AHello all. I am am making my first Cinderella stand up cake. The Wilton pan looks nice.. But I have seen many posts with users using their kitchen aid bowl. Pros and cons? The doll pick does not look like Cinderella .. Should I buy a Cinderella doll? Would that be to big for Wilton pan?? I would love some input from experienced cake doll makers! So appreciative of your time and talents!

The only 'con' is that there is no metal rod to help conduct heat to the center of this large cake.  One could  make something similar by twisting a bit of alumimn foil into a tight 'pencile' and pushing it into the batter after the bowl has been filled w/batter.  Make sure that pencil is as long as the bowl is high.

I do believe any doll w/legs is too tall for the Wilton pan.  Usually people bake an extra round to go under the doll skirt.  I don't remember is there is the same problem w/the KA bowl.  If this is for a customer, be sure to have them buy the doll & get it to you in plenty of time to use.  Then you have to make a hole in the cake that is *just!* wide enough for the hips of the doll.  If you try to puch the doll into the cake w/o that hole it will split the cake in 2 :(

The only 'con' is that there is no metal rod to help conduct heat to the center of this large cake.  One could  make something similar by twisting a bit of alumimn foil into a tight 'pencile' and pushing it into the batter after the bowl has been filled w/batter.  Make sure that pencil is as long as the bowl is high.

I do believe any doll w/legs is too tall for the Wilton pan.  Usually people bake an extra round to go under the doll skirt.  I don't remember is there is the same problem w/the KA bowl.  If this is for a customer, be sure to have them buy the doll & get it to you in plenty of time to use.  Then you have to make a hole in the cake that is *just!* wide enough for the hips of the doll.  If you try to puch the doll into the cake w/o that hole it will split the cake in 2 :(

If you want moist, tender delicious cake, it might be best to bake layers and carve. It's not a hard shape.  Is this the one? Looks like it comes with a rod, fwiw.

If you don't already own the doll pan, I certainly wouldn't buy one.  I've found, even with a heating core, it's difficult to achieve a moist cake throughout.  I have baked graduating round cakes (stack your pans to decide which sizes to use), torted/filled as usual, frozen, and carved into a dress shape.

I've always used the doll picks to not have to mess with the legs!  HTH!

I used the doll pan for my Cinderella cake.  The dress was not big enough for the doll I was provided with without layers.  I don't think I'd buy the pan, I borrowed it from a cake lady friend.  If you have rounds that would likely be your best bet and just carve. 

I have tried both the KitchenAid bowl and the Wilton wonder mold to make doll cakes but I prefer to use a combination of an 8" round pan + an 8" bowl (I use heating cores in both). I level off the tops then sandwich them together. I find that baking the shape in two parts helps maintain moistness. The tutorial at this link shows how to bake a cake in a bowl: http://www.wickedgoodies.net/2013/08/how-to-make-a-half-sphere-cake/