Star Wars Baby Shower Cake Step-by-Step

I always sketch out my ideas for each cake over a few days, making any changed I need (or that the person requests, until all involved are happy with the completed sketch. Once the layout is figured out, I measure everything. Since this cake was needed on a Saturday, I began working on the two main fondant pieces (Yoda and the carriage), on the Monday before. Giving me plenty of time for trial and error without it getting stressful. I will break it down into days with step by step instructions and corresponding photos.

I used a combination of gum paste and fondant as I wanted the larger pieces to harden well and they weren’t going to be eaten. f you want everything to be able to be eaten, use all fondant. If you have bigger pieces or it doesn’t matter if no one is able to eat the decorations, use either a mixture of fondant & gum paste, or solid gum paste. Gum paste hardens extremely hard & fairly quickly (while it is made entirely of edible ingredients, it doesn’t taste very good and dries very hard). Note: Be sure to use Crisco on your hands and working surface (the kitchen table was mine), especially if working with gum paste, so it doesn’t stick.

Here goes…..

Day 1: The Baby Carriage.  I wanted the baby Luke to be higher up in the carriage rather than all the way at the bottom of it but I didn’t want it to be solid gum paste as that would make it heavier. Using white gum paste, I decided to make two carriage shaped pieces by adhering two rectangles of gum paste to the bottom piece with gum paste glue* and laying the top piece on top of those, to raise it up. Next, cut a long rectangular piece, long enough to wrap around the entire carriage edge and wide enough so it would be 1/2 inch above the top of the carriage bed (keep this piece wrapped in cling wrap so it does not dry out). Cut out 4 carriage wheels from black fondant. Roll out a piece of fondant to shape the handle of the carriage (pictured in Carriage Canopy photo). For the accessories inside the carriage, I shaped a tiny R2-D2, C-3PO, a bib to hang over the edge of the carriage, baby “Luke”, and a baby blanket of light blue fondant (keep wrapped in saran wrap to avoid drying). I painted C-3PO with edible gold dust mixed with a few drops of almond extract and used an edible marker to draw all the parts on R2-D2. Baby “Luke” was formed from skin tone colored fondant into a wide stick figure shape. I lay the legs (at the knees) over a drinking straw and allowed to dry thoroughly , since I wanted them to have a more defined look under the baby blanket, once placed in the carriage. Allow all, except rectangular carriage side piece and the baby blanket, to dry on wax paper several hours or overnight.

*to make gum paste glue, break up a 1/2″ hunk of gum paste and dissolve in about 1/2 teaspoon of water.

Carriage Assembly: With the gum paste glue (dissolve gum paste in water), assemble the rectangle carriage edge to the carriage base pieces, pressing the edge together to secure. Place several objects (A few Coke cans worked just fine. I also placed some folded paper towels inside to keep the top edge from falling in) against the carriage sides while the glue is drying, to prevent the side from sagging or falling off.

Carriage canopy: Once the sides are hardened (or before they’ve hardened, if your carriage doesn’t have any gaps as mine did), curve three different lengths of floral wire on the inside & insert between the inside edges and secure with gum paste glue, to form the canopy. Using a #4 round icing tip and buttercream icing, create the lattice-work around the entire edge of the carriage. Let dry. Roll out fondant to the approximate size of the canopy & drop over the wires, pressing the edge of the canopy to the top edge of the carriage & under the front wire, to hide the wire. Insert carriage accessories (baby, blanket, toys), and bib with “Judge me by my size do you?” written on it (not pictured). Then, using gum paste, attach the carriage handle, propping it on top of something until it’s adhered. The carriage wheels can be attached now or after placing the carriage on the cake.

 

Day 2: Yoda. His head.Using the green colored fondant, shape the head into a circle. I hollowed out small holes for eye sockets, then inserted rolled up tiny white balls and smoothed a bit of the green over the eye to resemble eye lids. Draw on the pupils using an edible black marker, then attach the nose, shape the mouth, and use a toothpick, or other pointed object to create the wrinkles.  Once satisfied with the look of the head, carefully insert a hollow pipe into the head (long enough that it will rest on the cake once completed). Shape each ear separately around half toothpicks then attach to the head using a small amount of water to help it adhere. If not level with your working surface, place folded paper towel under each ear until thoroughly dried (may take several days depending on the amount of fondant used for the head).

