Welcome to the Cake Decorators Q&A

Hi there,

I am planning to make the 3d teddy bear and have baked the cakes and plan to ganache them later. I am worried about the shaggy fur piping in the hear over the next few days though. Will Pauls recommended buttercream recipe be ok? I worry that it will melt and its for a special first birthday in 2 days. thanks

Hi mrs_kjh

As a rule I wouldn’t recommend storing cakes in the fridge for long periods of time as this tends to dry cakes out.
What you could do how ever is double box the decorated cake. Seal the first box with teddy in and place in another box and keep in the fridge until you need it for delivery. Double boxing the cake will prevent moisture causing condensation on the cake, drying the icing and cake out. Bring cake to room temperature before serving. I will say though that the teddy fur doesn’t take long to pipe round. You could leave it until the day of the birthday so it wouldn’t be in the fridge too long. If you think Paul’s butter cream recipe will be too soft try using a little less butter so the consistency is a slightly stiffer. I’m sure other members have some ideas too and will contribute their advice.

I find substituting some Trex for butter also helps it stay stiffer 🙂

I noticed some comments on facebook regarding this, and someone said that they always add some powdered royal icing sugar to the buttercream mix, to help it keep its shape.

Some also use meringue powder to stablise the butter cream and help it hold shape.