I am using the Wilton Standup 3D Bear pan for a baby shower cake this weekend. The instructions on the Wilton site say to use a thickened batter for the 3D cake.

I have never done a "pudding in the mix" cake and am a little nervous about this.

I have read several different recipes on how to add instant pudding to a mix to get a doctored cake mix, but I'm wondering if they are thick enough for the 3D cakes or should I just buy the pound cake mix and use it (I work full-time and don't have time to do the pound cake from scratch).

If the pudding in the mix batter is thick enough to do 3D what's the best recipe to use?

The one I have says 1 cake mix, 1 box instand pudding, 4 eggs, 1 cup sour cream (this sounds odd to me), 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup oil.

Please help, I'm still really new at this.

Thanks,
Sharon

I have used the 3-D bear several times. The recipe you have should work fine.

I don't do any special recipe, just use whatever box you like, and make sure that you add an instant pudding to the mix (without the extra milk, etc) and I add an extra egg. Your other choice if you do boxed is to buy a boxed pound cake also and mix it with your normal mix, but that's more expensive. The first method works great!

Forgot- the sour cream is a good thing- make it thick and really moist, so don't be afraid. This is often found in chocolate cake recipes.