I am doing a stand up teddy for a friends baby shower and since I had never done one before I decided to do a trial run. I forgot the heating core at home so I decided to just try it without. The instructions called for 6 2/3 cups of batter so I used 7 to offset the forgotten heating core. However, my bear was sorely lacking legs and I was wondering if I didn't use enough cake batter or if this was simply due to the lack of heating core. My aunt did one yesterday and almost the same thing happened with the heating core so I wasn't sure if more mix would do the trick.

Thanks,
Kristin

You need to use the heating core but you also need to add in a batch of pound cake.
I use Pillsbury Pound cake mix. Mix up per the directions and fold into your cake batter.
Do not over fill! It will go all over your oven!

I worked at a bakery whee we did these a few times a month and we basically just decided that they were gonna have to overflow to make the legs work every time! We put a cookie sheet under to catch the drips, then cut the excess off before we opened it to prevent tearing.
We added a couple tablespoons of flour to the batter to make it more dense. And don't forget the heating core, put batter in this as well. You stick that back were it goes with icing. Sorry if you knew that, but I have met so many people that just leave the thing empty in various pans and think you're supposed to have a hole in your cake, or wonder why it bakes right out of the cake!

I didn't have much success with it either. I too was missing legs/feet. The second time I tried it, I put more batter and didn't use the core and it came out much better.

But after all that, I ended up molding my teddy out of rice krispy treats, since it as going on top of the cake and really didn't need the cake for serving. That came out much better for me.

I wish you luck and I'm sure someone has the answer.

Just pretend it got amputated.

That's a good one Rylan ty.Very funny!!!!

On a more serious note,I have a similar problem,I lost all my clips for the teddy bear pan.I used my sons' old shoe laces to bind the pans togrther.I even made my batter thicker but it still runs right out of the pan.
Does anyone has a suggestion .I could not get clips to buy and pan is sitting idle-wasted.Pls help

That's a good one Rylan ty.Very funny!!!!

On a more serious note,I have a similar problem,I lost all my clips for the teddy bear pan.I used my sons' old shoe laces to bind the pans togrther.I even made my batter thicker but it still runs right out of the pan.
Does anyone has a suggestion .I could not get clips to buy and pan is sitting idle-wasted.Pls help

I use the Bear pan to make my Phillies Phanatic cakes and last time he had half of his legs. I think this was because I didn't latch the core to the pan and while baking, it puffed the core out .By the time i caught it, i was 2/3 of the way done baking so it didn't help much. Just make sure the core is all the way stuck down and it is latched to the pan, plus add some batter to the inside. i use all pound, I find it denser and easier to work with.

***Very important, use 2 hands( one on top, one on bottom) to pull the pan from the oven. The first time i made this, was checking to see if it was done, I yanked it with one hand and the bear fell over. My cake wasn't done in the middle and all of the batter came running out of it into my oven, it was a huge mess and I had to start all over agian.

queenfa- try and find something at a hardware store, they may have something you can use, or butterfly clips at staples. (just a suggestion) HTH

I use the Bear pan to make my Phillies Phanatic cakes and last time he had half of his legs. I think this was because I didn't latch the core to the pan and while baking, it puffed the core out .By the time i caught it, i was 2/3 of the way done baking so it didn't help much. Just make sure the core is all the way stuck down and it is latched to the pan, plus add some batter to the inside. i use all pound, I find it denser and easier to work with.

***Very important, use 2 hands( one on top, one on bottom) to pull the pan from the oven. The first time i made this, was checking to see if it was done, I yanked it with one hand and the bear fell over. My cake wasn't done in the middle and all of the batter came running out of it into my oven, it was a huge mess and I had to start all over agian.

queenfa- try and find something at a hardware store, they may have something you can use, or butterfly clips at staples. (just a suggestion) HTH

I use the Bear pan to make my Phillies Phanatic cakes and last time he had half of his legs. I think this was because I didn't latch the core to the pan and while baking, it puffed the core out .By the time i caught it, i was 2/3 of the way done baking so it didn't help much. Just make sure the core is all the way stuck down and it is latched to the pan, plus add some batter to the inside. i use all pound, I find it denser and easier to work with.

***Very important, use 2 hands( one on top, one on bottom) to pull the pan from the oven. The first time i made this, was checking to see if it was done, I yanked it with one hand and the bear fell over. My cake wasn't done in the middle and all of the batter came running out of it into my oven, it was a huge mess and I had to start all over agian.

queenfa- try and find something at a hardware store, they may have something you can use, or butterfly clips at staples. (just a suggestion) HTH

sweetsbyjen,thanks for the reponse.

