Nordic Ware Cast Aluminum Build-A-Bear Cake Pan

 (3 customer reviews)

Okay, the obvious is that the bear pan bakes 1/2 of a vertical left-right 3D bear slice.
These slices are great for putting on the top of a cake flat, not so much for a 3D finished bear cake.
The cake pan is well-made, non-stick, and solid and bakes like a charm despite some core flaws with the finished cake assembly.
Use a flat cookie sheet under the baking pan to keep the pan level while baking.
I would recommend the Wilton 3D bear cake pan over this one after using this cake pan.

The 1/2 bear slices really stink at trying to assemble into a 3D bear (3rd baked cake in a few days) as a unit. The reason is that the head is too heavy for the body and the head halves always break off, and since cold cake frosting is not really adhesive enough, the bear wants to split down the middle and the back of the bear (first attempt unmodified cake mix). My recommendation is to deliberately cut the bear's head off after flipping over the baking pan (cool for an...Read more

I got this pan two years ago and never used it until yesterday. I read such horror stories on-line that I made the cake early so that I could get everything ironed out in order to make the Santa Bear at Christmas. I figured I would mess up a few times before I got a winner. But My first try turned out a beautiful bear. I used the Santa kit I had and traced it on paper in order to make an outfit for a princess bear. It was very close to the one on the box (I think it's cuter but I am probably biased).

I was a little annoyed that the instructional video was missing from Build A Bear's web site and nowhere to be found on the Internet but alas, I read enough blogs to figure out what I was doing.

I did alter a few things from the box instructions. I used two boxes of Betty Crocker Pound Cake. Many people said that the head kept falling off of the bear with the recipe on the box. They suggested using pound cake. I did that and had no problem. I let the cake cool...Read more

The idea for this cake is very cute, but I had difficulty getting both sides to stay together without the whole cake falling apart. It is also hard to get the inside of the cake done without overcooking the outside. While it is challenging to get the cake to turn out as a 3-D sitting bear, it's still cute as a half bear on top of a sheet cake. I used both halves for a shower cake for twins that received lots of compliments. I also made a "brownie" cake and had a little more success with some modifications. I used brownie mixes and filled the pan. When the outside was done, I took it out of the oven, scraped out the undercooked inside, and put it in a regular pan to continue cooking. When the inside was done, I added in some peanut butter, confectioner's sugar and a little vanilla and refilled the brownie shell to make a peanut butter brownie cake. The head still cracked at the neck, but I was able to glue it back together with frosting mixed with some of the leftover brownie...Read more