Do you use the store sold mold, or just a bowl...are there directions for this...any tips would be appreciated...

I use the wonder mold by Wilton that you can get at Michaels or ACMoore with the 40 or 50% off coupon. (It is worth it cause you can use it for so many other cakes. The fairy toadstool cake in my pics was made with wonder mold) Wilton website has all different directions for the doll/barbie cake. Good luck

PS, when I was little, (long time ago) my mom wrapped the bottom half of a real barbie with plastic wrap before she put it in the cake. This was before they made the doll picks that you can buy today.

I second the Wondermold - plus inside there are instructions on how to bake/decorate!

Good luck!!

I completed a Barbie cake recently and forgot the crucial advice my Wilton instructer told me back in the day...lol Even though the wondermold says Pan for 1 cake mix or 5.5 cups of batter that is not true . More like 2 cake mixes . And other than that the instructions of Wilton's Wonder mold work wonderfully; even has some ideas you can play around with.

I always use the wonder mold as well. I love that pan. I always use more than I cake mix too. And another trick I've done is to put in on a 8" round to give it more height.

I use a 2 pint pudding dish and a 6inch round. cut a hole in the centre of both when they are stacked. You cover the legs with with cling film. Can alwys carce dress to shape. There is a video that shows you how to do one. I will have to see if I can find it for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRaz-MmQ9qw&feature=related

There are quite a few videos on you tube. Type in pricess or Barbie doll cake on your search and quite few will come up.

I am nowhere near a craft store of any sort, so buying a mold is out of the question. Can I use a pyrex bowl? Does the cake bake all the way through?

I used two 8" round cakes and a 6" round on top - just carved it and it turned out fine. The scraps weren't bad, either!

You do not need the wonder mold pan to make a barbie cake.

I used a batter bowl and 8 inch round. I placed my core for angel food cake pan on top of the bowl inserted into the cake batter to act as a heating core and it baked wonderfully. It even made a hole most the way through for the barbie to set into.

you can still get decoration tips for the wonder mold doll pan off the wilton website (for free) and use those to decorate you cake. http://www.wilton.com/downloads/paninstructions/2105-565WonderMold.pdf And in my opinion - those doll picks are not very pretty dolls.

Let me know if you have more questions.

I plan on getting the Wondermold in the future, but when I was little, my mom used a Bundt cake pan and also wrapped the Barbie in plastic wrap. She had a plan (angel-food type) and also a fancy one that she used to make jello molds also. I think you can still get Bundt pans at Wal-mart and stores like that.

HTH!