How to make a Sugarpaste Teddy Bear

Making a cake for someone who is expecting or just had a baby is a lovely thing to do – and this teddy cake topper is really easy to make.  

This teddy was the result of a half-day course I took one Saturday at the Sutton College of Learning for Adults. The class was aimed at all levels, though everyone but me was an absolute beginner! Luckily, while I knew the techniques to make sugarpaste animals (you’ll see from this cow and this sheep that it is basically the same approach)

I hadn’t actually made a teddy bear before, so it was quite fun.

I made mine lilac as I thought that was fairly gender neutral, using the lilac Sugarflair paste, while most other people did pink or blue. A light caramel brown would also work nicely with darker brown perhaps on the ears and face.

You can either buy ready-coloured sugarpaste or colour your own (which is more cost-efficient), kneading a few drops of colour into the paste.

To make the teddy bear, take a ball of sugarpaste (also called fondant or roll-out icing) about the size of an egg, and roll in the palms of your hands to make it roughly the same shape as an egg. This is your body.

Take a smaller ball and roll into a circle – this is your head. To fix the head to the body, we used both edible glue and a cocktail stick – insert the stick into the body and if desired paint a little edible glue around it, and place the head on top so it is secure. If you use a cocktail stick you need to make sure the teddy bear isn’t eaten, or that it is dismantled first by someone who knows there is a cocktail stick in it! Personally I prefer to use the slight stickiness of the sugarpaste itself and a little edible glue to stick on parts, and do without cocktail sticks – but if you are worried about transporting it, then perhaps go for the added stability.

Roll two short sausages for the legs, and press one end together so it’s flat, and stick that to the side or underside of the body depending on where you want the legs to be placed.

Do the same with smaller sausages for the arms.

Using a small balling tool make an indentation in each paw. Using a cocktail stick or a cone modelling tool, make some small dots around the larger indentation for the marks on the bear’s paws. You can also flatten a tiny ball of white fondant, add this to the end of the paws and make the marks as described.

Make two small balls, press to flatten and shape so they are broadly triangular – fix to the head with edible glue for the ears. You can use the same small balling tool to make indentations in the ears.

Make a small ball of white fondant, flatten and stick onto the face to make the nose and mouth area. Make a tiny ball from black fondant or use a black edible ink pen to mark on the nose and mouth. You can also use the scallop modelling tool for the mouth.

Finally make two tiny balls from white, flatten them and stick to the head with edible glue for the eyes. Repeat with even tinier pieces of black for the pupils, or use the edible ink pen.

I gave my teddy bear a bow tie made by rolling thin sausages of fondant and shaping. You could also give your bear a hat, or a flower behind one ear, or anything you like!