Easter Bunny Cake

By msippigrl

Wow the kids and Easter guests with this impressive bunny cake. This adorable bunny might just be too cute to eat! Made from a box cake mix, bake this cake the easy way and then let the kids help out when you decorate it with assorted candies, food coloring, and pre-packed icing.

Ingredients

• 2 (9-inch) round cake layers
• 2 containers Fluffy White Frosting
• 1 (14-ounce) bag flaked coconut, divided
• Red liquid food coloring
• Green liquid food coloring
• Assorted candies for decoration (gumdrops, M&M's, string licorice, jellybeans, etc)

Details

Servings 12
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 60mins

Preparation

Step 1

Bake and cool cake layers. Cut one of the layers into 3 pieces as shown in photo, this will be the bunny's ears and bowtie. The ends of the bowtie are about 4-inches at widest ends and the center of it is 1 to 1.5-inches. The bottom tips of the "ears" may need to be trimmed off for better placement on the cake.

Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the back side of a large jellyroll pan or baking sheet. Next, put a few dabs of frosting directly on the back of the pan to secure the paper then place the parchment over the frosting.

Put a little frosting on the paper where the whole layer will be, then arrange the cakes pieces in the form of a bunny (you can add the "bowtie" later, if desired). Frost the cake, then immediately cover it generously with coconut.

In a small bowl, tint a little coconut with 1 drop of red food color then add it to the centers of each "ear". At the point, you can decorate the face as desired with the ingredients listed above or frost the "bowtie" and set it in place then do all the decorations at one time.

In a mixing bowl, tint about 1 cup coconut with 3 to 4 drops green food color to place around the bunny. (To help secure the green coconut, I melted some green candy melts and smeared it onto the paper around the bunny then pressed the green coconut into it.)

NOTES:

I used a vanilla cake mix, baked and cooled then trimmed off the domes with a cake leveler. Then, cut out one layer for the ears and bowtie.

I mixed several drops of different food colors with the leftover frosting to obtain the color of the bowtie, feel free to experiment with the colors.

I used chocolate melting wafer for the eyes, two for each eye that were already stuck together in the package. Used a dab of frosting to set in place. If the wafers have a whitish color, wet a finger with water or a drop of cooking oil and rub across the top.

I melted 1 to 2 pink candy melts on a paper plate and carefully shaped into a triangle using a toothpick then put it in the freezer for a few minutes to harden. Attach with a dab of frosting or pink melted candy.

I stuck six round toothpicks into the cake at angles near the sides of the nose for whiskers. For the eyebrows, I broke two toothpicks to desired lengths and rolled in melted chocolate then froze for a few minutes to set. You could use pieces of black string licorice but I could not find any available.