Hippity-hoppity, Easter’s on its way! Celebrate with this charming bunny-shaped carrot cake, complete with edible Easter grass and candy eggs.
Easter is arriving earlier than usual this year (April 12th – last year it was on the 21st!), so now’s the time to commence the making of bunny and egg-themed treats. I was so happy when Wilton invited me to make a spring-themed cake with their products, I couldn’t reply YES fast enough! Soon a box of tools and colorful ingredients arrived at my doorstep, and they inspired this funny bunny cake.
Look at ALL THE THINGS! I couldn’t wait to get started. Here’s a list of all the items I used and some shopping links in case you’re looking to make your own bunny cake this year.
- Easter Bunny Cake Baking and Decorating Set
- Easy Blooms Tip Set
- Green Easter Grass Sprinkles
- Spring Sprinkles
- Neon Gel Food Colors Set
- Easter Eggs with Grass Sprinkles
- Yellow Candy Melts
- Bright Pink Candy Melts
- Orange Candy Melts
- Egg Silicone Mold
I decided early on that this bunny would be made of carrot cake (what else?) and I really appreciated how my favorite carrot sheet cake recipe fit perfectly into the bunny pan. I covered the cooled cake with white buttercream and added some pink fondant ears and a heart-shaped nose. The eyes are jumbo black confetti sprinkles with black fondant eyelids and lashes, which are easy to make using a small circle cutter (see here).
This egg mold makes the most beautiful candy eggs that have a smooth, matte finish – just like an eggshell! I used pink, orange, and yellow candy melts, but you could use whatever color you have on hand.
See how pretty they turned out? Next I’ll be making some chocolate-peanut butter eggs using this mold.
The Easy Blooms Tip Set was so fun to try! I used it with confectioners’ buttercream that I tinted with the Neon Gel Food Color Set. To achieve flowers with yellow middles, spread icing on a sheet of plastic wrap, and pipe a yellow line of icing in the center -then roll it together, snip the end and place the frosting in a piping bag fitted with an Easy Bloom tip. You could also use a variety of other Wilton piping tips to create pretty flowers for bunny’s crown.
I practiced piping on a piece of parchment, and if you try these tips, I recommend you do the same. You’ll soon find a method for applying the right pressure to the piping bag. When I started getting consistently nice-looking flowers, I piped a whole bunch of them on a baking sheet and popped them in the freezer. After a quick chill, I easily transferred the best looking blooms to the cake with a spatula.
Brushing the cake board with piping gel helped hold on the grassy-looking sprinkles (I used both the Easter Grass Sprinkles and Easter Eggs with Grass Sprinkles). If you don’t have piping gel, then a small amount of corn syrup would also work. I think the molded candy eggs look right at home nestled in the grass.
I gave bunny some sprinkle freckles – HA! – which totally made me happy and I giggled for a good minute before moving on to adding bunny head-shaped sprinkles to the flower crown. (How silly is that sentence!?) Both of these sprinkles are part of the Spring Sprinkles set.
What a fun project! And the cake is so colorful, it’s like a ray of sunshine – which I think we all could use right about now.
Follow my favorite carrot sheet cake recipe, which is usually baked in a 13×9-inch pan and comes with a quick cream cheese frosting recipe. The batter fits perfectly in the Easter Bunny Cake Pan, and you can find my American Buttercream recipe here, which I used to frost and decorate Bunny.
Carrot Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Equipment
- Bunny Head pan from Wilton, or 13×9 baking dish
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 1/2 cups 180g, or 7 oz. all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup 200g granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups grated carrot about 2 1/4 large carrots
- 2/3 cup 160ml vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 8 oz. crushed pineapple drained
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Quick cream cheese frosting
- 3 oz. cream cheese softened
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups 310g powdered sugar, sifted
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the first six ingredients. Whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the carrot, oil, eggs, pineapple, and vanilla. Stir well to combine. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and beat at medium speed for 2 minutes.
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick tester inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter on medium speed. Mix in the vanilla. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Spread on top of cooled cake. Store the frosted cake in the refrigerator covered in plastic wrap. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Amidst so much doom and gloom, drab pantry staples and subsistence cooking, this post is truly a breath of fresh air. Those brilliant colors practically vibrate off the screen. Thank you for keeping the lights on here and reminding me that there's still more to look forward to, in food, and in life.
This just made me smile!
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