I have made the 3D cuddle bear 4 times in the past using regular chocolate cake mixes with no problems.

My friend wants the bear in vanilla. I made it twice yesterday and both times it crumbled! The first time I used regular Betty Crocker vanilla cake mix. The second time I used a "doctored" recipe with butter, sour cream, extra flour, etc, hoping this would be firmer. It was better but the legs fell off and it looks pretty delicate so I am afraid that even gluing the legs back on won't work.

The directions for this pan indicate a half and half of regular batter and pound cake batter but I cannot find a pound cake mix anywhere.

Has anyone had success doing a vanilla cake bear and would you mind sharing your successful recipe with me!

Thanks in advance!
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Are you adverse to scratch recipes?

I have used the White Almond Sour Cream cake recipe from this website twice to make the teddy bear. Half of the recipe makes enough to fill the bear - I baked it for about 70 minutes. HTH

Hi kellycakes! Welcome to Cake Central. I have made the bear a few times and I always hold my breath when I remove it from the pan.

They sell pound cake mix with the regular cake mixes, but it is in a different kind of box. Or you can use the yellow cake mix from Duncan Hines and there is a recipe on the side of the box to make it into a pound cake. That should work.

Another thing is that I let it cool really well and then I very carefully wrap it up and put it in the freezer till I'm ready to decorate.

Cindy

I have used a doctored cake mix in the 3d care bear pan that turned out well. We had to bake it at 325 and instead of using the heating core it came with, I ended up sticking a metal skewer in it instead. I used the pound cake alteration that is on the Duncan Hines box or on their site. http://tinyurl.com/3yema6 Is their recipe for lemon pound cake. I usually adapt it to any cake flavor by picking a corresponding flavor of pudding. I have found that the french vanilla seems to hold up better in 3D shapes than the plain white mix.

HTH

bonjovibabe, I am fine with a scratch recipe if it works! Do you have a good one that you don't mind sharing? I'll try anything at this point.

SuHwa, do you need to double this recipe for the bear pan?

Thanks everyone for their quick responses! It's for a one year old's birthday so I'd like it to turn out!

I would double it. You won't use all the batter in the the bear though. The pudding makes the cake batter thicker and you won't come up with as much batter as you normally would. I always use the extra to make either a small smash cake or cupcakes.

I have made the stand up bear and made the 3D dino out of it. When I did it, I used regular box mix, but the funfetti one. It turned out fine. But when I unmolded it to let the steam out, I undid the back let it sit, then put the back on aganin and flipped it over and then un did the front and then put the front back on after about ten minutes. I made the cake the day before I needed to decorate it and let it sit in the front side of the pan and just wrapped it in scran wrap. Then took it out the next day to decorate it and it was fine. I DID NOT use the heating core when cooking it though.

I've done this bear a couple of times so here are my tips:

1. I don't use the core
2. Lower the temperature of the oven to 325, bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.
3. Use the "Durable Cake for 3D" from CC (very yummy)
4. Double the recipe (extra batter for cupcakes)
5. Fill it using 7 cups of batter, it will overflow a little bit but the bear will come out complete. So put a baking sheet under so you don't have to clean the mess inside the oven.
6. When taking out of the oven let it cool for 15 minutes before taking the clips off, then carefully lift one side so the steem comes out and wait 5 minutes before lifting the other side.
7. I do all this things to make sure he doesn't fall apart.

Hope this helps, Good luck!

This is the scratch recipe I use for 3D pans - it works great every time!

Buttermilk Birthday Cake

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup soft unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
6 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350F. Line pan(s) with waxed or parchment paper and grease well.

Sift flour, baking powder and soda, and salt together and set aside. Measure buttermilk (or yogurt and milk) and stir the vanilla right into the measuring cup. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between additions. Add alternating increments of flour mixture and vanilla-buttermilk, blending well after each addition. This should take 3-5 minutes.

Pour into prepared pan(s), and bake for about 40 minutes (30 if using layer cake pans or as much as an hour for large, deep molds) until cake is beginning to shrink away from the sides and a tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan on wire racks for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan. If you are using a mold that has a lot of patterning, wait at least 20 minutes before unmolding.

Not sure if this is too late. I enjoy that pan...That is what I use most of the time,

First are you using the heating core?

I do not! And I fill it about 3/4 full and bake at 325 for about 45-hour I think.
I use a pound cake mix and another cake mix. But since you don't have pound...I have done without before..And it is fine.

Just make sure it is cooked enough...so he is strong.
I hope this helps a bit...let me know if you have any more questions.