I'm planning on using the 3D/Wedding cake recipe on here for a dog cake I'm making for my dog Maverick's birthday. Since I'll be using the stand up lamb pan for the body of the dog, I won't be doing any fillings of any kind. The recipe calls for a yellow or white cake mix. I thought this might be a little bland since I won't have any filling. Can I use another flavor cake, such as chocolate or lemon or something, or flavor the mix somehow?? I plan to use snow white buttercream to ice it- tinted golden retirever color of course! Thanks for any suggestions you might have!

Anyone???

I have not used this exact recipe but another very similar and made substitutions for a chocolate cake. I used a chocolate mix, chocolate pudding, and whole eggs instead of just the whites. It was fantastic!

Is the chocolate cake a firm enough substitute for sculpting or for a stand-up pan?

I can't say for sure since I have never made a 3D cake or done any carving. The cake was dense and heavy but not so moist that it was wet, if that makes sense. I pulled out my original recipe and the only difference between it and the 3D recipe is mine called for 1/2 c. of oil and the 3D calls for 1/3 c. I don't think that's enough of a difference to affect your end result.

I also found a note on my recipe that I added 3 T of cocoa in addition to the substitutions I gave you earlier. Hope that helps!

You could add chocolate chips...that would give it some flavor all the way through and still be stable.

Here's a past thread to help you. If you need more, do a search for durable and chocolate and you'll get lots of info.

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-27779-durable.html+chocolate

Thanks Camcat for the link!

I just went out and got white chocolate pudding that I'm going to use with the white cake mix, that sounded yummy to me- and better than the plain flavors of yellow or white with just vanilla.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

I also use white chocolate pudding, plus dry champagne. The taste is great!