Last Updated April 26th, 2024 at 08:00 am by Lisa
An adorable Bunny Cake that is an easy dessert for Easter dinner. Get step-by-step instructions to make this cut-up cake with inspiring decorating tips.
After all the eggs and chocolate bunnies are collected into Easter baskets, serve this sweet treat for Easter Sunday. Bunny-shaped cakes are so much fun, everyone gets a kick out of them. This little cutie pie is made from two round cakes, vanilla frosting, and decorated with coconut and candy...
Easy Easter Bunny Cake Recipe
This coconut cake idea came from a little 1960s cookbook. And is the first thing I ever remember baking. With my Mom's help, I learned how to make an Easter bunny cake, and took it to a school bake sale.
I was so proud of it and kept the book of "cut up cakes" all these years in my with my original recipes. It has all kinds of ideas for special party cakes for everything from baby showers to birthday cakes.
This Easter cake will be the cutest Easter table decoration ever! And the best part, it just takes a few simple ingredients...
Two 9" Round Cakes
- vanilla cake mix (two 9” round cakes or a homemade recipe)
- water
- vegetable oil
- eggs (or egg white mixture like Egg Beaters)
Buttercream Vanilla Frosting
- powdered sugar
- softened, room temperature
- real vanilla extract
- milk
Decorating Bunny Cake Ideas
- sweetened shredded coconut
- pink food coloring
- colored jelly beans
- black licorice
Prepare Cake Pans and Bake
- Lightly spray two 9” round cake pans with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper rounds. Be sure to spray the sides of the pan.
- Mix the white cake mix according to the box directions in a large bowl. Or make homemade cake batter, and pour the batter into prepared pans. PRO TIP: Tap the pans on the table to bring the bubbles up in the batter, this bakes flatter cakes.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for 24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Carefully turn over and rest on wire racks till completely cool before decorating.
Vanilla Frosting Recipe
Mix the buttercream vanilla frosting if making homemade. In a mixing bowl, beat butter (cream room temperature butter) with a electric mixer on medium speed. Use the paddle attachment in the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed, or a wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy.
Next, slowly add the powdered sugar until fully incorporated. Add milk and the vanilla extract, then beat for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Add more milk if necessary to make it spreadable and smooth.
Next, slowly add the powdered sugar until fully incorporated. Add milk and the vanilla extract, then beat for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Add more milk if necessary to make it spreadable and smooth.
Cut Up Cake Layers
- Place the two cake rounds on a cutting board. Cut four sides off the first cake 9" round layer, leaving a 6 ½” square. This will be the bunny's body. The 4 side pieces will be the bunny ears.
- On the second cake (9” round layer), measure 1 ½” from the edge, slice evenly around in a circle. The center circle will be the bunny's head. Then cut the outer ring into 8 equal pieces. Start at the top, bottom, then each side, then cut those in half so you have 8 even slices. Those will be the bunny paws.
Assemble Rabbit Cake
- On your wrapped board, spread a small amount of frosting. Place the large square of the body toward the bottom of the tray.
- Place more frosting on the board, and place the head on top of the square. PRO TIP: The frosting helps to hold the cake pieces in place!
- Next, put frosting in between two side edge pieces with flat sides together. Form an ear shape for the ears and place on top of the round head. Secure with more frosting to the board.
- Put frosting in between 2 of 8 ring pieces on top of each other for each paw. Place on each side of the square, again put some frosting on board to secure. Now your bunny is ready to decorate.
Prepare To Decorate
- Wrap a cutting board, tray, or firm cardboard measuring 13x20 minimum. Wrap with safe sturdy colorful paper to use as your board. Tie a bright color ribbon or bow for the bunny, and set it aside.
- Place 1 cup of coconut in a bowl, and add pink food coloring. A drop gives you light pink. Toss with a fork until the coconut is evenly tinted to the color you want, and set aside. I mixed a couple of shades for fun.
- Mix the buttercream vanilla frosting if making homemade.
- On a cutting board, use a small rest of the cake small notch finished product serrated knife to slice the licorice thin for all the pieces you will need to decorate the bunny. See below for more details.
- Organize all your decorating items; buttercream frosting, pink coconut, bow, jelly beans, and licorice pieces. Now you are ready to build your easy bunny cake!
Frosting and Coconut
- Place the cake pieces and secure them on the board with small dollops of frosting. Use a small offset spatula or butter knife.
- Frost in between the earpiece halves and stack paws flat side down.
- Frost the top top of the head and all sides of the cake, ears, and stacked paws with white buttercream frosting. This helps the coconut stick on top of the cake.
- Sprinkle white coconut all over the bunny, cover the sides. Slip a piece of parchment paper (wax paper or a piece of paper) as you work to catch the coconut flakes on your work surface.
- Use a small pastry brush and paper plate (or small bowl) to clean up the coconut pieces on the board.
Adorable Easter Bunny Cake Face Details
- Ears - sprinkle pink coconut inside the inner ear. You can also make different colors; green coconut, purple, etc.
- Eyes - trim thin licorice pieces, curve them, and place them on top of the black jelly beans turned sideways.
- Mouth - sprinkle some pink coconut, then place a red jelly bean turned sideways for the tongue. Next place two white jelly beans side by side for the bunny's front teeth.
- Nose - use a sideways pink jelly bean on top of the pink coconut.
- Whiskers - use 3 thin slices of black licorice on each side about 3-4 inches.
Bunny Body Details
- Upper Paws - use 3 snips of black licorice for upper paws about 1" each. Bottom paws - use pink coconut.
- Bow Tie - Add a bright-colored bow and serve!
