DIY Darth Vader Star Wars Cake

When my son said he wanted a Darth Vader birthday cake, I started searching online for ideas.

What I found was tons of sites suggesting using a special cake pan and pictures of finished cakes with no directions.  I didn’t want to disappoint him, but I also didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on a cake pan I’d only use once.

So I got out the cake pans I had, traced their shapes on paper, cut and pieced them together until I came up with my own Star Wars-inspired DIY Darth Vader Cake.

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Have your own Star Wars fan at home?

This DIY Star Wars cake is sure to be a big hit at any Star Wars party.  

These Storm Trooper Cupcakes are a fun addition if you’re looking for cupcake ideas, too.

Darth Vader Cake

Materials Needed:

• 9 Inch Square Cake Pan
• 9 Inch Circle Cake Pan
• Serrated Knife  (I used my bread knife.)
• Black Cake Icing (I used 2 packages of this one.)
• White Decorating Icing 
• Your Favorite Cake Mix (1 box)
• Wax Paper (optional)

How to Make a Darth Vader Cake

Bake cake mix as directed, pouring half the batter into your circle cake pan and half into the square cake pan.

Allow cakes to cool completely and remove from cake pans.  

Pop the square cake into the freezer for one hour so it is easier to cut into pieces without crumbling issues.

Once you remove the square cake from the freezer, cut triangles off from opposite corners of the cake.

To make your triangles the same size, simply cut one, flip it over and use it as a guide to cut your second triangle so they are mirror images of each other.  (My triangles were 7 inches at the longest side and close to 5 inches on the side facing out.)

Position these at an angle from the circle cake as shown in the picture below.  

Next, cut another triangle from the bottom of your square cake.  This will form Darth Vader’s chin.

Cut the remaining portion of the square cake in half.  

Use one piece of this to fill in the area above Darth Vader’s chin.

Use the other half to cut pieces to fill in gaps you have left.  (Hint:  If you slide a piece of waxed paper under those spaces you can use a pen to draw the shape onto the wax paper, cut it out and use it as a pattern to cut the cake pieces.)

Use a bit of frosting to hold the pieces of the cake puzzle together.   Then cover in black cake frosting.

I couldn’t find black in the canned frosting I usually buy, so I bought 2 of these decorating icing packs.  You could also use chocolate frosting and add a bit of black food coloring.

Once your cake is covered in black frosting, use white decorating icing to add facial details.

This Darth Vader cake was a huge hit at my son’s 7th birthday, and it is sure to be a hit at your party, too!

You may also like:

• Recycled R2-D2 Inspired Craft
• DIY Lightsabers
• Shark Birthday Cake
• Tractor Cake and Cupcakes

Originally published on May 21, 2016.