Cylon Cake - Difficult

 The cake actually isn't too hard, if you have a Larson Scanner...

This cake consists of 4 8" round layers, stacked with buttercream between each layer.  The top 2 layers are on a cake round, with dowels below for support and stability.

I molded Rice Crispy Treats to make the crest and face plate.  I cut a "window" for the Larson Scanner display.

Greg assembled the Larson Scanner from a kit (EvilMadScientist.com:  http://evilmadscience.com/productsmenu/tinykitlist/152-scanner?qh=YToxOntpOjA7czo2OiJsYXJzb24iO30%3D)   He used a fairly long wire for the battery pack, so the wire could wrap around the cake to the battery pack on the back of the cake board.

Greg also built a little shelf for the scanner from a thin piece of wood and encased it in a box made from a clear (grayish) plastic notebook divider page.  I placed bamboo skewers between cake round (under the 3rd layer) and the cake layer, so they protruded to make a little shelf.   I mounted the Larson Scanner on this shelf, placing the battery pack on cake board in the back.

I placed the rice crispy treat face place over the front and top of the caked, using liberal amount of buttercream to hold it in place. 

I covered the whole thing in gray-tinted rolled fondant, with the wire emerging from the back of the cake at the very bottom.  I covered the scanner with paper and sprayed the cake with edible silver spray color, to give it a shiny metallic look.   Remove the paper, turn on the power, and voila!

The Internet - Medium

I asked Greg what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, and he told me he wanted a cake in the shape of the Internet.

The cake itself was easy - it's a 9" square cake cut in half and stacked, buttercream between the layers, covered with rolled fondant.  I also rolled a sheet of fondant for the cake board, to represent "the cloud" and added lots of fondant decorations.etc.  My personal favorite is the persistent tracking cookie, next to the facebook post.  The xkcd has text that appears when you pull the mouse.  

Honey Bee Hive Cake - Medium

I saw a very cute bee hive cake pan, but didn't buy it - decided I could improvise!  You can too!  This cake is pretty easy.   I made it for a class party celebrating all the kids with summer birthdays.  Each child had his/her own bee.

In advance, make the bees using fondant.  Make the bodies and wings separately, when they are set, glue the wings to the bodies using black icing from a tube.  My bees were quite big, so they took several days to dry. 

1  Bake 4 layers - 1 each in a 10", 8", and 6" round pan.  Back a tiny layer in a 4" pan if you have one or else in a small Pyrex bowl, ramekin or cupcake pan (in a pinch).  These will be stacked as shown, to make the hive.

2.  When cool, level the bottom 3 layers, and stack, with yellow-tinted buttercream icing between the layers.  Add the top layer.  Cover the entire cake with open stars, using a Wilton  No. 16 or 18 tip.  If you have a larger tip, use that - I believe I used a Wilton 32.)  Note - put several layers of stars at the "steps" so it looks smooth, not stair-like.)

3.  Tint fondant yellow and roll several long snakes.  Wrap these around the cake layers as shown above, to emphasize the hive shape.   Add a small black fondant door.

4.  To finish cake, position bees using clear skewers.  (See note in the Death Star post about clear skewers.)  I also drizzled some gold piping gel around the top, as it looked just like honey.

WALL-E - Difficult

I made the WALL-E cake for the robotics team end of year party.  It was a big hit.  Only the orange box is cake, all the rest is inedible materials that I added for effect.  I removed it before serving.

In advance, make the arms, wheel units, shoe and head/eyes out of Styrofoam.  Cover with rolled fondant, using picture or photo above as a guide.  Find a piece of pliable black metal to use as the neck/head support.  We used a left over shelf support - my husband used his manliness to bend it as pictured.  (I really have no clue what he did, but it was perfect!)

Also in advance, make the fondant decorations for the front of the cake. (buttons, control panel, and the "E" in a red circle)

1.  You need a square block of cake.  Using a 10" square pan, this means you need 5 2" layers.   Bake all the cakes and let cool.  If you use an 8" pan, you'll need 4 2" layers.

2. Level the cooled cakes.  Do not skip this - if the cakes aren't level, your cake will be crooked and unstable.  See: http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/leveling-cakes.cfm   

3.  Using square cake "rounds" (cardboard separators), make 1 2 layer cake and 1 3 layer cake, with buttercream icing between the layers.  I had to cut the separates from larger rectangular ones as my store didn't have square "rounds" in stock in the 10" size.


4.   Stack the 2 cakes on your cake board, using dowels to support the top cake.  (I used a plastic 10" cake stand that had little feet - nice to get the cake off the board so it looked right with the wheel units.) Do not skip the dowels!  Your cake cannot stand without dowels!   See: http://www.make-fabulous-cakes.com/tiered-cakes.html  

5.  Frost the entire cake smooth with orange tinted buttercream. 

6.  Using a can of red or brown edible spray color, spritz the cake unevenly to make it look worn.  Just a few sprays, being careful to not overspray.    Then add the fondant decorations.  Pipe gray stripes on edges using a large round tip, such as a Wilton No. 5.  Pipe the "WALL" using a No. 3 tip in black.

