Lamb Cakes are symbols of springtime, and Wilton makes it easy to bake and decorate your own little lamb. The origins of this treat are debated every Easter, but the Stand-Up Lamb Pan has been in the Wilton line for nearly 40 years. It’s the original precursor to 3-D cakes!
I love this project because it’s got a lot of “wow!” factor but it’s still really easy to do. Even if you bake a Lamb Cake every year, it’s a good idea to read through all the instructions for the pan before beginning because proper baking and cooling times are important for a sturdy finished lamb.
It’s important to use a heavier cake batter, like pound cake. Thicker batter won’t leak out of the pan before it has time to set up in the oven, and once the lamb is baked and cooled, it will be sturdy enough to stand up. The pan bakes perfectly with 5 cups of cake batter. You can easily convert a double layer boxed cake mix into a pound cake by following the formula at the end of this post, or use a homemade recipe for pound cake. Whichever way you choose to bake, don’t be tempted to fill the pan with more than 5 cups of batter – use any extra to make cupcakes.
Here are the steps:
Line the bottom of your oven with foil as insurance. If filled properly, the pan won’t overflow, but just in case, the foil will be easy to clean up. Preheat the oven to the temperature specified in your cake recipe.
Spray both pans well with Bake Easy™ or another nonstick cooking spray. If you prefer to grease and flour your pans, use a pastry brush to get into every nook and cranny. Dust insides with flour and shake out the excess. Cover any spots that are still shiny with more shortening and dust with flour.
Mix your pound cake batter and pour 5 cups of it into the bottom half of the lamb. Five cups will fill it all the way to the top, until it is almost overflowing. If your batter is so thick that it doesn’t flow evenly, spread it to the edges of the bottom pan. Line up the top pan with the bottom pan. It’s easy to tell the pans apart because the top one has a hole punched in to insert a cake tester or toothpick.
Using kitchen string, tie the pan together in 2 places (kind of like trussing a lamb to roast, only easier!). I like to tie mine at the neck and around the back end. The strings ensure that the rising cake batter won’t force the pan halves apart.
Bake the lamb cake in the center of the oven for 50-60 minutes. Test for doneness by poking a toothpick or cake tester through the hole on the top pan. When it comes out clean, your lamb is done.
Remember that I mentioned that baking AND cooling are very important? Now that it’s baked, the cake needs a chance to cool down and firm up. Remove the pan from the oven to a cooling grid and don’t open it for 5 minutes.
Snip the kitchen string and remove the top half of the pan, cooling like this for 5 more minutes.
Replace the top half of the pan, turn the cake pan over (use oven mitts – it will still be very hot), and remove the bottom half of the pan. Let the cake rest like this until it is completely cool, about 4 hours.
Remove the cake from the pan by placing one hand gently on the cake surface and setting the cake and pan upright on a serving platter. You’ll be able to carefully slip the top pan away from the cake. If the lamb does not stand level on your serving platter, trim the bottom or prop it up with icing.
There are lots of ways to decorate your Lamb Cake, including the traditional Lounging Lamb Cake, the yummy coconut covered Lamb, and my favorite, Candy Curls Lamb.
Think outside the box too – this pan can be used for so many other things! You can pay tribute to your dog or kitty with a few different decorating techniques. One Wiltonite uses her Lamb Pan every Halloween, but she bakes a red velvet lamb and detaches the head to get into the spooky spirit.
Can you think of other ways to use the pan? How will you decorate your Lamb Cake this year? Be sure to check our website for other Easter cake ideas and Easter bakeware.
Pound Cake from a Boxed Cake Mix
1 box (about 18 oz) cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 package (3.8 oz) instant pudding mix (use vanilla for white or yellow cakes, use chocolate for devils food)
Mix all ingredients according to cake mix instructions. For Lamb Pan, bake as instructed above.
Beth is the Culinary Specialist in the test kitchen at Wilton. She spends her days examining Wilton products to make sure that they are up to par, helping refine ideas for new Wilton items, and developing fun and simple recipes. The recipes on all Wilton bakeware and Wilton.com originate in the test kitchen, and it’s Beth’s favorite part of the job. Before joining Wilton, Beth worked as a cake decorator and pastry chef. She’s baked, decorated, and delivered hundreds of wedding and birthday cakes, and loves the idea that in some small way, her creations have played a role in so many celebrations. When she’s not in the test kitchen, you can find Beth cooking and baking for her friends and family, and dining out all over Chicago. 
