Freshly-Hatched Easter Bunny Cake

by Linette Gerlach

While doing some Easter window shopping, I saw an adorable cupcake pick with a bunny sticking up out of an Easter Egg, and in a flash, I realized it would make a wonderful Easter cake idea. Since the cupcake pick was not done in cake and icing, I had to iron out a few details so I grabbed my sketch pad and a pencil and got to work!

While I was sketching, I worked out the details for the cake below. I discovered that coconut makes wonderful fur for the Bunny, and the Egg part of the cake can be made from butter cream icing with a colorful polka dot pattern.

The Bunny and the Egg can be cut from a large oval-shaped cake, and another smaller oval shaped-cake cut in half makes the Bunny ears.

Easter Bunny Egg Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 Cake mixes or your favorite cake recipe (enough to make 2 Small Oval Cakes and 2 Large Oval Cakes )
• Your favorite decorator icing in white (enough to ice your 4 cakes)
• 2 7.75”x5.5” Oval pans (these are your Small Oval Pans; their measurements can be adjusted according to your needs—just make sure these 2 oval pans are slightly smaller than your Large Oval Pans)
• 2 10.75”x7.8” Oval pans (these are your Large Oval Pans; these measurements can be adjusted according to your needs—just make sure these 2 oval pans are slightly larger than your Small Oval Pans)
• Shredded coconut
• Pink food coloring
• Food coloring in whatever color you choose (to color the icing for the Egg portion of the cake)
• 2 Jellybeans in black or blue
• 1 Jellybean in pink
• Cakeboard or large piece of cardboard
• Aluminum foil
• Parchment paper or scrap sketch paper
• Pencil

1. Bake the cakes in the oval pans according to the package or recipe directions. Each box of cake mix will make one Small Cake and one Large Cake if you use the pan sizes above. This recipe is for a double-layer cake (which means you will be baking four oval shaped cakes total: two Large Cakes and two Small Cakes), but if you want to make a single layer cake, simply bake two cakes (one Large Cake and one Small Cake) and ignore instructions on stacking

2. Make your cake pattern: Trace around the bottom of the cake pans onto parchment paper or a scrap piece of sketch paper to make your Bunny Egg Cake Pattern. Trace halfway around the larger cake pan to make the bottom of the Egg, trace the other half around the smaller cake pan to make the (top) Bunny. Draw in the details of the Egg shell and the Bunny’s face, and cut out the shape and set it aside to use as your Bunny Face Pattern (see photo)

3. To make a Bunny Ears Pattern trace around the smaller oval pan, and cut it out. Cut the oval in half down the center and trim the halves up to form the ears (see photo)

4. Lay the Bunny Patterns aside until you’re ready to use them

5. Level off the tops of all your cakes with a serrated knife or a cake leveler, so all the cakes are about the same height and level

6. Ice the top of one of the Large Cakes, and place the second Large Cake on top to create a double-layer Large Cake

7. Use the Bunny Face Pattern you made as a guide and cut the double-layer Large Cake into the shape of the Bunny Face Pattern with a serrated knife

8. Ice the top of one of the Small Cakes, and place the second Small Cake on top to create a double-layer Small Cake

9. Cut the double-layer Small Cake vertically down the center, lay the Bunny Ears Pattern over the two halves of the cake and cut out the ears

10. Cover your cakeboard or cardboard (or you can alternatively use the back of a large cookie sheet) with foil to make a base for the cake

11. Put a spoonful of icing on the covered board and spread it out before you put the cake on to hold the cake in place

12. Very carefully place the Large Cake on the board and gently put the ears in place. Put a thin layer of icing between the Bunny ears and the Bunny to hold the ears in place

13. Use a toothpick to gently carve into the Large Cake; sketch out the shell of the Egg and where you want the Bunny’s eyes and nose

14. Ice the whole cake with a light layer of icing to seal in all the crumbs; use white for the Bunny portion and another color of your choosing for the Egg portion (to make colored icing, simply add some food coloring to it)


15. Add another layer of white icing to the Bunny portion of the cake and sprinkle it lightly with shredded coconut for the Bunny’s fur

16. To make the pink center for the Bunny ears, color some coconut pink with pink food coloring. To do this, mix a tiny bit of the food coloring into some of the shredded coconut with a fork

17. Sprinkle the colored coconut into the center of the ear

18. Place jellybeans on the bunnies face for the eyes and the nose. Use two black jelly beans for the eyes and one pink jellybean for the nose

19. Apply a second layer of icing to the Egg part of the cake in the color of your choice. Use a small round decorator tip and a cake decorating bag to outline the top of the Egg all the way around (NOTE: I used a Wilton #7 decorator tip.)

20. Color some of the icing pink. Use a larger round decorator tip (NOTE: I used a Wilton #12 decorator tip) to make the polka dots on the Egg. Hold the decorator tip right above the cake and squeeze the icing out through the tip until the dot is about ½” wide. Repeat the process several times to make a polka dotted Egg shell

21. Once the polka dots have dried, use your fingers and a small piece of waxed paper to gently pat the tips of the dots down flat

22. Make a shell border around the bottom of the Egg with a star tip (NOTE: I used a Wilton #21 decorator tip) and a decorator bag. Squeeze icing through the tip then lift up and forward to form each shell all the way around the base of the Egg portion of the cake


23. Serve. This finished cake will make a beautiful display for your Easter brunch table until your guests dive in!

AmazingMoms Tips

As a nice finishing touch, roll out some fondant and cut it into strips to make a bow for the Bunny’s ear.

Black string licorice can be added for whiskers.

More Easter Links:
Easter Basket Cake
More Easter Recipes
Easter Crafts Ideas for Kids
Easter Party Guide
Easter Party Supplies
Everything Easter!