Make the cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 300°F (148°C) and prepare a cupcake pan with liners.
2. Add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt to a large mixing bowl and combine. Set aside.
3. Add the egg, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract to another medium sized bowl and whisk together to combine.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Add the water to the batter and mix until well combined. The batter will be very thin.
6. Fill the cupcake liners about half way and bake for 18-23 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
7. Remove the cupcakes from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Make the buttercream

1. To make the buttercream, beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
2. Add half of the powdered sugar and mix until well combined and smooth.
3. Add the vanilla extract, 4 tablespoons of heavy cream and salt and mix until well combined and smooth.
4. Add the remaining powdered sugar and beat until smooth and well combined. Add additional heavy cream as needed to get the right consistency of frosting.
5. Set aside ¼ cup of the vanilla buttercream to use for the white buttercream. Add about 1 ¼ cups of vanilla buttercream to another bowl and color with the green gel icing color.
6. Add the cocoa powder to the remaining buttercream (about 1 ¾ cups) and mix until well combined.

Frost the cupcakes

1. Add the chocolate buttercream to a large piping bag fitted with the Wilton 21 piping tip.
2. Hold the piping bag at about a 45° angle just above the top of the cupcake. Pipe a zig-zag football onto the cupcake, starting with a smaller end, then gradually creating the wider part of the football in the middle, and then making it small again. Repeat this for every cupcake.
3. Add the green buttercream to a large piping bag fitted with the Wilton 233 piping tip. Pipe the grass around the footballs. Squeeze the piping bag until the “grass” adheres to the cupcake, then slowly lift the piping bag to let the grass get a taller, then release the pressure and lift up. Repeat this for every cupcake.
4. Add the white buttercream to a small piping bag fitted with the Wilton 3 piping tip. Pipe the white laces onto the footballs. Make one longer line down the middle of the football, with 3 shorter lines crossing the longer line perpendicularly.
5. Serve the cupcakes. Store any leftovers in an air-tight container for up to 3-4 days.