I would so love to win this cute lamb cake pan. I would love to bake one just like yours and show it off for our congregation at our church on our Sunrise Church Service Breakfast we have. This would be a beautiful surprise treat for everyone. What a beautiful Sunrise it would be. I hope I’d win.
I have barrowed the pan to make a couple of cakes for family but I would love to own my own pan so that I dont have to keep barrowin it from my friend
I love the lamb cake pan, its soooooo cute! I hope i win
Win what?
this was a great article, I learned alot about using the 3D lamb pan, and I liked that it gave the recipie for the conversion of boxed cake to pound cake
How cute this is!!!!! Would be great for Easter- but think would be hysterical to use for Halloween as the one reader did.
Planning to read some of the other ideas too. I don’t own this pan yet, but will have to add to my wish list!
I love this pan! I’ve used molded cake pans in the past but I don’t have this one. It’s so cute!!! I might use it to make a replica of my own puppy! How funny would that be?
CONGRATS to the WINNER!! ENJOY!!!
So, who won??????
I am new to cake decorating and Wilton. Everything is broken down making beautiful things easy to create, even those like me that have no creative juices LOL. I would love to win this set. I can see my granddaughter and me making for Papa.
[...] Easter Lamb Cake from Wilton® [...]
I love wilton. I am currently taking a cake decorating class!!! my mom make’s the lamb cake every year!! she is going to teach me next week how to make it.
I love Wilton. I love lambs. I love Easter.
The directions make this sound easy and fun to make and the recipe for thick batter was included!!! Kudos to Wilton!!!
i love Wilton Products! (:
I don’t see the temperature to bake the lamb cake at? I see the recipe using a box cake creating into a pound cake; I see 50-60 minutes but I see no oven temperature. I’d love to make this for the grandkids next week. Please advise.
Hi Karen! Bake your lamb cake at 350°, just like you would a regular boxed cake mix. Happy Easter!
Thanks!
I was using Grandma’s old lamb mold, tied it together but it still managed to leak on the foil at the bottom of oven BUT it cooked, came out of the mold (following your great instructions) and with luck the rest will go smoothly. Thanks@
Oh how I would love to win this cake pan as my maiden name is “Lamb” and I LOVE all things Lamb related – what a perfect ending to an Easter celebration with my parents for my children to present them with a Lamb cake
I learn so many techniques from this website.
I have taken all of the Wilton cake decorating classes
and have made, sold several cakes. I hope that I never get to the point where I feel I’m done learning.
Thanks to all who post ideas, recipes, etc. on here.
Happy Easter;-)
Brenda G
B’s Cakes
Loveland, CO
The lamb cake is great for church. My grandkids love to do stuff like this with me. Would be great for cake walk on Easter Sunday at Church.
I woul love to have one Lamb pan!! that is so cute!!!
Thanks so much….my grandmother is not around to tell me how to use her antique pans and this really helped.
good & cool I love it
I love this little lamb pan I would really like to have one. I have the 3d bunny one like this. Its an awesome pan!
I will love buy youreaster lamb pan but I cannot find it in any store can you help me to find it in Miami Area or maybe buy by the web?
Thankyou
Cecilia
Love this cute pan and so easy to do.
WOW, I received my lamb mold from a friend. She said she never had any luck making them. I was shocked when I read the directions. I thought you put batter in both pieces and was just checking the site to see what I use when it’s done to make them stick. We have an annual Easter Bake Sale and I am now prepared to make lamb cakes. My goal is to make 10 for each day of the sale. Would love to win another pan because it would make the process go a little faster. Thanks for all the wonder ideas for us bakers.
i would love to have this pan my aunts made this when i was a kid she lost the pans it would be a nice treat for the family thanks agin
I do a chocolate pound cake, covered in chocolate buttercream and chocolate curls. Because I have always been the proverbial “black sheep of the family”!
If the Wilton blog had a “like” button, I’d be clicking it for this comment. Yum!
i like lamb pan,i realy like to learn this but im far away,africa ,tanzania
I happen to have the Cast Iron Lamb Mold that my Grandmother used to make my birthday cakes with when I was a kid. I know it is “at least” 50 years old, because that is how old I am, and I got my first lamb cake on my first birthday. Can I use this same exact recipe with the CAST IRON mold? I would love to know if it will work so I can re-start the tradition in my family! Thanks! Amy
What a fantastic memory, Amy! Since I’m not sure what the capacity of your pan is, I would suggest mixing up the same recipe given at the end of the blog, and filling the bottom piece of the pan all the way to the top edge. That might be different than the 5 cups we call for if your pan is a different size. For cast iron, I would reduce the oven temperature to 325°F and I would also begin checking the cake with a toothpick at 40 minutes instead of 50. Cast iron should cook a lot faster than this pan.
