Copyright 2015 – Sweet Dreams Cake App/Michelle Davis – All Rights Reserved
** I have had many requests for additional photos and measurements of my AT-AT cake structure so I have attached additional photos at the bottom of this tutorial for further reference. This is all the photos I have so I hope they are helpful in creating your own AT-AT cake.**
When I first got the text from a friend asking me to make her nephew an AT-AT cake, I have to admit that I thought it was a typing error. Soon after, I received another text from her brother also asking me to make his son the AT-AT cake. It seemed too coincidental that they would both make the same spelling error so I went to Google and quickly realized that I knew exactly what an AT-AT was, I just had no idea that was what it was called. AT-ATs are the four-legged creature/machines in the Star Wars movies. AT-AT actually stands for All Terrain Armored Transport. If you still aren’t familiar with them, maybe this picture will refresh your memory:
I just love that picture! That is actually my cake in the foreground of a Star Wars video game scene. My teen daughter took a picture of it in front of a green screen then used the magic of Photoshop to insert the video game scene into the background. She even added the lazers.
Anyway, I was so excited to do this cake because I have wanted to do a Star Wars themed cake for a long time. Once I started looking up pictures of AT-ATs online, though, I got a little intimidated. There is so much detail on those creatures! I ended up using lots of pictures and breaking it all down so that, once I got started, it was no where near as intimidating as I had feared. In the end it turned out to be on of my most favorite cakes that I have made. Here are some more detailed pictures.
My favorite part of the cake are the legs.
I had a little cake batter left over from baking the cake so I also made a few cupcakes and used the Star Wars font to spell out the birthday boy’s name.
The best part about making cakes is seeing the reaction of the recipients. Here is a photo Garrik’s dad sent me. They say a picture speaks a thousand words so I am pretty sure this photo says it all.
Before they ate the cake Garrik even got to spend some time playing with it. He brought out his Star Wars figures and X-Wing fighters and created a whole battle scene. I love when a cake can bring this much joy to someone.
Now I want to share with you a little on how I made this cake. I wasn’t able to put together a full tutorial but I did take some pictures while I was creating it so I will share those with you, along with some helpful information.
I started with the baseboard. I usually like to create cakes on separate boards and then attach them to the baseboard at the end to prevent destroying the board while I work but, because this cake needed to be screwed into the baseboard I had to make it first and just be very careful while I constructed the rest of the cake. I wanted the board to look like the snowy tundra that the AT-ATs roam in The Empire Strikes Back. I first attached a few lumps of modeling chocolate on to the board then covered the whole thing with white fondant. I brushed a little brown petal dust onto the lumps to give them a wind blown look. I then brushed piping gel over the entire board, except for the brown areas and covered it in granulated sugar. Using my fingers, I spread the sugar to also look wind blown. Here was my result. Sorry for mediocre photos. When I am working, photos tend to be low on my priorities.
Next I had to add the structure. A 3-D cake needs support, just like a human needs bones, or else it will all fall apart. I usually use pipes for my supports but AT-ATs have very long flat legs so this time I needed something flat but also very strong. After wandering around the hardware store with my husband, he came up with the genius idea of using steel flat bars for the legs. We took a bar home and he cut it down to size for each of the legs then cut the knee area of two of the legs with his reciprocating saw, placed them in his vice, and bent them into shape. He then cut out a board to hold up the cake and attached the legs to it. He also screwed another board onto the body board to support the neck and head. Finally he secured the legs to the baseboard with screws. I was more than just a little nervous as I watched him screw into my finished baseboard but he was very careful and didn’t make too big of a mess on it.
How did I know the sizes I needed for the structures, you ask? I probably should have mentioned this first; I always start with some kind of pattern. A lot of the time I have to just use pictures and blow them up to the size I need but I was lucky to find this schematic drawing online (at the bottom of the page) so it was a tremendous help with figuring size as well as later cutting out details. I enlarged the schematic to the size I wanted and used that for all my planning.
