Ann Reardon

Teddy Bear Cake

teddy bear cake video ann reardon

 

Only one of my boys ever got attached to a particular teddy… Godfrey was teddy’s name. He has to come with us on every trip and once he nearly got lost at a US airport. The other two kids just love all teddies equally and will easily swap which one, if any, is on their bed. This teddy bear cake would be suitable for a baby shower, first birthday or well beyond if you have a special teddy.

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To make this teddy bear cake you will need

Teddy Bear Template

 

Chocolate Cake Recipe
This makes a lighter chocolate cake than I usually use for carving, for my favourite dense one use two of this recipe

170g (6 ounces) dark chocolate
3 cups or 750millilitres (25.36 fluid ounces) hot brewed coffee
6 cups or 1308g (46.14 ounces) sugar
5 cups or 800g (28.22 ounces) plain all-purpose flour
3 cups or 360g (12.7 ounces) cocoa powder
6 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 tsp salt
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups or 276g (9.74 ounces) vegetable oil
3 cups or 750millilitres (25.36 fluid ounces) of milk (4% fat)
2 tsp vanilla

teddy bear cake how to cook that video

Combine the chocolate and hot coffee. Once the chocolate is melted mix until smooth. Add in the oil and milk. Beat the eggs until foamy and add into the chocolate mixture. Sift together all of the dry ingredients and then mix into the wet mix.
Bake at 180C (356 degrees Fahrenheit) in:
* 2 x round 20cm (7.87 inches) cake tins
* 2 x 500ml pyrex bowls (add 2 cups into each)
* 2 x 1L (0.26 gallons) pyrex bowls (add 3 cups to each one)

30g (1.06 ounces) light blue fondant
50g (1.76 ounces) white fondant
20g (0.71 ounces) black fondant
50g (1.76 ounces) pale grey fondant

4 x american buttercream recipe mixed with
ganache made from 200g (7.05 ounces) white chocolate and 60millilitres (2.03 fluid ounces) cream (35% fat)

Supports and a small round cake board for inside the cake.
grass piping tip and piping bag
This cake will provide 30 generous serves.

3d teddy bear cake ann reardon

by Ann Reardon How To Cook That

My Cookbook

ann reardon crazy sweet creations cookbook
Stores that sell my book listed by country: http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.

175 Comments View Comments

  1. I typically use cake flour for all my cakes. Would you advise against that when making a cake like this that has to stack tall?

    • Hi samantha, In Australia, we don’t have cake flour’, as bleached white flour is banned for health reasons. That is why Ann’s recipes will generally use plain flour (all purpose). Cake flour also has a little cornstarch added which increases the protein content. Generally cake flour should be fine to use.

    • Cake flour makes a lighter cake so I would recommend using all purpose flour for this…this recipe makes a moist enough cake as is

  2. Rating: 5

    Hello!
    I’m excited but a little nervous to try and make this for my sons’ first birthday. a few questions.
    I would like to use chocolate buttercream for the filling and crumb coat and then Swiss meringue buttercream for the decorating. Will that be a problem for any reason? Also, what are the pros and cons of using cake vs. Rice Krispie treats for the arms?
    thank you!

    • Hi Samantha, generally the rice crispie arms will be more stable and easier to get the shape you want. You can use the frosting you suggested, however test out the Swiss meringue buttercream for your teddybear fur, before you start on the whole cake. Make sure you are happy with the look and stability.

  3. hi I was wondering where about I can get the template from

    • Hi Kirsty, The template is purchaseable via the BUY it Now button.

  4. I just purchased temlate for 3d teddie bear cake,to make the size of your grey bear,what size do i enlarge template pattern please

    • Hi Olga, If you print the template out at 100% , without scaling, it will be the perfect size. You do not need to adjust the template.

  5. Rating: 5

    Is it actually a 500ml size bowl or bigger? 2 cups of cake batter equals 500ml and therefore it fills to the top unlike your video which shows a lot of room left for the cake to rise.

    • Hi Kerri, Ann lists in the recipe the bowls she uses. These include 2 x 1L bowls and 2 x 500mL bowls.

  6. Rating: 5

    Hi Ann,
    I’m going to make this cake for my friend’s daughter’s first birthday. I will sure be following the exact recipe and instruction given by you. Though, I have one doubt regarding the recipe. In the page it was mentioned that you used 6 eggs for the cake, but in the video I could see only 3 eggs. Could you please explain why? It would be really helpful for me to understand the recipe before starting to make it.

    • Hi Devi, Ann uses 6 eggs.

  7. Rating: 4.5

    Hi, how tall is the cake when made?? I am making this for my son’s 1st birthday and would love it to be the same size as him sat down for some pics!!!!

    • Hi Jessica, I think the finished cake was around 13inches tall, so I imagine smaller than your son.

  8. Rating: 5

    My first sculpted cake! And it’s all thanks to you, Ann. Lemmy the Lemony Llama was inspired mostly by your teddy cake, but I also borrowed ideas from your avengers and my little pony cakes. I created some makeshift templates by sketching front, back and side views based on google photos of llamas. I used your sponge cake recipe with lemon drizzle and your lemon ganache for the body and neck. The head took three attempts and is made of rice crispies and marshmallows. And the cake board features a steel support. Lemmy was a huge hit with my other half and the family. I’d never thought of baking and decorating a cake like this until I stumbled upon your youtube channel just a couple of months ago. Your videos are fabulous, making everything seem so simple and achievable. You are a star and an inspiration and I cannot thank you enough for your help in making Lemmy and my other half’s birthday such a success.

