This sweet Baby Yoda cake is made of baked vanilla cake with choco drops, vanilla mascarpone cream and caramel and covered with modeling chocolate. To complete the whole scene it is surrounded by fearless vanilla Stormtrooper cupcakes.
May the 4th is coming up. Actually, it is tomorrow. And what is so special about this day, you would ask? Well, probably 90% of people on this planet know what I am talking about. In case you are still wondering, May 4th is Star Wars Day. I am just like you. Every year my boyfriend and friends remind me of it. Even though I am not a fan. LoL
Our friend’s son had a wish for his birthday. Can you guess what the wish was? Of course, a Baby Yoda cake. He saw it at another birthday and he wanted it, too.
I am always up for a challenge. Therefore, I watched some videos and searched for reference photos. Since they requested a cake without fondant and without buttercream, I decided to give modeling chocolate a try. I’ve never worked with it before, so there you go, another challenge.
Who is Baby Yoda?
Baby Yoda is just a nickname for the Star Wars streaming show Mandalorian’s star called The Child. This small cute creature has some typical features such as big ears, large eyes and a teeny tiny nose and chin.
To make the body and head, I used a simple vanilla cake with choco drops. For the cake base, I baked sheet cake (five times, to be exact). My baking sheet is ca 30-40 cm large. However, you can use cake tins, as well. In that case, you have to cut the cake into two or three layers, depending on how high the cake is.
Since this Baby Yoda has 8 (about 1-1,5 cm thick) layers, you’ll have to do some math on how many cake tins you’ll need, if baking in tins. You can also decide to bake two sheets at once if you have the chance. It all depends on how good your kitchen equipment is. Wink.
I suggest baking the cake base and the cupcakes one day ahead and storing them wrapped in foil, to keep them fresh, till the next day.
For some cute and movie-inspired treats, check out these beautiful lime Ghostbusters Slimer cupcakes.
Modeling chocolate
As I said, I’ve never worked with modeling chocolate before. My tips to you are, to use gloves and keep the chocolate at room temperature. Modeling chocolate is very temperature sensible. If it’s too warm it gets very difficult to work with. The same happens when it is too cold.
Also, knead it well before rolling it out and when rolling it out, try not to make it too thin or it will break easily. About 4 mm thick would do just fine.
To make Baby Yoda cake as real as possible, I took my reference from the Internet and photos. Keep the photos always next to you while sculpting the cake, to get as close as possible to the original.
Ingredients for 1 sheet cake (30x40cm):
You’ll need 5 of these.
- 100 g Marzipan
- 1-2 tsp Water
- 3 eggs (separated)
- 75 g sugar
- 2 drops of vanilla
- 1/2 a tsp lemon zest
- a pinch of salt
- 75 g sieved flour
- 30 g milk-chocolate drops
Ingredients for caramel:
- 100 g sugar
- 40 ml whipping cream
- 20 g butter (room temperature)
- pinch of salt
For the white-chocolate ganache you’ll need:
- 150 g white chocolate
- 100 ml liquid whipping cream
Ingredients for mascarpone cream:
- 500 g mascarpone cheese
- 50 g icing sugar
- 310 ml whipping cream
- 3 tsp of vanilla paste
- 8 g cream stabilizer
Besides all of the above you’ll also need:
- 100 g Nutella
- 1 kg modelling chocolate
- 2 cake-stabilizing sticks (one for the body, one for the ears)
- modelling tools
- brushes
- food colours (green, brown, black, white, pink)
Ingredients for 16 vanilla Stormtrooper cupcakes:
- 215 g sifted flour
- 200 g sugar
- 1/4 tsp of baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 170 g melted butter
- 3 egg whites (ca 90 g, room temperature)
- 15 ml vanilla extract
- 120 ml sour cream
- 120 ml warm milk
- 60 g milk-chocolate drops
- 16 medium marshmallows
- black edible-colour pen
To begin, bake the cake base one day ahead. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prepare a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, beat the marzipan with a splash (1-2 tsp) of water. Once soft, separate the eggs and add the egg yolks, one at a time, vanilla, salt and lemon zest to the marzipan. Beat until pale and fluffy.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites and sugar to soft peaks. Afterwards, fold the sieved flour and egg whites into the marzipan batter by alternating them. Always fold from bottom to top.
Pour the batter onto the baking sheet, gently spread it in one even layer, top it with choco drops and bake it for 10-11 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven, flip it over onto a clean sheet and peel off the baking sheet.
