R2D2 Birthday Cake

Sometimes the cake will be more about the decorating than about the baking. This weekend was my son's 5th birthday and we were having a StarWars party. I was so concerned with the amount of time I would need to decorate the cake that I forgot to take pictures along the way of baking the cake!

I made Martha Stewart's basic chocolate cake recipe for the cake part:

After letting the cake cool for most of the morning, it was time to start decorating.  A few years ago I asked for decorating tips for Christmas.  The first time I used them was for my son's 4th birthday cake:

I enjoyed the process, but most of all, I love the look on the boy's face when he saw his cake.  This year I was going for the same! So R2D2 it was.  I found a cake pan from 1977 on Ebay... score!  It still had the 1977 price on it of $8.95. And the decorating started.

And this is where the hand cramping would start from squeezing the pastry bag.

And the finished product.

And the happy birthday boy.