I only posted once, I swear!!!, I'm not an impatient "submit comment" button pusher, I promise! haha

I only posted once, I swear!!!, I'm not an impatient "submit comment" button pusher, I promise! haha

sweetbyjen,
I got the butterfly clips from staples and it works great.I would never have thought about itThanks

Yes, the all metal butterfly clips work GREAT, they are easy to find and CHEAP I used them for my 3-D Rabbit at Easter time.

Good Luck!

I'm glad they worked out for you, I might try them myself, the ones that come with the pan are so hard to squeeze open, I have to use two hands.

i've always made sure to use plenty of batter, placed the pan on a cookie sheet to catch the over flow and just trimmed it away when it was done. better to have that then no legs and have to accomodate for this later. the legs Do help with some balance and support for the cake when its standing. not alot but some lol.. i've used mine so much the clips have gotten worn on the heating core so sometimes i bake it with something to weight the core down, sometimes i fill the core with something to weigh it down etc.

I made the bear once and, other than falling over at the beginning spilling in my oven, he came out in one complete and filled out piece. I turned him into the Cookie Monster to serve with the Sesame Street Cupcakes.

Prior to making him, I researched online and compiled these tips from other bear pan users.

Use 2 mixes with pudding in the mix AND add one large box of dry pudding and 2 extra eggs.

Fill the bear pan to close to overflowing and bake on a cookie sheet.

It seemed some people preferred to use the core, while others didn't. I used it, but I did NOT fill it up with batter. The batter did overflow into it, though that part ended up being a little burnt, so I didn't use it. When I was ready to decorate, I iced the hole, filled with M&M and plugged the hole with the top of a cupcake.

Bake at 325 deg for 45-60 minutes.

I followed the cooling directions on the Wilton site exactly. Once cool, I wraped the bear in saran wrap and put the top half (with the face) of the pan back on and froze the bear. I left the heating core in since some said that bear collapsed in on itself when they removed the core.

Once frozen, I removed it from the freezer and let it start to defrost. I removed the core when it was slightly defrosted - it took a lot of twisting it and praying - I thought I was going to have to leave it in there!!--but it finally came free. Twisting as I pulled seemed to do the trick. That's when I frosted and filled the hole with candy.

I let him fully defrost before I crumbcoated him because I read that some had their icing slide off and it was determined because they iced the bear while still frozen.

The only thing that I wished I did differently was do the crumbcoat in the same color as his fur since the white crumbcoat could be seen through the fur in places.

Also, I read that people used the binder clips to seal the pan. And that it's normal for some batter to ooze out - just carefully scrape it away during baking - just wait to scrape it away until what oozed is baked, so it seals those areas.

These are the instructions I used from the Wilton Site (along with the details I posted before)

http://www.wilton.com/cakes/making-cakes/baking-3-d-bear-cake.cfm

ETA: I used Chocolate Fudge cake and Chocolate Fudge pudding. It was dense, moist and fudgy tasting.

if you coat the heating core with pam with flour it works like a breeze and releases most times with out much difficulty

Thanks everyone.

While we're on the subject of 3-D Bears I have the Winnie the Pooh Stand up Pan and I've lost the core to in the middle. Will I still be able to use the pan?

do you have the heating core to another 3d stand up bear? i've used that in place of teh one that went with the winnie the pooh. with a little jimming you can get it to work. may have to just weigh the core down by filling it with marbles etc instead of cake batter though.

another heating core option i use on some large flat cakes- take a can, like a vegetable can, soup can etc, if it has the same edges at the bottom as the top does, simply remove both ends with a hand crank can opener, coat both the outside and inside with pam with flour and insert. it may be necessary to weigh down with an oven safe plate or cookie sheet etc.

I think you can buy new clips from Country Kitchen, or else that place we can't mention here.

First, are you really covering the details inside the pan (and heating core if you're using it) with some type of cake release? The one time I didn't, my bear came out in pieces.

One thing that has always worked for me is after securing the pan with the clips but before I pour the batter in is I wrap the base of the bear in aluminum foil, making sure I cover all the seams tightly so no batter can ooze out the sides. I continue to cover the pan in foil as fill, leaving the top open so the batter can ooze out. I think the last time I made one it was 2 boxes of funfetti almond sour cream. Yes, it overflowed a little, but I put it on a cookie sheet.

When I put it in and out of the oven, I had one hand on the cookie sheet and one hand on the bear as best I could.

Any chance you could post the ingredients/method for the cake recipes used? I'm really struggling to find anything specific online and don't have any experience with pound cake/pudding cake recipes. I think getting the right batter is going to be key and your chocolate version sounds far more interesting than a standard pound cake. Many thanks!