I'm in the middle of a crisis here!.

I had the standing bear pan since a long time ago and I never tried to use it until now. It was "supposed" to be something really simple but it turned out to be a nightmare (to me at least).

I did every step in the instruction book, I used chocolate pound cake batter (6 cups), the heating core and my cake seemed to be baking fine until I finally took it out of the oven and opened it...

The shape was fine but THE NECK WAS MISSING!!!... it had a hole where the neck & shoulders should be!.
I thought maybe I forgot to take the air out of some parts of the pan since it's filled/baked upside down and I did another one. This time I tapped the mold, pushed the batter down with my spatula, did everything in my power to make sure that there was no air in there... and the same thing happened... even worse than last time.
What am I doing wrong?, why am I getting empty space inside the bear around the neck area?.

Any help would be really appreciated!.

Hi MPGA,

Sorry you are having problems with the bear. When I do my bears, I never use the core. I just bake it for 15 to 20 minutes longer. I use a long bladed knife to check to see if it is done.

Another tip, you have to fill the pan up higher than the instructions call for. Place it on a cookie sheet to catch the over flow. Let it cool really well before separating the pans.

HTH