Novelty cake tin or not?

KazDub

I'm baking a cake for my daughter's birthday this weekend and am still deciding which one to do. While in TKMaxx today I saw a teddy bear shaped baking tin. I bought it on the spur of the moment and of course only now have a few questions about how practical it's going to be / not be.

As this is a metal tin I'm reading online about greasing and flouring the tins first. How do I go about this? Is it just some butter / flora oil and a light coating of flour?

Is this kind of novelty cake a pain in the bum to cut in half and make a 'sandwich' out of'? Though I guess that really depends on the kind of cake used and the height reached.

I have two reliable 8" springform trays I can use if I bottle out of this one. Im even thinking now that trying to ice it in any way that manages to retain the bear features is going to be a total nightmare.

Any tips folks?

sandy_c

I think you should go for it, i'm sure you're daughter would love it!!! To grease just melt some marg/butter and rub all over the inside of the tin. Sieve some flour into it and band your hand on the side of it to spread the flour around the tin.

When its cooked i'll level the cake i.e. trim off whatever rises out of the tin so the sponge will be level when you over turn it. If you're going to use butter cream to ice it i wouldn't slice it horizontally there'll be enough icing from the covering alone i'd imagine. Post a pic when you've finished.

http://www.wilton.com/idea/Huggable-Teddy-Bear

http://www.thebakerskitchen.net/ProductImages/bakeware/wilton/general_pans/teddybear_pan.jpg

Sigma Force

I have similar cake tins I used at easter and used a Bundt cake recipe I used a little butter to coat them and then coated them in fine breadcrumbs and the cakes came out ok but I found the features were a bit lost (they were rabbits etc.) but icing it properly probably would of worked but I'm no good at icing.

The bear would probably come out ok but as you said icing it unless you are good at icing it might end up funny lookin lets say lol.

If your daughters fairly young and is at that stage where as long as it's cute you can get away with it then anything with chocolate and sprinkles works.

With all the parties our young one has been to and had kids don't really mind as long as it's got sugar in it they're happy. I made a regular chocolate cake one of Nigellas recipes (it was at Easter time) and just iced it (chocolate ganache is very forgiving and everyone loves a cake covered in chocolate) and plonked a load of mini easter eggs on top.

So you might get away with something like a simple chocolate sponge cake with a chocolate butter cream filling and then just plonk some chocolate ganache on top and sprinkle the top with whatever your daughter likes, if she's in to princess stuff there's bound to be princessy sprinkles and decorations.

You might get away with that, it's when they get a bit older they get more fussy about their cakes so if you can get away with it at all enjoy lol.

tfak85

i say go for it, but definately use a bundt cake recipe, it's slightly denser cake and holds the shape very well... i just made a lovely orange one at the weekend, had the tin well greased and floured and it popped out just fine, i let it cool for a good 45mins in the tin...

make your buttercream ina couple of different colours, use smarties and chocolate buttons to enhance the decor and it's bound to be a winner!

oh yeah, i saw nigella using a spray oil to grease her tin, a castle shape one.

DreamC

If you use oil to grease the tin then I would recommend to sieve some flour over it and shake out the excess as sponge needs that grip for rising evenly. Otherwise you can get a big dome in the center and low sides.

KazDub

Thanks for all those tips folks. I found a recipe on the BBC food website that I think might be nice (www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chocolatechilliandor_93987) with a few modifications.
Feck it, I think I'll be brave and risk using the tin. If it all goes pear shape I can disguise it all with a feck load of icing!

Faith

I've never heard of flouring a tin when greasing it! Can someone explain why you do this and what benefit it has?