Star Wars Stormtrooper Cupcake Tutorial

I thought I would start with the storm trooper.  It to me was the most time consuming one, but as long as you have a steady hand and patience then you are just fine.  I used the cookie cutter from Williams-Sonoma.   

If possible make the toppers for the cupcakes a few days before the party so they can harden slightly to hold their shape.  If you look at the Yoda, Boba Fett and Jaba the Hut they had a chance to harden and I think it looks nicer than the Darth Vader that curves with the cupcake.  

So here is how you make them:

1. Roll out your white fondant on either a lightly greased or corn starched surface.

2. Use the cookie cutter to cut the outline of the stormtrooper.  Make sure to wiggle the cutter back and forth to make a clean cut (so you don't have to smooth around it afterward). 

 3. Before picking up the cutter, push the button on the cookie cutter to make the impression on the fondant. If for some reason it sticks to the cookie cutter brush a tiny bit of corn start or powdered sugar on the top of your fondant.

4.  When you pull the cookie cutter away this is what it looks like. YEAH!  It is that easy!  Then just pull away the fondant from around it and let it sit to harden slightly.  If you need to pick it up to move it then gently us a spatula or something small to get under the edge of it and lift.  Be careful not to stretch the fondant or the stormtrooper will look funny.

 5.  Paint the accents on the storm trooper.  I squirted a little bit of my black Americolor gel paste in a dish and added orange flavoring to it.  (Normally I use clear vanilla or lemon extract, but I couldn't find it so I used the orange.)  Be very patient and use the smallest paint brush you can even imagine to get in those tiny cracks.  (Also I tried to use the food coloring pens, but they were too big to get in all the tiny grooves and got too much color everywhere. So painting it really was the only option.)

6. Place the storm trooper once dried on top of a spiral of frosting or on a circle of black fondant that you let dry, then place on top of your cupcake.  And you are done!  Hope this helps.  I will do the other tutorials soon!  May the force be with you until then.

                             See the Stormtrooper on the top right?  That is one that I tried to use a food color marker on.  As you can see the lines aren't as crisp and it doesn't look as nice. So just stick with the tiny tiny paint brush. It works so much better.