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.)
