How To Make A Star Wars Cake

My niece and nephew both have February birthdays so my sister always throws a joint party for them. Amazingly enough she managed to get the soon-to-be 5-year-old boy and the soon-to-be 8-year-old girl to agree on this year's theme of Star Wars. I was in charge of the cake. My husband, thrilled with the kids' choice, immediately went to work "researching" the theme for me. Want to try your own version, Cake layers: For the base I baked two square cakes: one 12" x12" and one 10" x 10". I frosted the bottom layer with chocolate icing. Then I cut the smaller square cake on an angle to serve as the volcano base, placing the triangle in the corner of the larger square and frosting it also.

For more dimension, I mixed a basic store-bought chocolate frosting with black food coloring and streaked it over the base coat of plain store-bought frosting. Volcano: My husband was in charge of the volcano. He prepared the Rice Krispy treats according to the directions on the box. Then he spooned the hot mixture into a small greased bowl. Once it cooled, he unmolded it, carved out the center and made some small gouges in the side where the "lava" would flow. He coated the volcano shape with melted chocolate and once it hardened, he transferred the volcano onto the cake triangle wedge and poured more chocolate over the volcano to set it in place. Lava: I mixed two shades of orange icing; light and dark. I used my mom's icing recipe.

I started by piping on the lighter shade with a star tip and then smoothing that slightly with a cake knife. I added the darker orange in patches with the cake knife.Then I blended in the red and orange gels to give it more depth. I finished it off with some crushed cinnamon sprinkles. Figures: Rob melted some chocolate slabs and placed the figures in the chocolate.Once the chocolate was set, he placed them on the cake and I streamed some lava around the chocolate to blend it in. Don't forget to send me pictures if you give it a try! I'll leave you with a few more scenes from the party, including the adorable Yoda pinata that my sister made.

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