I usually try to cover my structures completely so that they don’t come into any contact with the cake. I didn’t worry about covering the steel bars with anything though, since they would just be covered with gumpaste that would not be eaten, but I didn’t want the cake touching the wood so I cut cardboard cake boards the same shape as the wood board and attached them to the wood with hot glue.
It was time to get started on the fun part. This is when my patterns became very handy. I had multiple copies of my main pattern so that I could cut pieces out and use them for measurements or as patterns to cut around.
I started at the feet and worked my way up, covering the legs in gumpaste
I cut the circles in half and placed them on each side of the flat bars, joining the sides together and smoothing out the seams. Using pieces of my pattern, I cut out the side bars of the feet and made indentions in them with a modeling tool
I added more circles of gumpaste, some toe pieces and then some black fondant to give the impression of a blank space. I inserted toothpicks, with some gumpaste wrapped around them, to later use to support the side bars. I like to use melted candy melts
I continued on, covering the steel bars completely with gumpaste, using my patterns to cut out individual pieces. Some pieces that weren’t completely attached to a flat surface, like the ones underneath the boards, I had to let dry for a while so that they would stay firm once I attached them to the board with candy melts. The round bars that are on the back side of the legs were made by running gumpaste through my extruder
Some details I cut out and attached and others I just drew on, using my modeling tool. I also had to pick and choose which details to add and which ones to eliminate. That is hard to do when you are a detail oriented person but I also had to be realistic on the amount of time it would take to create the cake and the difficulty of working with a small scale. I’m sure any Star Wars fanatic might be able to point out incorrect details but I think it turned out great for a cake.
Now it was time to create the body. This was formed out of cake so I baked a 9×13 sheet cake and cut it in half lengthwise, torted each half, then stacked them all on top of each other. Out came the pattern again. I covered it in packaging tape so that the grease from the cake wouldn’t ruin it, then I laid it against the cake and used it as a guide for carving. I also attached a second copy of it on the other side of the cake so that I could create a guide for my knife. I learned how to do this technique in Mike McCarey’s Cakenology DVD (excellent DVD by the way!)
Here is the finished carved cake. As you can see, the cake is a little more crumbly than I would normally use for a carved cake but there wasn’t a lot of detail to carve so I could get away with this cake recipe this time.
Next came a crumb coat of chocolate buttercream.
Then I covered it in gray fondant
I went back to my resource pictures to add lines and markings while the fondant was still soft.
I had to cut a strip of cake board
The cake was then attached to the body.
AT-ATs have very sharp edges so, using gumpaste, I cut out panels, let them dry for a bit, then attached them to the fondant with candy melts. I used my patterns again to cut out the panels and my modeling tool to add lines and other details within the panels. I also added smaller panels at the base of the body to hide the cake boards.
The head, neck and undercarriage of the AT-AT were made from rice krispy treats. For the neck and undercarriage I used a circle cutter to cut out rice krispy treats, cut a side off to make a flat surface on the rice krispy treat, then covered them in fondant. The fondant was first indented with a texture sheet before attaching.
Here is a picture of the undercarriage attached to the board with candy melts and covered in textured fondant.
The same method was used for the neck.
Once again, out came the pattern for carving the head from rice krispy treat. I cut it a little smaller than the pattern so that I could allow for an additional layer of fondant to hide the bumpiness of the rice krispies.
Here I added the extra piece of fondant on the top of the head to make it smooth.
I wasn’t too concerned about the sides of the head being smooth because they would later be covered with gumpaste panels, like the rest of the body.
Once the panels were in place I started adding more details. The guns were made from running gumpaste through my extruder then using a skewer to make indentions in the ends.
With a small paint brush, I brushed on some red airbrush color
A look at the top of the head.
