Easy Easter Bunny Cake is fun to make with kids



Decorating a bunny cake is a fun Easter activity for kids.


We were never starved for cake when I was growing up. There was a lot of baking in my house and with six siblings there was an abundance of birthday cakes layered with thick frosting and candles.

But what we didn’t have very often were cakes with candy or kitschy decorations.

That’s why mom’s bunny cake was extra special. Made just once a year for Easter Saturday dessert the fluffy cake with licorice and gumdrops contributed its fair share to the Easter excitement in our household.

How to make an Easter Bunny Cake

Mom came across the idea in a magazine back in the early 70’s. It’s simple and clever: one round cake serves as the bunny face and two simple slices in a second cake create the ears and a bow tie. You then frost, cover the imperfections with coconut (that’s what I do), and decorate with goodies.



This is how the instructions appeared in the old magazine clipping.

For our Easter Bunny Cake I use my sister Martha’s chocolate cake recipe that is popular at family birthday parties. It makes a deliciously moist layer cake and is a cinch to mix up.

This is a great cake for anyone who has egg or dairy allergies because it’s eggless and the melted butter can be replaced with oil (coconut, canola or grape seed) if necessary.

Mom used to frost the cake with boiled icing which looks lovely and bunny-like. I haven’t yet learned to make boiled frosting so use a simple butter cream instead.

Martha’s Easy Eggless Chocolate Cake

Makes two 8" round cakes

Ingredients:

• ½ cup butter

• 2 tsp vinegar

• 2 tsp vanilla

• 2 cups water

• 3 cups flour

• 2 cups sugar

• 6 Tbsp cocoa

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F and grease and flour two 8”round cake pans.
2. Melt butter. Remove from heat and add vinegar, vanilla and 2 cups water.
3. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Add wet to dry and mix until smooth. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes.

Too decorate the cake you'll need about 4 cups of basic frosting:

Easy creamy icing

1/4 cup soft butter
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
3-4 cups of icing sugar

Cream butter with the milk and vanilla. Add icing sugar one cup at a time until you get a spreadable consistency, adding more milk if necessary.

In the photo below my kids decided the bunny needed a bit more attitude...