R2D2 Birthday Cake

For Drake's birthday, he wanted a Star Wars cake. I was going to do a Yoda cake, but after looking at other cakes, I decided that there was no way that this novice baker could make Yoda look like Yoda. Drake and I decided to go with R2. I thought that there were simple lines and not too much carving to do.

I made 3 13x9 cakes; 2 were poundcakes and 1 was a doctored up devils food cake mix. I also used a marshmallow fondant and a chocolate frosting in between the layers.

I found 2 pound cake recipes that I liked. I couldn't decide which one to use, so I did both. I found 5 flavor pound cake  at allrecipes.com. I can't remember where I found the Cream Cheese pound cake recipe. The marshmallow fondant came from Cake Journal. I doubled the recipe and used a 16 oz package of marshmallows instead. Well, since I had to make 2 recipes, you could say that I quadrupled the recipe. It is messy, but worth it. I don't think I kneaded the fondant enough because all I could taste was the powdered sugar, but that still beats the nastiness of store-bought fondant. Why do they make that taste so yucky?

I made the 3 cakes and the fondant on one day. The next day I carved out R2 and put the white fondant on. The day after that, I added all the details with the help of my husband, who happens to be a big Star Wars fan. In fact, he is the reason that our son is so into it.

Even after using over 1/2 of my blue food coloring, the blue fondant still did not come out as dark as I wanted it to. I was done, though. My hands and the counter were covered in blue food coloring. I had to wash my hands 5 times with dawn dish soap to get most of it off. I still, 3 days later, have a little food coloring in the cuticle on my thumb. With the left over blue fondant, I used my cookie cutters and cut out Happy 5th Birthday Drake. I just set them on the foam board because by that point, I was tired of using the icing to glue the fondant on.

I think it turned out okay, especially since I have never worked with fondant before. Drake loved it, so that is all that matters.

 Cream Cheese Pound Cake
3 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup butter, room temp
8 oz cream cheese, room temp
3 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
6 eggs, room temp
1 cup milk, room temp

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Sift flour and baking powder into a medium bowl and set aside.
Using a mixer, cream the butter, cream cheese, and sugar for about 6 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add the vanilla and milk until combined.
Add the flour mixture until completely incorporated.

Pour into two greased and floured 9x5 loaf pans.
Bake for about 60 minuted or until done.

Notes: I used a 13x9 pan and had to cook the cake for about 1 1/2 hours. I also found it best to grease the pan with Crisco instead of a baking spray like Pam. I also floured the pan really well.