Birthday cake ideas, help! UPDATE

i n c u b u s

So I really need some help coming up with how to do my gf's birthday cake. I'm gonna make it tonight (her bday is tomorrow) and I have limted options. I'd really like this cake to be special and not half-assed so I'd love to hear your guys' ideas. Here are the guide lines:
-It's going to be STAR WARS (oh yes shes that kinda girl)
-I am limited to only use whatever the hell is at walmart.
-I have considered getting a few action figures and making a battle scene but theyre like 20$ for 3. I really don't wanna spend more on the toys then I would on the whole cake put together.
-I have also considered getting a darth vader mask that comes on the costumes and cutting it in half to fit a sheet cake but again the cost of the costume itself is not worth it.
-I have VERY bad handwriting but I draw well. I believe I can pull off the Star Wars Logo as a last resort option.
-The cake has to be funfetti.

Thanks so much for the help guys and I went ahead and wrapped a round 9 inch cake with black fondant, frosted it, and made a lil death star in the corner. Heres how it came out!

Crashtard

What about making a round cake decorated like the death star? You could even make a tie fighter out of thin cardboard and stick it just over the cake with a stick.

Edit: In case you're wondering how I think you can make a round cake easily: make two cakes and put them together with frosting. Cut them into a ball. Profit!

i n c u b u s

That can be done, Im just wondering how I can mix colors to get gray. Keep em comin guys!

Sunstrand

If you are talented artisticly you could carve the cake in the shape of a ship, the Mellenium Falcon would be the best because it is pretty much a circle with some odd shapes coming out of it.

As for the cake I made a 2 layer devils food cake with white chocolate/coconut ganache in between the layers. I turned out super good. Oh if you do decide to carve the cake I would suggest making one from scratch so it's more dense as the cake in a box cakes are a bit to loose and fluffy for carving.

Also if you want the recipe I used I can get that to you aswell.

i n c u b u s

I'm pretty sure she wants funfetti cake but I appreciate the idea, thank you.

Usagi

i n c u b u s wrote: »

That can be done, Im just wondering how I can mix colors to get gray. Keep em comin guys!

Black food coloring/paste can be found at most grocery stores, though I suggest going to your local craft store (like Michael's or AC Moore) because they're cheaper there. Start with white icing and add a TINY bit of black until you get the gray color you're happy with, use a darker mix to color windows and write labels and whatnot.

Or, head to your local bakery shop and see if they have a printer that will print edible inks on ricepaper. If so, find a fantastic Star Wars photo, MS Paint in some happy birthday note, have them print it, apply to top of cake and voila! Instant hero boyfriend.

truck-a-sauras

Han in carbonite should be an easier design for a sheet style cake. now to fully implement that and make it look good you'll have to think a bit outside the box.

i n c u b u s

Usagi wrote: »

i n c u b u s wrote: »

That can be done, Im just wondering how I can mix colors to get gray. Keep em comin guys!

Black food coloring/paste can be found at most grocery stores, though I suggest going to your local craft store (like Michael's or AC Moore) because they're cheaper there. Start with white icing and add a TINY bit of black until you get the gray color you're happy with, use a darker mix to color windows and write labels and whatnot.

Or, head to your local bakery shop and see if they have a printer that will print edible inks on ricepaper. If so, find a fantastic Star Wars photo, MS Paint in some happy birthday note, have them print it, apply to top of cake and voila! Instant hero boyfriend.

I actually came up with this idea and called ahead about an hour ago. They won't print or do any cake that isnt owned by me. AKA copyright infringement, so I cant get a photo off the internet or even redraw it myself. They fed me a lot of crap for even attempting to ask them to do it.

Usagi

Well that is silly, but relevant I guess

Then I go back to my half-Death Star suggestion, which should be easy enough to execute I hope

[edit] like so!



And if you don't feel like springing for actual action figures, the above suggestion about a cardboard Tie fighter would be both cheap and simple

Dang, now I want to make one of these...

i n c u b u s

See that one is covered in Fondant which would make the cake come out so much cleaner but I doubt they sell that at Walmart.

Usagi

Ah, they do at the WalMart near me - in the craft section they sell fondant and the food coloring pastes, and so does the Michaels/AC Moore here too

But I wasn't posting that to discourage you, I think you'd be able to get similar results with regular frosting. Sure it wouldn't be as perfect, but its still going to look like the Death Star and you'll still be Hero Boyfriend for trying it.

Daenris

Well, they do sell fondant at places like Michael's/AC Moore, and possibly in the craft section of a Wal-mart. But if you've never worked with it before, you probably don't want to jump right into it without practice on the day you're actually making the cake.

There's no reason you couldn't make a cake like that one without fondant, you just need to have an icing that is firm enough that it won't be dripping/oozing off.

i n c u b u s

The death star cake is def under consideration but heres a question for you guys. Do you think funfetti cake right out of the box is durable enough to actually carve? I do realize that to make a funfetti cake all I need to do is just put sprinkles in any cake mix before I bake it so I guess I could do this with a more stable form of cake. I'd probably do a two layer round cake and possibly just do a half sphere with the death star canon on top of course.

tsmvengy

i n c u b u s wrote: »

The death star cake is def under consideration but heres a question for you guys. Do you think funfetti cake right out of the box is durable enough to actually carve? I do realize that to make a funfetti cake all I need to do is just put sprinkles in any cake mix before I bake it so I guess I could do this with a more stable form of cake. I'd probably do a two layer round cake and possibly just do a half sphere with the death star canon on top of course.

That kind of cake from a box is way too spongy and soft to shape into anything. You'd have to do it with something denser. And carving a cake is a lot more difficult than it looks - I would go for something with an icing design on top rather than a shape.

Dunadan019

yeah to make it simple why not just make a double layer circular cake with a 2d death star design on the top.

that would be easy and probably very much appreciated.

i n c u b u s

tsmvengy wrote: »

i n c u b u s wrote: »

The death star cake is def under consideration but heres a question for you guys. Do you think funfetti cake right out of the box is durable enough to actually carve? I do realize that to make a funfetti cake all I need to do is just put sprinkles in any cake mix before I bake it so I guess I could do this with a more stable form of cake. I'd probably do a two layer round cake and possibly just do a half sphere with the death star canon on top of course.

That kind of cake from a box is way too spongy and soft to shape into anything. You'd have to do it with something denser. And carving a cake is a lot more difficult than it looks - I would go for something with an icing design on top rather than a shape.

Thats what I originally gonna go with, it'd be a lot easier and probably come out nicer that way. Any suggestions?

VisionOfClarity

See I've always done cakes in a pan and gone with decorating because I don't want to deal with special cake mixtures or fondant. I did a Nintendo controller cake that came out really well and a replica of the Portal cake. These were both b-day cakes for my boyfriend. In which case for doing a Death Star cake that is a decoration you can go with a round cake and decorate appropriately or use a rectangular cake and 'draw' the Death Star. I'd say use the round cake though. This year I'm likely to do a 3D XBox 360. I'm getting more confident.

PS: Any basic frosting will work for this. I don't have a cake decorating kit so I just get the coloured frosting in the tubes from the super market. You can put the cake on a platter and put the appropriate figures around it as well.

mts

they sell circular/round cake pans at places like micheals. you could make one of them and have it sitting on a flat sheet

regular box mix will be fine, just make sure its completly cooled before carving

i n c u b u s

Thanks for the help guys and check out my first post for how it came out!

Usagi

That looks FANTASTIC!

(also my name is Jess as well, how strange )

VisionOfClarity

Good job!

Crashtard

Looks great!