Once all the details were in place I was really happy with the cake but something was missing. It needed some shading and additional color to give it a more realistic, weathered look. I am the first to admit that I am not great when it comes to shading and using my airbrush, so I went to Facebook for some help. There is a great group on FB called Cake Newbs that is a wonderful place to ask questions and get recommendations from some of the best cakers in the industry. So I posted a picture of the cake and asked how I could make it more realistic. I immediately got some advice to spray it with silver airbrush color
Before
After
Oh, another tip I learned from the group is to cover the baseboard in plastic wrap to prevent the airbrush and petal dust colors from ruining the board, as you can see in the above picture.
There you have it, a cake that was a lot of fun for me to make and a lot of fun for a little boy to enjoy.
Until next time,
God Bless and Sweet Dreams
**Here are some additional structure photos.**
Love it! Can I ask what it costs to make it?
Thank you Cliff. I’m sorry but I honestly have no idea how much it costs since I don’t do cakes as a business and don’t keep track of the costs. This was done as a gift for a friend.
I love this cake! Thank you for sharing your talent. How tall were the metal legs?
Hi Ally! Thank you for the compliment. Fortunately I still have my structure so I just went and measured and the metal legs are 10″ tall with an additional 1″ coming out at the bend for the “foot”. So the full length of the metal is 11″ but from the bend to the top is only 10″. Hope that makes sense.
Great Cake! I’m going to have a go at making one of these for my sons birthday. I have zero cake decorating experience but do have plenty of modelling experience to call on. I assume I would be able to use hot melt glue to attach the gumpaste to the non edible parts(eg legs)? Wish me luck!! Cheers, Shane.
Hi Shane, good luck on your cake! Yes, I think you should be able to use hot glue on the gum paste. I would probably try a lower setting on it as I’m not sure if the high setting will do any damage to the gum paste. I guess you could try both and see which works best. Just be sure to not let anyone eat that part. Have fun!
I spend a couple of hours yesterday getting the AT AT skeleton together, it now has legs and a board to mount it on. I had a go at mixing my own gumpaste, the first attempt was a failure and ended up in the bin. My second attempt using a different recipe seems ok. It is about 6 weeks till my sons birthday, how far in advance can I make the non edible parts(gumpaste) of the cake? I’m planning on using fondant for the snow like you did and have picked up some “Royal Icing” to use as glue. I read some where that I could use melted jam(jelly) to attach the fondant or is butter cream the way to go?
Hi Shane. You can make the gumpaste pieces as far in advance as you want. They will be fine. As for using melted jam, I would not use that with a sculpted cake. Buttercream sets up very firm when refrigerated due to the butter and holds everything together. Jam wouldn’t set up. It would be fine for a regular cake but not a sculpted one.
Hi Michelle, I thought I share a pic of my cake with you.
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, especially as it was my first go at decorating a cake. There are a few minor things that I would fix if I was to do another one but it was a real hit at my son’s birthday party. Thanks for the inspiration! Cheers, Shane
Hi Shane! I’m so excited that your cake turned out! Did you try to attach a photo with your comment? I didn’t get it if you did. Can you email it to me at swtdreamsmichelle@gmail.com? I would love to see it.
Hi Michelle,
I am IN LOVE with this tutorial. I have a question about how the legs attach to the board at the top. Underneath did you just bend an “L” and screw it in like you did to screw the legs in? It appears there are 3 screw holes in the back. Can you give a little detail about that? Thanks in advance!
Hi Andrea, thank you so much! I hope the tutorial helps you. Yes, that is exactly what I did for the top board as well. I still have the structure in my basement so if you need any more photos of it you can give me your email address and I can send you some more.
you can email me at bluebirdsweets@gmail.com
As many photos as you can manage of the structure and connections.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!
Hi Andrea, I’m sorry to just be responding, I have been so busy the last few days. I will get you some photos tonight or tomorrow.
Hello Michelle, amazing cake. Thank you so much for sharing. My son picked this for his birthday from google and I couldn’t believe my luck for this tutorial. Can you please tell me more information about the dimensions of the structure?
