Luma/Patrick Star Cake

I'm not really good at frosting cakes.  So when my kids ask for a type of cake for their birthday, I get kinda nervous.  Because what's in their mind's eye isn't in my 'mad skillz'.  So when Little T asked for a Mario-themed cake, I was glad when she didn't give specifics.  The Yoshi-head we attempted to pull off last year almost looked like he was turning into dracula.  I'm still not sure how that happened; but it would have been cool if it had been Halloween.  Which it wasn't.

But anyway.

One of our favorite games in our house is Mario Galaxy, so I decided a Luma would be perfect for our little star.  Lumas are little 'baby stars' with cute little pot bellies.  It was surprisingly easy, and the template can double for use as Patrick Star from Spongebob Squarepants.  But (SHHHH!) don't tell my son because that's the cake he's getting for his birthday.  He just doesn't know it yet.  

I made the template for use with a 9" round and  an 9" square pan.  The 9" round stays completely intact.  The square is what you'll create the head, arms and legs with. 

Since Lumas have a pot belly, you don't have to trim the round when it comes out of the oven.  I arranged my template on the square cake so the parts that connect to the body somewhat match the girth of the round at the connecting points, although you may have to trim these a little. 

Lumas have very large dark eyes.  They generally don't have a mouth, but do when they're sucking in the star bits in the game.  Now black frosting is an option, but chocolate seemed so much easier.  To make these, I used an oval template my husband had in his drafting materials and traced them on wax paper.  Next re-trace your ovals with a black marker and let dry.  Flip the wax paper over.  Have a toothpick handy and melt some chocolate chips in a ziplock baggie, making sure as much air is removed as possible.  Put it in the microwave at 15 second intervals until chocolate is just melted.  Snip the corner of the bag and slowly squeeze onto your template, using the toothpick to get the chocolate to the edges of your ovals.  For the star bits we used some 'flower' shaped sprinkles and placed them on the mouth.  Stick in the freezer for a few minutes.  When they come out they should easily peel off the wax paper.

Voila...your cake is ready to frost.  Lumas are different colors, so it's suitable for a wide range of kids.  And they're darn cute.  After it's frosted place the eyes & mouth right on.