Andrew and I spent last weekend creating an Optimus Prime cake in celebration of the new Transformers movie that opens July 2nd. Andrew already has a ticket for the first show! Alas, I'll be in class that night, and will need to see it with him the following day. You can see more pictures and video on his website.

For those of you who are interested (or just plain insane?) and might like to try this yourself, I offer you a basic rundown of the creation below. Note, I recommend at least a fair amount of baking and fondant experience prior to attempting this project. We are certainly classified as amatuers in the cake arena, but it was a fun project nonetheless. Yeah, so the tires are flat. You try making tires out of cake and fondant! (Send me pictures, if you do!)

Goal: Bring Optimus Prime to Life

Model: 1984 Optimus Prime Transformer
Scale: 1:3.2
Cost: $85.00
Planning Time: 4 hours (1 amatuer planner)
Baking Time: 22 hours (2 amatuer bakers)

Ingredients

- 9 8" square white cakes, baked and frozen
- 3 batches of buttercream icing
- 5 pounds of white fondant
- 1 bag Oreo cookies
- 5 12" dowel rods
- 3 cans black color mist
- 2 cans red color mist
- 1 can blue color mist
- 2 bottles silver luster dust
- 1/2 cup clear vodka
- 4 13x19 cake boards
- 4 feet thin silver wire
- 1 pack edible ink writers

Accessories

- electric carving knife
- dough scraper/cutter
- paint brush
- icing spatula
- cake leveler
- circle cookie cutter
- lazy susan
- tiny bowls for silver paint
- rolling cutter
- exacto knife
- yellow electrical tape (optional)
- lots of space in your freezer
- endless patience
- good shoes (for standing in the kitchen)

Basic Directions

Photo | Directions
| Bake all 9 of the 8" square cakes, leaving out 1/4 cup of water each to make them more dense, and freeze in multiple layers of plastic wrap
| Cab - Level and stack 3 pairs (6 cakes total) with dowels and boards in between, cutting out the front wheel wells - this part is the trickiest! Bed - Level and stack 1 pair (1 cake in half) on a board Tail Lights - Level and stack cake pieces from the 8th cake to form feet/tail lights
| Crumb coat everything and freeze Ice each piece again so fondant can stick
| Roll and apply fondant to each of the pieces - the Cab, the Bed the Tail lights, and all six wheels
| Cut window shapes out of the cab - be careful, you'll need to put them back later
| Use cutter, knife and other tools to create markings on the side of the cab and the back of the tail lights Use fondant to mold roof accents and attach with clear vanilla extract and a paint brush Spray the pieces - Cab is red, Bed is blue, Tail lights are blue, windows and wheels are black (Hint: spray black twice under the blue to make it darker) Use fondant to mold roof accents, grill, bumper, headlights, icons, and exhaust stacks (wrapped around dowels for stability); freeze for easier handling
| Use Oreo cookie pieces, discarding (or eating!) the center creme - stick 10 cookie sides together with royal icing and paint silver, then freeze to harden
| Paint the miscellaneous pieces to match the toy's various details with silver luster, red and black markers Cover one 13x19 cake board with aluminum foil and use yellow tape to make lane markings (optional) Place the pieces together on the large cake board - you might use a second 13x19 cake board underneath for added strength
| Use stiffened buttercream to attach the pieces to the cab, and the wire to help hold on the exhaust stacks
| Complete any final touches, then take pictures and show all your friends how much of a geek you are!
| Eat cake (yum!)

So there you have it. Please, promise me if you try this cake (or anything like it) that you'll send me a picture! I'd love to see your work of art. If you are interested in the Excel spreadsheet with all the calculated measurements and ratio adjustments, just leave a comment below and I'll post it for you. Good luck!