7.  Insert the black metal neck rod, with the head attached.  Using skewers, insert the arms. Note - the stripes on the arms should be on the side.  I attached them wrong, but didn't notice until much later.  Position the wheel units with skewers as well.   Set the shoe in front, adding a bit of Oreo cookie crumbs for "dirt" and an bit of plant.  (I used some spinach leaves.  I didn't have Oreo crumbs, so I used graham cracker crumbs, Oreo would have been better.)  

This is why I make cakes:

Death Star - Medium to Difficult

The Death Star cake is really 2 separate cakes.  The Death Star itself, plus a plain sheet cake (using the Wilton large paisley pan) upon which X-wings and TIE fighters wage a battle.  The Death Star looked great, but before we could photograph it, the board got bumped and the ball rolled off the stand and hit the floor.  Minutes before the party!  I touched it up, but you can see the damage.  C'est la vie.

In advance, make x-wing and TIE fighters out of fondant. I snagged some clear plastic skewers from the floral dept at my grocery store, and let the figures set in a block of Styrofoam.  (These are the skewers that hold little cards in a bouquet of flowers or a plant, just break off the prongs at the top.)  The TIE fighter wings are held on with toothpicks.  Break off bits of toothpick to get the right size.   

1.  Make a round cake using the Wilton Sports Ball pan.   Using 2 box mixes (same brand/flavor) make the large sheet cake using the Wilton Paisley pan.

2.  For the Death Star - frost smooth with gray buttercream.  Add rolled fondant panels on the sides, leaving a space open for the weapons crater.  When the icing is dry, depress the crater using a ping-pong size ball.  I used the ball from my track-ball style mouse.)  Use a Wilton No. 2 tip to add lines/detail to the crater.

Note:  I covered a tall plastic drinking glass with black fondant to serve as the stand for the Death Star.  I placed the Death Star on the stand, but did not "glue" it down with buttercream.  20-20 hindsight puts a big dollop of icing on that glass before I set the ball on it!

3.  For the other cake, to make as pictured, cover the cake with high-quality rolled fondant, tinted dark gray.  See my page on Rolled Fondant.  Alternative, frost smooth with dark gray buttercream.  Position the vehicles as shown (or as you like).  Finish with a row of small fondant balls (or buttercream open stars) around the base.

Millennium Falcon - Very Difficult

I made this cake several years ago, and it was well beyond my ability at the time.  It's one of the few cakes that I was not happy with, but the boys LOVED it.  Boys at the party immediately recognized it, and apparently that was what mattered.  I still pretty much hate the cake, but it's here for posterity.  And I guess it proves that even if you do something that's beyond you, the kids will still love it.  So shoot for the moon!  Or hyperspace, as the case may be.

In advance, make the satellite dish out of fondant.  Roll fondant, cut a circle, gently score with lines, and place in mini-cupcake pan to get shape.  Let set.  Make a big cone for the base and a small cone for the middle.  Use a bit of toothpick to assemble. 

Also have a good picture handy to help with decorating, esp. for the back.

1. Bake a 14” round layer using a Wilton pan – see pan direction for number of cups of cake batter needed. 

2. Use another mix to make a regular square cake, plus some cupcakes. 

3. Cut the square cake to make the front part of the ship.  Use gray-tinted icing to attach it to the round layer.  Crumb coat the whole cake with Buttercream. 

4. Roll a strip of fondant to lay across the top of round part to make the raised area in the middle.  Can also cut a strip of cake for this, but it is harder to get it to look right.  I think I also added a cupcake top in the middle, for extra height.

5. To make cake pictured, cover the whole cake with gray-tinted rolled fondant.  See: http://www.wilton.com/decorating/fondant/rolled-fondant.cfm  (See my Rolled Fondant Page - do not use Wilton fondant, use a soft, stretchy, high quality fondant.)    This is very tricky to do on the large, odd shape, so it may take some practice.  Be sure the icing is dry before you lay the fondant on it.  Alternative: frost smooth with gray icing.

6. Trim 3 cupcakes so that you have a “tube.” A skewer helps hold them together.  Frost and lay on side of cake.  

7. Decorate with yellow, black, red and gray icing as shown or per your picture.  Decorate back panel with black icing per picture or model.  Finish by adding the satellite dish on top.    

Star War Cookies v2

I have used the Williams Sonoma stormtrooper cookie cutter in other ways.  Here I used it as a pattern to create a TK image on a large chocolate chip cookie.  Just press the cutter onto the surface to make a pattern, and decorate as noted in the prior post.

Note - my son wanted a big chocolate chip cookie "cake" - but one cookie wasn't big enough, so I made  2 and just joined them.  Easy way to extend the quantity.