Hi everyone,
I'm new to cakecentral and cake decorating in general. And I need some serious help! Pleeese! 
I'm taking the first Wilton course right now so that I can learn to make cakes for my kids' birthdays, etc. My son will be celebrating his very first birthday in mid-August and (for some crazy "sure I can do that" reason), I chose to make the Wilton 3D bear. I thought the decorating part was going to be hard but I can't seem to actually make a bear cake without it cracking! 
I've made three now and all did not work. In fact, two of them completely fell apart. At first it was funny....but by the third cake today, I was so frustrated. I saw the crack starting near one of the feet. It moved fast up the belly and in a split second, it's head fell off!! 
I just broke down in tears -- 
The first one was made with the 'Durable 3D Cake" recipe I found on this website. That one made a bear that actually didn't crack right away, but it was extremely wiggly. I let it cool for 2hrs, tried to frost it and that's when it started to fall apart. Granted, I let them all cool on the counter and it's hot & somewhat humid here, even with ac (I live in Phoenix, AZ and it's 115-117 these days). The second one was made with a Duncan Hines yellow cake mix (not butter), Betty Crocker Pound cake mix and I left out the sour cream. Had first cracking happen. The third one I made by following the Duncan Hines Yellow Pound Cake instructions on the side of the box without pudding but added sour cream. The center didn't cook completely and hollowed out in the middle a bit...so, it cracked even faster. Ugh. Hmmmm, maybe I need to go back to the "Durable" recipe and then put my cake (while still in the pan) in the refrigerator to cool? Do you all think that would solidify the cakes a little better and prevent cracks from starting? Any other ideas, magic tricks, viable cake dances I need to do? 
Thank goodness my instructor called about an hour ago to cancel class tonight. I was pulling my hair out when she called but relieved to hear that I didn't have to worry about making a cake in time for class afterall. 
Hi,
Sorry that you're having so much trouble. I'm not sure I can help, but I'll give it a shot. How are you cooling the cake? I know that I've heard you are supposed to keep it in half the pan at a time until it is completely cool (front half for a few minutes, then back half for a few minutes, then the front again, then the back, etc...) until it is completely cool.
Hope this helps you,
Valerie.
How are you letting the cake cool? up side down? I'm not sure what would cause the cracking. I have made several. Some just pound cake and a few with 1/2 pound cake and 1/2 regular cake mixed( had a harder time with the 1/2 and 1/2 one). He is a tricking little thing isn't he.
Good Luck,
Tracy
I hope my idea can help possibly you can make a sheet or round cake and then make the bear out of rice crispie treats and then decorate the bear like you would if it was a cake and then set it beside or on top of the actual round or sheet cake. Then the bear is lighter and still fun to look at!!!! and you still get cake!!!
mine 3d bears never cracks...I put lots of flower on the pan, after it cools I take it out and send straight to the refrigeretor without any SARAN WRAP for about a day then I decorate and keep it in the refrig. till about an hour or 2 before cutting.
and I don even use pound cake mix..hope this helps..good luck
or you can try to freeze it right after you take it out of the pan..it work well too.
I'm sorry you're having so much trouble with it. I've done it several times and it's never given me a problem. I live in Northern Maine so I don't know if that's a factor. I generously grease both sides with crisco and then sift flour in it. Attach the pieces together and use pound cake. Just plain pound cake. If you want more of a flavour you can add extracts or use a stronger flavour frosting. I check it by sticking a long cake tester in it to be sure it's done. Put it on it's side on a cooling rack. Carefully take one side off. Let it completly cool then flip it on its other side and carefully take that piece off. Let it completly cool. You could put it in the fridge. The only problem with that is cakes have an easier time coming out of a pan if the cake is somewhat warm.
Here are some cakes I've done. There's a baby shower one that CC isn't posting but you can see it on my website under gallery in baby shower section. The first one is a birthday bear for a Boyds Bear enthusiasts and the second one is the mini bear pan. I did a 3-D train for my sons 1st birthday.
Thanks for all of the great ideas....I'm going to give it two more rounds andif I still can't make it happen, then I may just entertain the rice crispies idea, haha. Good one! I just made my 4th cake following a recipe I found on the side of the Duncan Hines yellow cake mix box....it was for a yellow pound cake. Figured I might as well give it a try and put it together as directed...then added another box of Betty Crocker pound cake mix with no other added ingredients. It came out great! Fairly firm but still somewhat moist & very edible. BUT, hahaha....and yeah, all I can do at this point is laugh....I forgot to spray down the pans before I poured in the batter!! Can you believe that? I finally got the cake batter right but it is stuck to the pan! I had to pry it off carefully with a knife. Argh. My fault. So, here I go to make cake #5 with that box recipe again but i'll be sure to spray down the pans first this time. Then i'll put it in the refrigerator overnight and pray that I did it right this time.
Wow, such great advice and WOW, I love that Boyds Bear cake!! I love love love Boyds Bears! Too cute. I'm going to give this bear a blue belly with light blue & green polka dots and put a frosted sugar cone party hat on top of his head...to match my son's party goods. After reading how you make them, I think I see what a couple of my mistakes were now...I was taking the bear completely out of the pan after an hour or two of cooling upside down on the counter and sitting it on a cake board alone. I didn't think to take only one side off for a while and then flip to the other to make sure it's completely cooled on both sides. AND, I only sprayed down the pans with Pam....didn't think to sprinkle some flour in there too.
Thanks so much for your help and sharing your wonderful cake pictures! Very inspiring!
I'm sorry you're having so much trouble with it. I've done it several times and it's never given me a problem. I live in Northern Maine so I don't know if that's a factor. I generously grease both sides with crisco and then sift flour in it. Attach the pieces together and use pound cake. Just plain pound cake. If you want more of a flavour you can add extracts or use a stronger flavour frosting. I check it by sticking a long cake tester in it to be sure it's done. Put it on it's side on a cooling rack. Carefully take one side off. Let it completly cool then flip it on its other side and carefully take that piece off. Let it completly cool. You could put it in the fridge. The only problem with that is cakes have an easier time coming out of a pan if the cake is somewhat warm.
I use just Betty Crocker yellow or chocolate fudge mixes with no add ins for my 3d cakes.
Make sure you bake it slow and that it's done all the way through, you can bake it without the core too.
When it comes out do the flip thing a couple times while it's cooling and wait at least 24 hours to take it out and stand it up, I cover it after it's cool.
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