    • Wow, That is an amazing cake and your first sculpted one! I am impressed. Well done. Great job on the ears and fur/wool. That would have taken a lot of patience.

  9. Rating: 5

    Hi Ann
    I would like to make a request if I may.Can you show how to make a 3D cowboy boot?using one boot or both? I love how you give instruction..you are so clear and patient..Thank You!!

  10. Rating: 4.5

    Hi Ann,
    Here is the teddy bear cake I made using your guidence.Thank you soooo much…I made him for a friends birthday and EVERYONE loved him!! His head was made of strawberry cake with vanilla buttercream and his body was german chocolate

    • Hi Virginia, He looks amazingly good. Brilliant work and love the detail!

  11. Hi how much butter cream did you use I can’t figure it out, as I’m going to buy everything I need to make this for my baby’s first birthday and would like to have everything perfect for her

    • Hi Heidi, Ann used 4 lots of the buttercream recipe given mixed with one quantity of ganache. This should provide more than enough frosting for your purposes.

  12. Rating: 5

    Hi Ann,

    I plan to bake the teddy bear cake but I am worried about the coffee. Is it completely necessary? Or can it be omitted? Does it mean the cake has a coffee flavour to it or is it just to enhance the chocolate? I ask because it is for a 3 year old’s birthday and her elder sister (5 years old) can be very picky.

    Many thanks

    Drew

  13. Rating: 5

    hey after 10 lb of failed cake i finally made a teddy cake
    thanks for the guidance

    • Oh he looks gorgeous Ankita. We are so glad you didn’t give up!

  14. Rating: 5

    Hi Anne,
    Thanks for your amazing videos – if they can give someone like me the confidence to get baking then they must be good. Keep up the good work
    Here’s my wee fellow

    • Hi Andrew, He is gorgeous! Full of personality. Well done!

  15. Rating: 5

    Hi Ann, Your teddy bear cake is fabulous. I am going to give this cake a go for my sons 2nd teddy bear picnic birthday party. Can you please provide me with an idea of how long the completed cake (with icing) will stay fresh and last? Can I make it 2 or 3 days before the party or do you think it’s best to make it the day before to ensure it stays fresh and the icing doesn’t go funny? And should I refrigerate the completed cake or simply leave it somewhere cool? Thank you so much, Emma

    • Hi Emma, cakes are always better fresh, but you could make the cakes no more than 2 days before and moisten with sugar syrup when cool if desired. Assemble and shape as per the video. When covered completely in the crumb coat you can pop the bear in the fridge to firm up(overnight should be fine). Decorate the day prior to serving and keep cool. I would keep teddy in the fridge as I am in a warm climate. The buttercream should be fine in the fridge but the fondant pieces will soften so if you can keep teddy in a cool air conditioned room, he should be fine overnight.

  16. Rating: 5

    Hi, absolutely love your work!! What size piping tip did you use as the link doesn’t seem to work anymore!

    • Thanks for letting us know Ilze. We will get that fixed in a jiffy. The link will take you to an Alteco Tip 234.

  17. Rating: 5

    Made this for our schools cake auction. Proceeds go to the Children’s Hospital. It was certainly a challenge and there are some things I would change next time. The rice Krispy arms and legs/feet didn’t hold together so I used truffles from the mix and just made them smaller. The cake is absolutely amazing!!!? Definitely a keeper recipe! Thank you for all of your work and even the different measurements and creams depending on the country people are in!!

    • Wow Alichia Brady, Your Teddy Bear Cake is inspiring. It looks so realistic. Well done!

  18. Hey ann, the recipe for this chocolate cake turned out very crumbly and it didn’t hold ots shape for carving, taste delicious though!, why do you think that happened ?
    BTW I followed the measurements exactly.
    Thank you

    • Hi Khawla, That is very difficult to say. This cake recipe is fairly dense and isn’t usually crumbly at all. It sounds like something went awry with the ingredients it it was possibly overcooked.

  19. Rating: 5

    Hi Ann, I made a bear cake . It was definitely a learning experience. I am pleased with it although I should have taken your advise and made the arms out of rice crispie treat. I stabilized the arms really well and they stayed on.
    I think I’m used to Swiss or Italian buttercream . This particular American buttercream I found wanted to stick on my utensil but not my cake so I heated up my utensil and it worked great.
    I did buy your template but didn’t use it .
    I looked your video , love your videos as that’s how I learn by seeing then doing .
    I found four steel bowls , two in sizes of 3/4 of a liter and two in sizes of 1.5 liter and I already had the two 8 inch rounds.
    I don’t think i made a good nose but overall very pleased. I even made my first mmf bow and I added a bear tale. ? Thank you so much for making videos and templates to make it possible that the rest of us less talented people can strive to try new things

    • Hi Cynthia, great job on your bear cake and we love your creativity. If that is your first go at a bow you then you deserve to be congratulated. It looks quite professional.

  20. I want to make this bear cake this weekend . I cannot find the smaller Pyrex glass bowls only large ones of sizes 1quart , 1 1/2 quart and 2 1/2 quarts and 4 quarts , these are too big . I don’t have time to order on line.

    1 quart is 4 cups and . 946 liters. I can use two of these for the bigger portions where you put 3 cups batter in two 1 liter bowls but the smaller 500 ml size bowl that you fill up two cups cake batter , is going to be difficult to find , that can go in oven .
    Maybe I can find two metal bowls that are 500ml like the recipe sizes say and two 1 quart Pyrex bowls .
    I guess I don’t have a question , just a comment on other choice bowls that might work .

    • Hi Cyntia, You just need bowls roughly the same size that are ovenproof .

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