Hans Solo Carbonite Cake

When it comes to cakes, I am a cheater. I always look for the coolest looking cake I can make with the least amount of effort. Luckily a Han Solo silicone mold made this Hans Solo Carbonite Cake crazy easy to do. I used fondant, but the cake would also work just fine with regular frosting.

I got the Hans Solo Carbonite mold on Amazon for the top of the cake. You can actually bake a cake in it, but I knew that cake wouldn’t maintain the same level of detail, so I used chocolate.

I have learned that not all chocolate is equal when it comes to doing chocolate molds. In order for it not to get that waxy color on it after it hardens, the chocolate needs to be tempered. Unless you want to mess with doing that yourself, go buy yourself a bag of melting chocolate. My favorite is Ghirardelli Chocolate Melting Wafers and they are cheapest online at Walmart.

I melted the chocolate in a Pyrex bowl by placing it in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time and then stirring it. I then only filled up the mold about a half inch because I was only using the top detail for the cake. You will want to do this a day or two ahead of time because it takes time for the chocolate to set. It is really easy to pop things out of the silicone mold, so I didn’t worry about greasing it or anything. However, since there is a lot of detail you will want to get all the bubbles out. You do this by shaking around the mold with the chocolate in it to get the air to rise to the top. The fingers are especially tricky and I found it helped by sticking a little bit of chocolate in there first, shaking it down, and then adding the rest of the chocolate on top. The good news is that if you don’t get it right the first time, you can melt the chocolate again and give it another go.

This is also a good time to make your fondant. I love marshmallow fondant because it tastes MUCH better and it is easier to make. When doing a chocolate fondant, I use my favorite fondant recipe and then replace some of the powdered sugar with coco powder. Wrap it up in plastic wrap real tight and stick it in the fridge overnight.

I then baked a chocolate cake in a 9×13 cake pan and once it was cool, trimmed it down to the right size of the mold. Quick tip: I like to freeze my cakes before decorating because it makes them easier to cut and decorate.

I then applied a thin coat of frosting to the cake to get the fondant to stick. When I roll out my fondant, I always do it on a wax piece of paper with some powdered sugar sprinkled on it. This makes it easier to lift up the fondant and safely place it on the cake. I always put it on with the wax paper side up and then peel it off. You can use a slightly wet towel to rub off any extra powdered sugar and to smooth out the finish.

Then I stuck the Hans Solo mold to the top of the cake with frosting and trimmed it with a thin piece of fondant. I also did a trim down at the bottom.

For the control panels I used Hersey bars and made the buttons with a type of royal icing. I have a favorite recipe that I love to use because you don’t have to mess with egg whites. Since I didn’t feel like getting a tip and piping bag dirty for something so small, I used those little medication syringes you can get at the pharmacists. We have a ton leftover from when my kids were babies. After the royal frosting has harden, I stuck the panels on the sides using frosting.

It made for the perfect cake for your little Star Wars fan!