 

 

Feet, Hands, and Staff. Be sure to make his feet before making the coat so you’re able to drape the coat over the feet before the coat has dried. Since the coat would be covering most of the back foot, and part of the front, I didn’t make a complete feet, just what would be seen. Shape from the same green fondant as the head, then shaped small pieces of light yellow fondant until the resembled nails and attached them with a tiny amount of water (used a toothpick to help place them since they were so small).Shape the hands using the same green fondant with light yellow nails. One hand needs to be curved slightly downward to hold the staff, the second, needs to be curved upward to hold the carriage handle. The staff was made with chocolate fondant formed around a toothpick.

 

 

 

His coat. Make a “mannequin” for the coat assembly and for it to dry on. You can use what you have on hand as I did, a Coke can and two small cone-shaped screw on lids from my sons “safety cone” sippy cups that I’d purchased for his Construction theme Birthday Party (thought I’d recommend using something else cone-shaped that you don’t mind possibly not getting back because I was only able to get one of the cones out of the sleeve once dried). I taped the cones to the Coke can in the positions I wanted his arms to be then covered the entire “mannequin” in wax paper, to make for easy removal once the fondant has dried. His undergarment is made of an approximately 12″ long rectangle cut from chocolate fondant as well as the belt.

 

 

 

 

Next, mix together white and chocolate fondant to achieve the desired light brown color of the coat. Roll out an approximately 18′ circle  then drape over the “mannequin”, cutting to create a coat look. Pinch together the seams from cutting under the sleeve and along the side of the coat . Cut open the front of the coat and curve the edges of the collar. Place his feet under the coat edge to dry. Once completely dry, remove the can and cones from inside the coat.

 

Day 3: Backpack diaper bag, light sabers, and lettering. For the diaper bag, make a small hollowed bag shape of light blue fondant and use paper towel stuffed inside to hold it open until it has dried. For the diaper bag accessories, I decided to make a bib, three diapers, a small bottle, and a pacifier. I used a black edible marker to make the “stitching” and the name of the baby (for whom the shower was for) on the diaper bag, and green edible marker for the stitching and “I speak Wookie”, on the bib, and to write “Pampers” on the fondant diapers. Allow the bottle to harden before attaching to the diaper bag. Attach a small circle of matching fondant as the diaper cover over the diapers. Once dried, attach to Yoda’s by rolling out a long skinny strand of the light blue fondant, long enough to wrap over one arm and other his other, secure together on his back using a small ball of fondant & attach the diaper bag to this fondant using a small amount of water (just enough to get the fondant sticky).

 

 

 

The Light sabers. Draw a set of crisscrossed light sabers, approximately 5″ long.Lay the cutout on rolled out white fondant and, using a shark knife, cut around the drawing Smooth down the edges to appear more rounded. I wanted 6 sets for this cake (2 sets on each of the 2 long sides and 1 set on each of the 2 short sides) so I cut out a total of 10 to have extras in case any broke. Dust the light saber handles with silver dust then draw on some stripes with a black edible marker. Paint the light end with food coloring (I used green and blue).

 

 

 

The Lettering: To make the letters for the phrase “A Jedi He Will Be”, on top of the cake, I downloaded a free Star Wars fond that I’d found online. Using a document making program (such as WordPad), type up the letters in the size you want (allow enough room between each letter for cutting), then cut out each letter. Place each letter on rolled out black fondant and, using a sharp knife, cut around each letter. Lay on wax paper to dry.

On the day before the cake is due, bake your cake, make your batch(s) of frosting. I baked a 2-layer 9×13 cake and one batch of buttercream frosting. Stack and crumb coat the cake.

Assembly: Once the crumb coat has dried, position the baby carriage and Yoda on the cake and trace around them with a toothpick, then remove them and insert several wide straws for support. Frost the cake (except the areas you just marked) and visible cake board with the buttercream and cover with crushus up Vanilla Wafers , on cake top as well as cake board, if desired. Gently press the light sabers into the buttercream and place the letters on the cake. I also added a few chocolate rocks that I had left from my sons Construction theme Birthday party, to complete the look .

 

 

 

 

 

Set the fondant/gum paste Carriage on the cake and attach the wheels with pieces of fondant or buttercream icing. Now place Yoda on the cake, carefully positioning his left hand on the carriage handle and his staff under his right hand. Note: Yoda tipped over in transit and lost his left hand (which was easily reattached) so I would recommend adding him upon arrival, if transporting. Below are a few more pictures of the completed cake, set up at the baby shower.