Pudsey Bear for Children in Need

 My daughter, Lucy wanted to raise some money to help Children in Need, after much deliberation she chose to raffle a cake in school - it was made in the shape of Pudsey and raised £432. 

If you'd like to make your own Pudsey, you will need:

9” round cake (4” deep or 2 x 2” deep)

8” round cake (4” deep or 2 x 2” deep)

7” diameter (4 pint) ball cake

16” round cake drum

8” round hardboard

7” round hardboard

6” round board (to use as a guide for shaping shoulders)

4” round cake card

1 kg approx. white chocolate paste or marzipan for forming ears, nose, arms and legs

500 g approx. white sugarpaste for board and bandana

Small amounts of red, yellow, blue, green and black sugarpaste for spots and features

Piping bag

Wilton fur/grass nozzle 233

Wooden or plastic dowels

For the buttercream:

1.5 kg block butter

2 kg icing sugar

4 tablespoons Meriwhite

340 g caster sugar

Pure vanilla extract

Paste food colours – Sugarflair melon and autumn leaf

For the spotty board covering - roll out a piece of white sugarpaste big enough to cover your board then roll small balls of red, yellow, green and blue sugarpaste and press them flat on the white sugarpaste with your fingertips.  You shouldn’t need to use any glue to get the dots to stick so long as the white paste is freshly rolled and hasn’t crusted over.  Use a smoother to smooth out the paste and incorporate the spots into the white paste.  Smooth the sugarpaste onto the board being careful not to distort the shape of the spots, then trim away any excess paste.  Set board aside so sugarpaste can dry out.

If the top of the cakes are slightly domed then cut the domed part off using a sharp serrated knife so that the cakes are completely level.  Split each cake three times horizontally, giving four layers of equal height.  This is easier done if you bake two 2” tall cakes – you can level the top and then split each cake equally in two.

Take the bottom half of the 9” cake (two layers of the four), flip it over so that the bottom of the cake is facing upwards and, using the 7” board as a guide carve the sides of the cake at an angle so that the bottom will sit on the 7” board, tapering evenly out to 9” at the second layer of buttercream/filling.

Take the top quarter of the cake (one layer of the four) and repeat the carving using the 8” board only this time keep the cake facing upwards – you want to carve the top.

Place the cake on the 7” hardboard.

Using the 8” cake and the 6” board, carve the top two layers in a tapered fashion as before for the bear’s shoulders.  Place this cake on the 8” hardboard.

Remove the 6” board from the top of the cake and carve a little more away from the top edge, giving a rounded top.

Make the buttercream for filling and crumb-coating - beat 500 g butter, 1 kg icing sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract together until soft, light and fluffy.  Use to sandwich the layers of each of the two ‘body’ cakes together or use a combination of buttercream and raspberry jam, if preferred.  Dowel the bottom cake (on the 7” hardboard) before stacking the upper cake (on the 8” hardboard) on top.  Cover the cake closely with cling film and leave overnight to settle before crumb-coating.

Torte and fill the ball cake for the head as before and place on the 4” round cake card.  If the cake doesn’t sit level on the card trim a small slice off the bottom.  Cover with cling film and leave to settle.

The following day, spread a thin layer of buttercream over the body of the bear and place on the covered cake board, towards the back of it to allow room for his legs at the front.  Dowel the top part of the body.

Stick the head to the body and form ears, nose and chin from white chocolate paste and stick in place, as shown.

Form legs, feet and arms from white chocolate paste or cake trimmings and stick to body.

At this stage, you can also insert dowels into the arms to hold them in place so long as you inform the recipient that they are there.

Make buttercream for piping – cream 500 g butter and 500 g sifted icing sugar together until light and creamy.  Place 170 g caster sugar and 2 tbsp Meriwhite in a separate bowl, pour on 125 ml boiling water and whisk until stiff.  Fold this meringue into the butter/icing sugar mix, adding vanilla extract to taste.  Leave this aside and make another batch of exactly the same quantity (the mixer bowls aren’t big enough to mix the entire quantity needed in one go) and mix both batches together in a large bowl.  Colour to the desired shade with the paste colours.  Place a small amount of the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with the Wilton grass/fur nozzle. 

Pipe the buttercream all over the bear – squeeze the piping bag lightly against the cake then pull the nozzle away – repeat until he is completely covered.  Do not underestimate the time this will take – make sure you have several hours free!

Make the bandana with spots in the same way as you covered the board with sugarpaste, cut to size and place on the bear’s head then use the black paste to make eyes, nose, mouth and buttons if required.

You can also make a miniature Pudsey from small ball cakes – a 50mm and 70mm sphere, covered in sugarpaste.  Arms, legs, ears and features were also made from sugarpaste.