Repeat the baking procedure four more times, so that you get 5 sheet cakes in total. When all of the sheet cakes are baked and cooled, cut out 5 x 8 cm Ø rounds and 3 x 7 cm Ø rounds. Wrap them in transparent foil and keep them on the kitchen counter.
Caramel, ganache and cream
For the caramel, in a small saucepan, heat the sugar on medium heat. After it dissolves and becomes lightly golden, remove it from the heat and carefully stir in the slightly warm whipping cream. Stir until the foam and bubbles disappear. Place back onto the stove until it gets lovely golden brown. Take it off the heat and stir in the butter and a pinch of salt. Then, transfer it into a small jar or bowl, cover with foil and cool it down.
To make the ganache, chop the white chocolate into smaller chunks and put them into a heat-proof bowl. In a smaller saucepan, heat the whipping cream. Just before it starts to boil, pour it over the chocolate and let it sit for a minute. Then, stir until glossy and well combined. Chill to room temperature, afterwards, cover and place in the fridge to cool completely.
Furthermore, for the mascarpone cream, combine the mascarpone and sugar in a larger bowl and beat, on medium speed, just until smooth. Then, mix in the vanilla, cold whipping cream and cream stabilizer. Whip until fluffy, smooth and well incorporated. Cover with foil and store in the fridge.
Build the Baby Yoda cake
On a cake board, add a teaspoon of mascarpone cream and lay the first cake layer on it. Then, spread a thin layer of Nutella, followed by mascarpone cream and caramel. Stack all of the layers in the same order with Nutella, mascarpone cream and caramel between each cake layer. Try to stack them upright straight.
Optionally, in order to keep the cake stable, insert a cake stick in the center of it, going from the top to bottom. Cut off the remaining stick if it pops out of the cake.
Trim the cake to the right shape; 2/3 body and 1/3 head. Carve the chin area and round the top of the head. Once you are satisfied with the form, cover it with a thin layer of white ganache and place it in the fridge until set (about 20 minutes).
Modeling chocolate
Firstly, divide the modeling chocolate in half. One half for the head, ears and hands, the other half for the coat and arms. Secondly, starting with the head, knead the modeling chocolate until smooth and pliable. Colour it in light green colour. Take part of the modelling chocolate from it, wrap it in foil and set it aside. You’re going to use it for the ears and hands.
Roll the kneaded chocolate out (about 3-4 mm thick) and cover the head with it. Trim the chocolate that is hanging below the neck. Using the excess chocolate, bulk up the eyebrow, nose, lips, chin, cheeks and forehead, with the help of the modelling tools. Using your hands (I recommend gloves), blend any visible seams and wrinkles. Once you are happy with the look, continue with the body.
Baby Yoda coat
For the coat, take the second half of the chocolate and knead it. Colour it into a light brown or ivory colour and roll it out (about 4 mm thick). Carefully wrap it around the body, to form kind of a coat. Trim off the excess chocolate, knead again and create the collar and arms. Again, using the modelling tools to create all the details.
In order to make the ears, push the cake stick or a skewer, temple high horizontally, through Baby Yoda’s head. Take the light green chocolate, which you kept aside, halve it and roll it out. Hang one piece on the stick and work around it to sculpt the ear. Do the same on the other side. Again, use your modelling tools to create the details.
Last but not least, shape the tiny sleeves and hands and attach them to the side of the body. Then, using your modelling tools, add some texture and the last details to the coat. In order to make a more realistic look, paint it. Start covering the ear and eye areas with some light pink colour. Using a darker green, add shades around the face, wrinkles and ears. Colour the eyes with a black colour and add a small white dot in both eyes in the same corner.
For the coat, use different shades of brown and ivory, to create the 3D effect.
Stormtrooper cupcakes
To make the cupcakes, line two muffin tins of 8 with cupcake liners. Preheat the oven to 177°C.
In a larger bowl, add all of the dry ingredients; sifted flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and a pinch of salt. Whisk to combine.
In another bowl, whisk the melted butter, vanilla, sour cream, warm milk and egg whites. The batter will be a bit clumpy. Pour the batter into the bowl with dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Fill 2/3 of each cupcake liner, top with choco drops and put to bake for about 17-19 minutes or until baked through. Remove from the oven and chill off.
In the meantime, using the black edible-colour pen, draw the faces of the Stormtroopers on each marshmallow. Pipe the mascarpone cream, with a round nozzle, on each cupcake and then flat the top out. Place one marshmallow on each cupcake.
Finally, present this gorgeous Baby Yoda cake with the fearless Stormtrooper cupcakes at a birthday party or on the next Star Wars day.
May the 4th be with you!