I hope you and your family are able to enjoy the Easter Lamb Cake tradition this year.
I forgot to tell you also, my Grandma always made the “7 minute frosting”, which is the Marshmallow kind…..It was so yummy and the frosting looked almost real with it’s stiff peaks!!!
I am so happy to have found this lamb pan,because a patients daughter and co-worker used to make lambs for easter. She has a wonderful home made recipe with raisins and nuts and other ingredients ,but, I lost track of her and also forgot how she put it together. I found the pan at Michaels in moreno valley,Ca. and it works great.
One more thing. is the pudding added to the cake mix ? and may I have the recipe from Amy Lacy for 7 minute frosting, sounds lucious, seems it will go great on my Crist cake. I use coconut to cover it.
Hi Mary –
Yes, the dry pudding mix is added directly to the cake mix, along with the rest of the ingredients.
Hi is your recipe above using a small or regular sized box of pudding?
Thank you
Great question, Katie! It is using a small box (3.8 oz.) of pudding mix.
Love the lamb cake. It’s so cute! Is it best to crumb coat the cake before you decorate?
Has anyone cut the cake to add a filling? I’m wondering if it will hold up.
Hi Linda,
I haven’t actually tried cutting the cake to fill it, but my concern is that the cake will not be as stable after cutting, and it might fall over. If you are going to cut and fill the cake, I’d suggest sticking to a heavier filling that will also act as an edible glue, like buttercream icing. Avoid anything slippery, like jams or fresh fruits, which might cause the cut layers of cake to slide off of each other. You could always serve the cut cake with a little raspberry sauce or fresh fruit on the side instead!
I’m curious–I’m assuming it’s instant pudding that you add to the box mix to make a pound cake?? I just bought my pan, and my 11-year old daughter is very excited to help me make this cake for Easter Sunday for the first time. Wish us luck!!
Yes Janette, use a 3.8 oz. box of instant pudding mix.
does the pudding have to be instant pudding?
If the box says “pudding in the mix” should I still add the pudding?
Yes, Susan, you’ll want to add a 3.8 oz. box of instant pudding mix. Try to use a cake mix that does NOT already have pudding in it. Adding the separate box gives the cake the extra strength it needs to stand up straight.
Just read the last question above mine and I got the answer.
Thanks anyway and I’m glad I checked it out because I did not buy INSTANT pudding. The mix already has pudding in the mix so it’s fine.
[...] their history in a Chicago Sun-Times article in 2010, and how to successfully bake one on the Wilton blog last year. With all of that floating around on the interwebs, it hardly seems necessary to repeat [...]
Hi I had the cake for my birthday it turned out brill. The moisture was fantastic and the texture was just fab really overall the cake was fab.
Sara age 10 and alana 10 twins
[...] From Wilton’s traditional lamb cake directions [...]
Wiltons,
I know that everyone done lambs but I am turning my lamb pan into a RACCOON!!! Yes, I said, “RACCOON”…..My turning 15 year old wanted a raccoon for his birthday…I make a 3D coon sitting on a log!
I have the lamb pan and have made it a few times using coconut flakes over the frosting. Now would like to make one witht he curls like the one in your picture, howeve,r I am not sure if the curls are made by shaving a white chocolcate bar or if you sell such product.. Could you please tell me.
Thank you,
Maggy
Would it be possible to give a basic recipe suited to this kind of cake please as I don t use packet mixes. Thanks and best regards from the island of Malta xxx
[...] gotta bake it. This lamb cake recipe isn’t a ‘from scratch’ …instead, it’s a mash-up from Wilton of some box mixes with some other ingredients. Usually I prefer to bake from scratch but in this [...]
Ive been making lamb cakes for years using your pan. I love them! I’ve tried different recipes over the years. Some held up well but had little taste or texture others turned out well so I was really looking for a way to use a boxed cake mix. Thanks!
The first time I had lamb cake I was a tiny girl and I’m 66 now.
My daughter has found out she is allergic to gluten. Have you any recipes for this lamb cake that do not use flours containing gluten?
Do you make cast iron cake pans any longer?