Hi Maria, if you give me your email address I can send you some more photos of the structure with measurements.
I would love to know all the measurements! Please email me 🙂 jesspev@ymail.com
Hi Jessica. I just emailed them to you.
Thank you so much. My mail is martsi@hotmail.gr
If you can please sent me the drawings as well…
I just forwarded the photos to you. I also sent you the web link where you can find the schematics. (This same link is found up above in my tutorial.)
Good luck and happy baking!
Thank you so very much Michelle…hope I make it.
Hi Michelle… you are amazing… thank you for sharing! Is there any chance you could give me the dimensions of the structure and any extra photos help would be extremely appreciated. I’m not sure it will turn out anything like your masterpiece but I’m going to try! My email address is jedimum1@gmail.com
Thank you!!
Ps I don’t have a handy husband like you so I’m on my own when it comes to building the structure.
Hi Michelle
I love your ATAT cake. Its my sons birthday in a couple of weeks and i’d like to make this cake as a surprise for him. (He’s 38 and a huge Star Wars fan) Would you be able to give me the dimensions of the body and the head. I noticed in a previous comment that the legs were 11 inches high but i couldn’t see anything about the size of the body. Thanks Linda
Hi Linda, I don’t recall all the dimensions off hand but if you click on the link for the schematic drawing (I just fixed it, it wasn’t working properly before) you can use the schematic drawing to size it to whatever size you need. Good luck to you!
Hi,
can you send me please the Website with the schematics too. And the more Pictures.
Ist so awesome!!
Greetings from Germany and sorry for my bad english.
Hi Michelle. I’m going to attempt to make this cake for my husband’s 40th!! First, I’d like to thank you for showing us how to make this cake. Without your tutorial, I would not even attempt it!! I do have a question regarding the undercarriage part of the cake. That’s the only part of the cake that I can’t see properly. I know you used rice krispies for the back part of the undercarriage, but did you have the rice krispies going all the way along the bottom of the board, which you then attached the flat dried gumpaste pieces to? If not, what did you have on the bottom of the boards or did you not put anything there? I hope this makes sense. Thanks for any info/advice you can give me.
Hi Kimberley, I think I understand what you are asking. Those flat panels were just attached with melted chocolate. I placed melted chocolate on the top edge of the panel than held it to the cake board for a few seconds until it attached to the board. Does that answer your question?
Hi, I made my legs 11inches tall. How wide and long did you make the body? Thanks in advance!
Hi Bobbie, there is a link in the post to a pattern that I used. If you print it out you can enlarge it to whatever size you need then adjust your dimensions accordingly. Good luck!
I want to thank you for putting up all the info you have. I’m just starting to make my own version of this, but would never have undertaken such a project without seeing the stages you’ve displayed here. I would not have though myself capable of anything like this, and while I’m sure mine won’t turn out as well as this you’ve made it possible for us to try 🙂
I don’t know what size yours is, but mine will be 37cm high when made (sorry from Australia I’m not sure exactly what that is in inches but around 14″?). I just finished the skeleton/cake board today, and will undertake the rest in stages over the next couple of weeks.
I’d like to ask though what “rice krispy treats” are. I’ve seen them referred to in other 3D cake designs but they might be something we don’t have here in Australia. They look like rice bubbles/puffed rice, I assume held together with melted marshmallow or something similar like glucose? Do you hand make these or are they an ingredient available on shelves in your area?
Thanks again for the awesome info above, I live in hope of producing something even a little close to what you managed!
Hi, hope all is well. I just have to say your atat cake is awesome. My son is a big star wars fan and with the great pictures and kinda step by step instructions I am going to try and make this cake for him. I went out and got everything today and I am going to start it tomorrow and I was wandering if you could send me the measurements for the board cut outs for the head and body. I am going to attempt this in 2 days for his birthday party on Saturday:). If you can thanks very much and If it turns out almost as good as yours he and I will be very happy.
