Be kind! This was my first 3D Cake. I made it for my friends Star Wars Marathon party. We really needed the fuel to stay awake! He had us watching everything from the movies, to the cartoons, tv shows, Ewok specials and holiday specials! This was also my first time using fondant. What a pain that is.

Step 1: Supplies!!

Food Supplies:

1 box Rice Krispy's Cereal (and the stuff to make the treats: marshmallow, butter...etc. Recipe is on the box)

I used two different kinds of cake mix flavor, but I always use a butter cake recipe. It holds up better to being tortured and moved around a lot. Don't let the picture fool you, I only made two boxes of cake mix. We all have a recipe we could make from scratch, but we all also know that the box stuff is easier and faster!

I wanted something that wasn't mainly powdered sugar, because I added Oreos to the frosting. ;) I used a lot of frosting. I can't remember how much, but I bought four of those double containers and had to make another run in between. I used the frosting as a "glue", so it was everywhere.

1 package of Oreos to add to your frosting. Set one cookie aside for tasting. Grandma always said, you have to taste everything and make sure it is okay first. ;)

I used Wilton's cake gel food coloring. Mostly the blue and black. That is what is in those little containers with the white lids.

I used 1 box of the Wilton's Rolled Fondant. My kit came with two giant squares of fondant to be rolled out.

not pictured I also used a blue sparkly gel for more detail decorating.

Non- Food Supplies:

Spoons

forks

knifes

spatulas

whisk

measuring cups

Mixing bowls

Rolling pin

Oven

2 Cookie sheets with higher sides

Cooking Spray (Oil based or butter based or flour based - doesn't matter - they are getting used on the rice Krispy's to keep them from sticking too much.)

I had only two, but if you have four that would be great, round cake pans.

A large board to set your finished cake on. I measured the cake pans and then went out from there another 5 inches or so. I figured it would be sloppy and whatnot. Plus you could also create an R2-D2 themed area around your cake!

1 or 2 Wooden dowel. I have two shown, but I just used one in the center of the cake. It kept the cake upright until we cut into it.

Tip: Brand new plastic paint brushes found at your craft store. These work great for making your final decorations on the cake. Make sure the bristles are plastic though. It would be a shame for a twiney bristle to fall out and ruin your cake.

Most important!!! AN ENTIRE EMPTY FRIDGE SHELF THAT YOUR BOARD AND CAKE FIT ONTO!! I know that sounds impossible, but trust me. Warm hands make it harder to work with cake and fondant.

Step 2: Make, Bake, and Frost Your Cake!

I followed the recipes on the boxes for the cake mixes. Nothing special. Put them in the round pans and let them cool. I mixed the vanilla frosting with crumbled Oreo cookies for creamier frosting. I trimmed the tops of each using a long large bread knife. (Be careful!) Don't trim the top cake, it serves as the dome for R2's head. After they were trimmed I placed them in the fridge to cool. You want the cakes very cold. It's a lot easier to work with them and it reduces the chances of the cake cracking. Then I stacked the cakes varying flavors and frosted with the Oreo frosting in between each layer. When I was done I frosted the whole thing with the remaining Oreo frosting and just regular vanilla frosting.

Then I placed the cake into the fridge to cool. I once heard it said on TV; it's the "Crumb Frosting layer."

Step 3: Mix Rice Krispy's!

Mix Rice Krispy Treats like the box says.... ya'll know how to do that ;)

I used a cooking spray (the kind with canola oil in it) and sprayed the cookie sheets and the spoon down with the stuff. I then laid out the treats up to the sides of the cookie sheets (or are those considered Jelly Roll pans? I don't know!)

Let those cool and get pretty... not spoiled, but hard to chew a little. (For lack of a better terminology)

Step 4: Next the Fondant.... Ugh!

My fondant came in a brick form. It's not soft. You have to work it with a rolling pin and your hands to get it to thin out. The warmth from my hands seemed to help the most. It took for-ev-er to get this rolled out thin enough to do anything with. Here's the pita... it has to be thin enough that when it is laid on top of your cake it doesn't cause it to tumble, and thin enough that it doesn't just fall apart.

I made a big section of just plain white and then folded in a few drops of the black to make a gray fondant. You can probably buy it already dyed. This might save your hands some color changes ;) I also laid out two medium sections for his legs and another large section for underneath the cake on the board - to cover that ugly wood.

I also cut out some squares and circles as pieces to be attached to the fondant covered cake. For R2's camera lens and buttons.

Step 5: Fondant Decorate!

I took the cookie sheets with the Rice Krispy's and cut out two sets of R2-D2's legs. This is why you want these treats done really early. Actually it might make sense to make them first and possibly the day before. They get a little bit harder to chew, but if you keep them refrigerated you are okay to eat them. I kept wiping the knife off and using the cooking spray to trim away the extra Rice Krispy's. I then covered the front side with the white fondant. and placed those into the fridge to cool.

Take out the cake and place the dowel rod in the center. You have to wiggle it in, but it's worth it later. Then start laying your big piece of white fondant over the whole cake. I had some mistakes up at the top, but those got covered with my gray pieces. Be sure to add a dab of frosting between the fondant layers. This holds them in place.

I had a tiny R2-D2 dice from the Trivial Pursuit Star Wars edition to use as my guide. I then took some frosting and put it on the backsides (the side not covered with fondant) and placed them on the sides of the fondant covered cake. Because of how stiff and cool the Krispy treats were, They stayed nicely. Plus they were so thick that the flat bottoms stood up on their own.

Using the gel food color from Wilton and the sparkly cake gel I decorated the rest of the cake putting in all the designs. I put frosting on the back sides of each piece of fondant I placed on the cake.

Many times throughout the decorating process I would stop and place the cake back into the fridge to cool. You can tell with the squiggly lines and runny blue gel where I didn't do that. It makes big difference!

I then placed a few scraps and whatnot of fondant down around the cake and on the board. I knew my friends had some other decorations he wanted to place on the board, so I didn't cover it completely, but I would recommend doing so. The addition of cute toys also helps!

Step 6: Enjoy!

Keep the cake chilled until it is ready to be eaten. We were being piggy's and cut out huge slices for everyone. That didn't last long.

Here's some important things I learned:

>As you can see from that last photo, I was worried about the top of the dowel poking through the top of the cake while being moved and shifted around, so I added foil to it. DO NOT DO THIS! When you go to cut the cake you find it shreds and falls apart and just becomes a pain for those who want to eat the cake!

>Fondant tastes nasty on it's own. It needs flavoring to have any kind of hope for being tasty. I would peel it off and skip eating it all together.

>The fondant food color gel from Wilton also tastes nasty. It's almost bitter. not pleasant to eat at all. Just remove the fondant and eat the cake inside.

>Those Rice Krispy legs were really hard to eat. Not yet stale, but close. Don't do it, however dare someone to try it ;)

>The first cut was almost too perfect. Shortly after the whole thing fell over. A tasty mess.

>It looks like a lot of cake. It is. Unless you are having a movie marathon that lasts 16 hours long. Then it's not. lol. That cake was almost all gone when the day was done.