28/10/2026
Teddy Bear Buttercream Cake 🧸🎂
This adorable teddy bear-style puppy cake is made with soft vanilla sponge cake, creamy buttercream, and piped buttercream fur. The cake is carved and assembled into a sitting dog shape before decorating.
Yield: 1 medium teddy bear cake
Oven temperature: 170°C
Baking time: 25–35 minutes per cake layer, depending on pan size
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Sponge Cake
• 4 cups all-purpose flour (500g)
• 2 cups butter (450g)
• 2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
• 8 large eggs
• 1 cup milk (240ml)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (8g)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (10ml)
• ¼ teaspoon salt (1g)
For the Buttercream
• 4 cups unsalted butter (900g)
• 10–12 cups icing sugar (1.2–1.5kg)
• 4–6 tablespoons milk (60–90ml)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (10ml)
For Decorating
• Ivory or cream food colouring, if needed
• Brown food colouring
• Pink food colouring
• Black fondant or edible cake eyes
• Brown fondant for the nose, if desired
• Pink fondant for the bow tie
• Piping bags
• Grass or fur piping nozzle
• Round piping nozzle
• Cake board
Instructions
Bake the Cake
• Preheat the oven to 170°C.
• Grease and line your cake pans with baking paper.
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• Add the vanilla extract.
• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until just combined.
• Divide the batter among your prepared pans.
• Bake until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Allow the cakes to cool completely before decorating.
Prepare the Buttercream
• Beat the butter until smooth and creamy.
• Gradually add the sifted icing sugar.
• Add the vanilla extract and milk a little at a time until the buttercream is smooth and pipeable.
• Divide the buttercream into portions.
• Colour the largest portion cream or ivory, another portion brown, and a small portion pink.
Trim and Assemble the Cake
• Level the cooled cakes with a serrated knife.
• Stack the layers with buttercream between them.
• Use the cakes and trimmed sponge pieces to form the body, head, muzzle, ears, legs, and paws.
• Secure the pieces with buttercream and suitable cake supports where necessary.
• Chill the assembled cake until firm enough to handle.
Tip: Use firm, chilled cake pieces when carving. A dense sponge is generally easier to shape than a very light, delicate cake.
Apply the Crumb Coat
• Spread a thin layer of buttercream over the entire cake.
• Smooth the surface to hold the crumbs in place.
• Refrigerate until the coating is firm.
Shape the Puppy
• Refine the head, body, muzzle, floppy ears, front legs, and paws.
• Add a thin layer of cream buttercream to cover exposed cake.
• Chill again if the cake becomes too soft.
Pipe the Buttercream Fur
• Fill a piping bag fitted with a grass or fur nozzle with cream buttercream.
• Pipe short strands all over the head, face, chest, body, and legs.
• Work in small sections, keeping the strands close together for a fluffy appearance.
• Use brown buttercream to pipe the floppy ears.
• Pipe cream strands around the muzzle to create the fluffy cheeks.
Add the Facial Features
• Attach two black edible eyes.
• Add a brown nose using fondant or firm brown buttercream.
• Create a small pink tongue.
• Pipe brown details onto the paws.
Make the Pink Bow Tie
• Shape a bow tie from pink fondant or pipe one with firm pink buttercream.
• Place it around the neck area.
• Add a small centre knot to complete the look.
Final Decoration
• Inspect the cake and fill any gaps with additional buttercream fur.
• Add small fondant decorations to the cake board if desired.
• Refrigerate until the buttercream is firm and the cake is stable.
Storage
• Store the finished cake in a covered container in the refrigerator because of the buttercream.
• For best quality, enjoy within 3–4 days.
• Before serving, allow the cake to sit at room temperature briefly so the sponge softens.
Important: For a cake this detailed, bake extra sponge for carving and make extra buttercream for piping. The fur decoration requires considerably more buttercream than a standard frosted cake.
