Easter Bunny Cake: celebrating Easter with the kids
Guest blog by Sara Alexander
At my house today, the sun is shining and everyone is sneezing which means that Spring is right around the corner!
Easter is coming early this year, so it’s time to start planning those family dinners, class parties and Easter egg hunts! I always love bringing a dessert to our extended family gathering, but this year, I want to make a dessert that is kid-friendly and include my kids in the process, from baking to decorating!
With two eager seven year olds, we set out to bake, frost, and decorate a “Bunny Cake”! There were lots of giggles, a few spills and some sneaky sampling, but it turned out to be a super fun and adorable project! Here’s our attempt at an easy and delicious Easter Bunny Cake.
Follow this link to my all time favorite yellow cake recipe . It’s super moist, flavorful and easy to prepare! The girls were able to do it entirely by themselves with just a little bit of help from me with the measurements. I promise it’s totally worth the minimal effort to cook from scratch! You may never use a cake mix again!
I prepared the buttercream frosting myself while the girls were in school, but it would be quite easy for a child to help you! I found this frosting recipe just a year ago, and it has never disappointed me! I use it for all of my cupcakes and cakes. My husband who does not have a sweet tooth, absolutely loves the velvety texture and subtle sweetness of this frosting!
The great thing about this cake is that you do not have to own any special pan to create that adorable bunny shape. We used two 10 inch round cake pans. You definitely could use two 8 or 9 inch round pans if that is what you have in your pantry. Your layers will just come out a little taller than mine did. After your cake layers have cooled completely, take one layer and use a sharp knife to cut the ears.
Basically, you are making two concave cuts that equal a third of the cake a piece. Do your best to cut the ears the same size and your resulting piece should be shaped like a bowtie. If you look at our final cake, you might notice that our ears look rather short and our bowtie came out small. This modification was unfortunately made after a hungry Goldendoodle decided to sample our cooling layers.
On a side note, since I wanted to share the cake with the teachers at our local school, I needed a disposable way to transport it. I didn’t want to purchase a cardboard cake board, so I simply used a box that was in our garage. Once I found one with the correct size, I used a box cutter to cut off one side and then measured it to make it the perfect fit. Then I took a teal, plastic table cloth cover and used it to disguise the ugly box. Only cost me the price of the tablecloth, which was less than $2 and 5 minutes of my time.
As with any moist cake, I like to do a “crumb layer” first. This is simply a thin layer of frosting that will catch any crumbs that come off the cake as you work on it. My 5 year old son helped me with this step. Using an offset spatula will help in covering the sides and around the ears. After that layer has set (we put it in the fridge for an hour), apply a thick layer of frosting. Because you took the time to do a crumb layer, this frosting should not have any tiny pieces of cake mixed into it. If you have any leftover frosting, you can easily add a couple drops of food coloring and use it as decoration on your bunny. Or just enjoy a spoonful of deliciousness.
My free spirited girls were so excited to decorate the cake and refused any of my helpful suggestions. I had purchased a few supplies for them to use; fabric flowers, jelly beans and multiple types of sprinkles. The finished product came out simply adorable!
You can use a wide variety of candies for decorations, such as black licorice for the whiskers and coconut for the fur. Pastel colored M&Ms would be fun or even cotton candy for the pinks in the ears. I simply picked out candies and decorations that I knew my kids would enjoy snacking on during the decorating process.
The cake was a huge hit at our school, and the teachers were amazed that the girls had baked it all by themselves! Enjoy making this fun cake with your kids to share at a school event or simply have at home with your family.
