Star Wars Themed Teacher Appreciation Cupcakes - May 2012

I made these Star Wars themed cupcakes for my son, Caleb's, 4th grade switch teacher.  She had decorated her room with a Star Wars theme that year (much to the joy of my kiddos) and I'd heard her mention that R2D2 was one of her favorite characters.  So, I thought that R2, C3PO, and some lightsabers would be a nice set of cupcakes for her.

Oooo... shiny!  :)

These cupcakes are from the same batch as the other teacher's cupcakes we made (see the post Teacher Appreciation Tulip Cupcakes); just chocolate cupcakes baked, cooled completely, and iced with a big swirl of buttercream piped on with a large open star tip.

To make the lightsabers I tinted fondant red, blue, and gray.  I rolled the red and blue into long snakes the size I wanted the lightsaber blade to be.  I tapered one end of the snake for the end of the lightsaber.  Then I rolled the gray fondant into a small snake the same width as the red and blue blades.  I used water to attach the gray hilts to the red and blue blades.  I set them aside to dry for awhile.  Later I used a black food coloring marker to make the black markings on the hilts.  I inserted the ends of the lightsabers into the icing making them cross at the blades.  I put a little water on the spot where they crossed to help them stay together.  If I was doing it again I would've inserted part of a toothpick into the end of the hilt to stick into the cupcake.  This would've helped them to stay in the position I wanted without falling down.  I guess if I wasn't traveling with them it may not be as necessary.

To make R2-D2 and C3PO I rolled out some white fondant fairly thin.  I let it dry just a bit so the food marker would move smoothly on it.  I used a black food marker to draw R2-D2 and C3PO.  For C3PO I then used some of my gold airbrush food coloring to fill in the lines, and then I did the same with silver for the silver leg.  For the wires in his torso I used food markers to draw them in.  Most of R2 I just left white, but I did use the silver airbrush food coloring and a blue food marker to fill in the necessary places.  As I said with the lightsabers, if I was doing this again, I would definitely use something to make these figures a little sturdier on the cupcakes.  I would secure a wooden skewer or a lollipop stick to the back of the pieces so that I could insert the stick into the cupcake instead of just the fondant.  Traveling with the fondant pieces just stuck into the cupcakes was a little stressful.  :)  C3PO's leg actually broke a bit, but it was low enough that you couldn't tell.

I really liked the look of these cupcakes.  Caleb's teacher absolutely loved them!  Yay!  :)

(I created my animated name at this site.)