Star Wars cake: 5 of the best cake decorating ideas

Are your nieces and nephews, grandchildren, children or friends children as obsessed with Star Wars as ours are?

There's heaps of Star Wars merchandise already in stores, from Lego characters to cake moulds - and it got us thinking... Would the Force be with us if we attempted a Star Wars cake? Because after all, is there a better birthday cake for a Star Wars super fan?

You can find Star Wars silicone moulds in Lakeland, £12.97, including a set of 4 heroes (C-3PO, R2D2, Yoda and Chewbacca) and 4 villains (Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Boba Fett and a Stormtrooper), all in muffin-sized cake form.

The moulds are flexible so it's easier to see the intricate details in the bake AND get your cake out of the mould afterwards.

To make a set of 4 characters, you'll need the mould and a 2 egg cake mixture to fill it:

100g softened butter 100g caster sugar 2 eggs, beaten 1tsp vanilla extract 100g self-raising flour 1tsp baking powder

1. Heat your oven to 180C, gas mark 4. 2. Cream the butter and caster sugar together until the mixture is pale and light. This is easiest using a free-standing mixer and will take about 3-4 minutes on medium speed, although an electric whisk will work too. 3. Gradually add the beaten eggs, mixing well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl from time to time. Add the vanilla extract and mix again. 4. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and fold in using a large metal spoon or rubber spatula until the mixture is glossy and smooth. 5. Divide the mixture into the moulds and level with a teaspoon. 6. Bake on the middle shelf of your oven for about 15 minutes until golden, well risen and a wooden skewer inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean.

Once you've made your batter, next comes the fun part! Always wait until your cake has cooled completely before decorating.

1. Chewbacca cake

Experiment with the cake base by adding a little melted chocolate to the basic cake mixture. Use gel writing icing or drizzle caramel sauce to get the hairy effect, starting in the middle and working your way out to the edges. Use white and black writing icing to create the eyes and mouth, with red writing icing or a small part of a red lace sweet for the mouth.

2. Darth Vader cake

Once you've turned out your cake and it's cooling on a wire rack, use the cake mould again to stamp Darth Vader's features. Roll out a little ready-to-roll black fondant icing to the thickness of a £1 coin, making sure it's big enough to fill the base of the mould. Gently press the fondant into the bottom of the mould to get the imprint, then trim around the edge with a sharp knife. When the cake has cooled completely, stick the fondant shape to the top using a little icing mixed with water to make a paste.

3. Millennium Falcon cake

Get creative some some freehand drawing, carefully following the imprint with writing icing to pick out the details and add dots. A little lustre spray helps with the space effect.

4. Death Star cake

Spray the cake with silver lustre spray for a metallic effect. Mix icing sugar with a little water to form a paste, then transfer a few spoons of it into another bowl and add a few drops of red food colouring. Dot the two colours over the cake.

5. R2D2 cake

For this giant R2D2 cake, you'll need the R2D2 cake mould from Lakeland, £16.98, which requires an 8 egg sponge mix - multiply the recipe by 4 to get the quantities you'll need to fill it. Once the cake has coolled completely, brush with a little apricot jam. Roll out white fondant icing on a surface dusted with icing sugar - make sure it's big enough to cover the whole cake. Carefully cover the cake with fondant, using your hands to tease it into the edges and smooth it out. Roll out blue ready-to-roll icing and cut out shapes to complete the R2D2 look, sticking them on with a little icing sugar mixed with water. Add extra details with black and red fondant, and spray some with silver lustre spray for the head and button detailing.

If you make a Star Wars cake, share it with us on woman&home's Facebook page or on Twitter @womanandhome. Make the Force bake with you!