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Building a life-size Stormtrooper cake (photos)

Boston-based Amanda Oakleaf Cakes created a 6-foot Stormtrooper cake for the Arisia sci-fi convention. Check out this sweet photo gallery to see how it all came together.

Bonnie Cha
Bonnie Cha was a former chief correspondent for CNET Crave, covering every kind of tech toy imaginable (with a special obsession for robots and Star Wars-related stuff). When she's not scoping out stories, you can find her checking out live music or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California.
Bonnie Cha
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1 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Starting from scratch

Boston-based Amanda Oakleaf Cakes created a 6-foot Stormtrooper cake for the Arisia sci-fi convention. For the project, the bakery team bought a life-size cutout of a Stormtrooper. All 10 employees of the company were involved with the cake, and it took two weeks to complete.
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2 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Structure

Given the large size, the team had to come up with a way to assemble the cake in segments on-site. The solution was creating sections using iron pipes that could later be screwed together on location.
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3 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Rice Krispie treats

Amanda Oakleaf Cakes molded the Stormtrooper's head using blocks of Rice Krispie treats.
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4 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Amazing

With the Rice Krispie treats covered in fondant, Amanda Oakleaf Cakes' Tim, who has a degree in sculpture, can now go to work carving the finer details of the Stormtrooper's mask.
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5 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

It's got legs

Rice Krispie treats were also used to form the Stormtrooper's legs.
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6 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Stormtrooper high-five

A high-five for good work!
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7 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Coming together

Slowly but surely, the Stormtrooper is coming to life. The team didn't start adding the cake part until two days before the event, because really, who wants to eat stale cake?
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8 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

The fondant challenge

Amanda Oakleaf, founder and owner of the company, told CNET one of the biggest challenges of building the cake was keeping the fondant from slipping off.

"The reason you haven't seen too many sculpted humanoid-style cakes is because it requires a person to use very long stretches of vertically placed fondant, which is nearly impossible to keep attached to the cake," Oakleaf said.
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9 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Off to the show

One of the most nerve-wracking parts would be transporting the finished product.
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10 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Assembling the cake

Another sweat-inducing moment? Assembling the cake. In the end, the Stormtrooper cake measured in at 6 feet by 4 inches tall and weighed 300 pounds.
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11 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Ta-da!

A work of delicious art.
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12 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Team Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Half of the Amanda Oakleaf Cakes team poses with their masterpiece.
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13 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Beginning of the end

We know the Dark Side never wins, and with one slice off the noggin, it's the beginning of the end for this Stormtrooper.
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14 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Yum!

In case you're wondering, the Stormtrooper was made of yellow cake with vanilla Italian meringue buttercream and a homemade marshmallow fondant. Yes, please!
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15 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Feeding the masses

Everyone wants a piece of the Stormtrooper!
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16 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Back stabber

OK, who asked for the slice of Stormtrooper butt?
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17 of 17 Amanda Oakleaf Cakes

Cake carnage

The team saved part of the Stormtrooper's head and arms, but we'd say the cake was pretty much a hit.

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