used a standard buttercream recipe. You can either pipe a swirl of buttercream onto your cupcake or simply use the back of a spoon to spread it on. Depending on how you like your cupcake to frosting ratio, you can either pipe a full swirl of buttercream or just along the edge.

Now that you’re done, invite some friends along to share your creations and watch ESL One Frankfurt this Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 CEST!

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