Bunny Cake

Here comes Peter Cottontail! Easter is coming up soon and I can already tell my LadyGirls are getting excited for it! And since Kelly posted her Cheeky Devil Eggs today, I can't resist sharing our Bunny Cake tradition with you. I have made this cake every Easter for the girls since they were born. The whole idea is to just have as much fun with it as you possibly can. Let your kids help decorate it and have a say in what they'd like to put on it when you go shopping for the treats. I promise you they will look forward to it every year and I have a strong suspicion that Bailey and Kelly will make this cake for their own kids at Easter in the years to come. Just to give you an idea, here is one we made 25 years ago when my sister and brother in law came to visit us in Phoenix with their son Tyson.

Hahah, yes that's the LadyGirls and their cousin!

I always try to make my gourmet best for dinner at Easter and always have desserts for the grownups too. But this is a day for us to enjoy the delight of children, so let's have some fun!

You only need a cake mix of your choice, some icing homemade or store bought (kids don't care), some candy and a huge imagination!

Bake the cake in two round pans until they're finished and let them cool completely.

On a big platter or foil lined cookie sheet, set one full round cake leaving enough room at the top for the ears. This will be the same size as your centre cake. With the second cake, carve out the shape of the ears on each side. Just as you see in the photo, and the portion left in the centre of the cake will become the bow tie of the bunny. Here's a photo of last year's cake so you get the idea.

Do you see it? We'll add a video of this when we bake this year's cake.
Now start having a little bit of fun! Use food colouring to make your icing any colour you like. Line up your cake portions and make sure everything has icing. This takes a bit of patience, so you do this and to keep the little ones busy, have them start sorting out the candy decorations. (They will eat half at this stage, so buy lots!) I like to use those gel icings, but you can use whatever strikes your fancy. Licorice strings for whiskers are fun. Jelly beans, smarties, skittles. Lifesavers, anything bright and fun to make him the happiest Peter Cottontail you ever saw works! Chiclets for teeth are mandatory though!

The only rule of thumb for this recipe is to make it age appropriate. So no candy that a small child could choke on. Keep it strictly to gel icing decoration until they are 3 or 4 and able to munch without danger. And that's it for this blog. Have fun with this one! I'll be back soon with more Easter ideas!