Hi Everyone! i'm new to this board and i wanted to know if anyone has tried the stand up bear pan and if it is as easy as it looks?

I've only done the mini-bear pan.. I've heard some stories on the larger one (I have this one but haven't used it yet.) Just be really careful with the head of the bear... many have said it's broken off.

i've used the mini stand up bear pan.
It's really easy to use & decorate.
I haven't tried the big one.

I'm going to try the big bear tonite. I have a baby shower cake to make and love some of pictures I have seen with the bear on the top tier. I'll post the pics later this week if it turns out.

I've made this bear numerous times and it never gets easier putting on those darn clamps-I put them on with a pair of pliers! I also put a piece of foil on my cookie sheet or oven rack to keep the spills-and there will be spillovers as it rises-but be sure to put the core in when you fill it and then fill the core as you will put that back in after it cools-it will add some stability to the bear...you will do fine-it is a bit nervewracking with each one making sure it doesn't split sometimes-but be sure to cool it correctly and you should do wonderful!!

Well, I tried the big bear. I'm going to have to do a little practicing on this cake. I must not have had enough batter in it, because my bear looked like someone tried to operate on it. The whole chest was opened up. . At least I have some time till the baby shower. Oh, I didn't know I was going to have to raid my dh tool box. Boy oh boy those clips are horrible. yikes going to keep those pliers in my cake tool box.

I have confiscated several tools from my hubbie-sterilized them and put them out of his reach! You really do have to fill the bear up pretty good-over 3/4 full is my doing-usually waste some batter with overflow but I like him good and stuffed! But at least you now know what to expect-that's what is great about practice cakes!! Better to learn now than thenight before the cake is due..been there the hard way Be sure and post when you are finished!!

The first one I ever made, I left the core in for support. After he was decorated, he was just kind of sitting there elevated a little on the core and one of his legs fell off! Now I fill the core with batter to bake up a plug instead of leaving the core in.

yes ma'am-it's always best to fill that core and replace the plug!! Gives it the extra strength-plus it's a little treat to bite into that part and get a little extra icing-so I've been told-I don't eat cake or icing!!

I made the large 3D bear for my SIL's baby shower. It was my first time too. It went better than I had anticipated. I used a dense pound cake, chocolate chip to be exact, and filled it up with the recommended amount of batter (6 cups plus 2/3 cup for the core). It ended up not being full enough (I had plenty leftover dough, but though it would be a waste and wanted to use it up in something else... ). But no one noticed that it was slightly short in the legs

My brother did pinch the edges closed with pliers. He's so handy. I swear I had no spillage at all!

I had no problem with the head coming off. It was really stable, probably becuase of the type of cake. And no crumbs! Made icing it that much easier I did find it hard to center the core back into the cake. After it baked, I noticed it was too close to the front of the body, and ripped a little hole when trying to remove the core. But other than that, for a first time try at any 3D type cake, it went really, really well.

Trust yourself I had to trust myself! And remember, icing can fix A LOT!

P.S. Here's the recipe for the pound cake. http://www.robinhood.ca/recipe.details.asp?prcid=11&rid=7

P.S.S. Welcome to CC!

Well, it went much better the second time around, the neck still had a crack, but nothing a little icing won't fix. I did put a dowel through his head just to be on the safe side. I will be icing him this morning. He is so darn cute!.

Mvucic going to try your pound cake recipe. sounds very yummy.

This should be under cake disasters. Wasn't sure if I wanted the pull out fur or the stars, Well the pull out looked funny, fur too long. poor thing needs a hair cut. The stars looked better, but my eyes looked evil.

My son came home from school. He took one look at the bear and told me to throw it out;that it was scary. he is 4

LOL! Too funny about the evil eyes!

When I made the cake, I used two mixes, one yellow and one poundcake. I was dense, but still tasted OK. I would try the durable wedding cake recipe posted on this site somewhere next time.

i've made 2 stand-up bear cakes; the first being one of my first 10 cakes ever back in 1996. i used pound cake mix (which is easier to find in the u.s. than in canada, let me tell ya), and it turned out perfectly (those clips are a real pain though -- someone else on this site says that she uses bulldog or binder clips and has much better luck with them). i used too much black colour in the chocolate icing (i was doing the panda design), but other than that the cake was lovely. i really filled up the pan with batter, so of course i had to trim the overflow.

i used crumbled foil to fill in the void in the bear the first time , but came up with a better idea the second bear around: i did a koala for my sister's birthday and had a whole whack of chocolate truffle mixture left over (i guess i was making truffles) and so i poured that into the cavity to fill it. it set up really nicely and made the bear nice and heavy and stable, and provided a real treat once the poor koala was hacked into bits.