For my son’s 5th birthday, he wanted a Star Wars themed party. After a little web searching I found several ideas for his cake. Together we decided on R2D2 birthday cake. Here’s how I did it.
I used 2 store bought cake mixes (reducing the oil to 1 tablespoonful to make a firmer textured cake, because it had to be stacked so tall.) I used three 6 inch rounds and half of the Wilton ball pan. I stacked them on a black teacup saucer and elevated it with a small black ramekin dish. (since the platter was also black – many people at the party thought the cake was suspended by the legs alone! – Yay!)
The legs were carved from rice crispy treats, I inserted a 3 inch dowel in each and then refrigerated to make them more firm. The whole thing was covered with buttercream (my family prefers it over fondant) and I used the “Viva” papertowel method to smooth the icing. The “wires” were licorice.
Since the party place was 25 minutes from our house I had to attach and decorate the legs when we got there (and only had 10 minutes to do so!) Everyone was amazed, I even surprised myself, as I have never taken any classes and only make cakes once a year for my son’s birthdays! Thanks for looking! Comments welcome!
You managed to elevate the body, which I didn’t bother with mine. Yours came out really phenomenal! (I agree, buttercream beats fondant, and you can do so much with it!)
how did you get the frosting on top to be silver?
First, I tinted the buttercream grey using black and a touch of blue gel. After it set and “crusted” I used a small artist’s brush and dusted over the grey with the edible silver powder that is meant for fondant. Thanks for the comments!
Love the cake! I’m on a mission to figure this out. What is the viva paper towel method? For smoothing the frosting? And could you break it down for me with the raising with the rameken etc? Maybe more pictures? You did an amazing job!!