Hello! Absolutely love your cake so I’m giving it a go for my son’s birthday. Couple of questions though…how did you get a grey coloured fondant? I have white, but I’ve been told adding black will give me a green-tinted colour so now I’m a little worried about getting started. And do you have any more pics of the cake from different angles? Just trying to get a feel for how the whole undercarriage bit is going to work. Thanks!
Hi Katherine! If you send me your email address to michelle@sweetdreamscakeapp.com I will email you some more photos of the structure. And, as far as the grey, I mixed a small amount of black Satin Ice with white fondant. I have had problems with the discoloration of grey when I use icing colors so now I always keep black Satin Ice on hand and use that for blacks and greys.
Hi! Thanks for the details instructions. What an amazing cake. I want to try to make this for my husbands 40th birthday in a couple of weeks and from the comments I see that you offer to send the dimensions as well as a few more pics on how the legs attached to the based. I would love to get them as I am worried I won’t make it the right size!
Thanks a lot!
Hello Michelle! First off — WHOA!!! Your cake is amazing! I stumbled upon your site as I was browsing for AT-AT cake tutorials coz I plan to make it for my kids upcoming birthday. Thank you for sharing details regarding to construction et al, but I was wondering if you could share with me the pics of the underside of the cake, I cant seem to be able to visualize it. Thank you!
Thank you so much! I just emailed you.
Okay, my nephew asked me for this for his Groom’s Cake. I felt totally out of my depth till I found this! I have never done air brushing before though. Any tips? Do I need a special kit or are there products I should look for/avoid? Thank you so much for posting this.
First, you are amazing! This is my all time FAVORITE cake!!! Second, I would like to make this cake next year I honor of Episode IX. Do you have a breakdown of all measurements, including the sizes of the decorative pieces on the armor? Also, do you have instructions for how to cover the legs? Again, this is masterful! Thank you and MTFBWY!!
Hi Crystal. Thank you so much for the kind words!! Unfortunately I don’t have a breakdown of all the measurements. They can greatly change depending on what size of a cake you decide to do. I recommend finding a photo like I did and using it as your pattern for all your measurements. For covering the legs, I cut out pieces of gumpaste and attached them directly to the steel bars. I knew they wouldn’t be eaten so I wasn’t worried that they were directly touching the steel. It has been several years since I made this cake so my memory is rusty but I think I either used melted candy melts or sugar glue to attach them.
Good luck on your own AT-AT creation!
This is an AMAZING cake! I’m actually intimidated to try and make it but borthday boys are not easy to tell no and being a Star Wars fan – I couldn’t resist!
From your pictures, it looks like the body is 9″ x rounghly 3.5″? But your instructions say to cut the 9×13 in halef length-wise and stack it. I am just trying to make sure I am reading (sand seeing) correctly to get the size of the body so that I can scale the legs. Thanks!
Hi Melissa,
You are right about the measurements. I did use a 9×13 cake and cut it in half lengthwise but when I carved it I carved away a few inches of the width. The photo only shows me using the pattern for the side and carving away the length but I also used the front and back pattern pieces from the schematic drawing and placed those on the ends to carve the width. Does that make sense? I hope that helps. Good luck to you! I’m sure the birthday boy is going to love it!!
You did a excellent job! This post seem extremely wonderful.
Hi!
I would love more pictures and the details of the dimensions and where you got the printed out version. Great job! How long did it take you from start to finish?
Es una tarta increÃble!!!!!….enhorabuena!!!…mi hijo la vio y no quiere otra asà que me toca intentarlo. Gracias por el tutorial
Thanks for this, my son requested an AT-AT cake for his birthday, and this gave me a great start in the right direction. Managed to do it and he was over the moon! Will tag you on my Instagram post, thanks again.
Oh I am so happy to hear that! What a lucky boy. I bet he was thrilled! I can’t wait to see it!