1st Birthday: Bear Cake Photo Tutorial

Happy Friday everyone!  As promised from my Tuesday blog post, this is the follow-up of the Classic Pooh Bear cake.  I remembered to take some photos along the way with my iPhone.

Step 1:  The Cake:  The cake was 4 layers of 6" round chocolate sour cream and vanilla bean cake.  I placed these on a cardboard cakeboard in the shape of the bottom and legs, so I can transfer it onto the bottom fondant covered cake tier.

Step 2:  Carve while looking at your inspiration.   Usually I have photos on the wall showing all angles of my inspiration, but this one was a little easier with the bear.

Step 3:  Use leftover large cake pieces to fill in the head.  I actually had 2 nice pieces from the mid-body that I was able to use.

Step 4:  Ice with thin layer of buttercream.  I used a thin coat of chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and put in the fridge for about an hour.  Not the exact shade of bear, but tasty!

Step 5: Add thicker coat of buttercream.  Then I added in a thicker layer all around and just used the palette knife to make it look like fur.  I also made sugarpaste ears which I then iced with buttercream.  I used a a lighter shade of buttercream (less cocoa) for the feet and ears.  The eyes, nose, paws and ear details were made out of fondant.

Once it was done, I transferred it onto fondant covered bottom tier