Easter Cake Ideas & Decorating Tips
This cute bunny cake is so easy to put together and decorate. It starts with two simple cakes in a single cake layer. You simply frost and decorate the entire thing. Get creative, use things you have, and have fun...
Instead Of Licorice: use a black frosting pen, or a tube of black buttercream, or make black frosting at home. You can also use melted candy melts and a piping bag or zip-top bag. You can use either the thin black licorice or the thicker sticks of the licorice. Just carefully slice the thick licorice pieces into the shapes you need to decorate your cute bunny cake.
Coconut Colors: I made a couple of shades of pink coconut, totally optional. But you could decorate your fluffy bunnies fur purple, yellow, green etc.
Bundy Cake Pans: To keep it really simple, buy a bunny shaped cake pan or bundt pan, bake cake and decorate it!
Cake Flavors: Try your favorite cake recipe flavor like a carrot cake, strawberry, vanilla, or chocolate cake mix!
Coconut Clean-Up: Use a small pastry brush and a paper plate to "sweep up" the pieces of coconut that don't stick from your cake board.
Buttercream Frosting Tip: Keep stirring your buttercream as you decorate, as it will crack on the surface a bit. If your buttercream frosting is too thick, you can add more milk, too thin you can add more powdered sugar.
Candy & Icing Decorations: Use gumballs for eyes and mouth, or red licorice will work great as well. If coconut is not your thing, you can simply ice the whole cake or decorate it with a star tip all over in any color like white and pink frosting.
Use a little pink coconut or some pink jelly beans or candies on the ears and paws. Or color a little pink icing, pink buttercream, or pink candy melts to make the mouth and nose. Drops of green food coloring in coconut can become grass the bunny sits on or try or your favorite color. Red icing or colored coconut with a red jelly bean works for the tongue.
Bake two 9" cake rounds. Cut four sides off the first cake 9" round cake, leaving a 6 ½” square, this will be the bunny's body. The 4 side pieces will be the bunny’s ears.
On the second 9” cake round, measure 1 ½” from the edge, slice evenly around the cake in a circle. The center circle will be the bunny's head. Then cut the outer ring into 8 equal pieces. Start at the top, bottom, then each side, then slice those in half so you have 8 even slices from the outer edge, those will be the paws.
On your wrapped cake board, spread a small amount of frosting under and in between all pieces, then frost and decorate the bunny cake with jelly beans, coconut, or other Easter candy.
Frosting is whipped until thick, fluffy, and spreadable. It is commonly used to coat the outside (and often the inner layers) of a baked cake.
Icing is a thinner consistency and is and shines than frosting, and can be used as a glaze, for dipping or drizzling over desserts or for detailed decorating.
More Baking & Frosting Recipes
Try my other frosting recipes! This bakery-style white Fluffy Buttercream Frosting is sooo good, and not too sweet. Or the Chocolate Buttercream spreads so well on cakes and cupcakes. And Vanilla Extract is so easy to make at home, and makes a great gift for bakers. You can also use a cream cheese frosting and bake a carrot cake for your bunny cake, that would be so good!
More Easter Desserts
One of my favorite easy Easter desserts are these adorable Chocolate Easter Bunny Cupcakes. These cake bunnies are so easy you won't believe it!
How cute are these "Bunny Butt" Easter Cupcakes? These naughty bunnies are digging up the garden!
Or bake up these elegant Coconut Macaroon Cookies, they are so pretty on the Easter dinner table. Take a look at my collection of Easter Desserts for your Easter Celebration.
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Easter Bunny Cake Recipe (Cut-Up Cake)
Ingredients
Two 9" Round Cakes
- 1 vanilla cake mix (15.25 oz/432 gram box) makes two 9” round cakes or homemade recipe
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 eggs
Buttercream Vanilla Frosting
- 4 cups powder sugar
- 1 cup butter softened, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons milk add more milk if necessary until smooth, spreadable, and fluffy
Decorating
- 14 ounces sweetened coconut
- pink food coloring
- colored jelly beans 1 pink, 2 black, 1 red, 2 white
- black licorice thin or thick-just slice it (or use black gel pens or pipe on black buttercream frosting)
Instructions
Bake and Cut Two 9" Round Cakes
- Lightly spray two 9” round cake pans with nonstick spray and line with parchment paper rounds.
- Mix the cake mix according to the box directions or make homemade cake batter, and pour the batter into prepared pans.
- PRO TIP: Tap the pans on the table to bring the bubbles up in the batter, this bakes flatter cakes.
- Bake 350 degrees for 24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then carefully turn over and rest on a rack till completely cool before decorating.
Prepare To Decorate
- Wrap a cutting board, tray, or firm cardboard measuring 13x20 minimum, wrap with safe sturdy colorful paper to use as your cake board. Tie bright color ribbon or bow set aside.
- Place 1 cup coconut in a bowl, add pink food coloring ( a drop gives you light pink), toss with a fork until coconut is evenly tinted to the color you want, set aside. I mixed a couple shades for fun.
- Mix the buttercream vanilla frosting if making homemade: Cream room temperature butter with a hand mixer, the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy. Next, slowly add the powder sugar until fully incorporated. Add milk and the vanilla extract, then beat for an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Add more milk if necessary to make it spreadable and smooth.
- On a cutting board, use a small knife to slice the licorice thin, for all the pieces you will need to decorate the bunny. See below for more details.
- Organize all your decorating items; butter cream frosting, pink coconut, bow, jelly beans and licorice pieces. Now you are ready to build your bunny cake!
Cut Cake Pieces
- Place the two cake rounds on a cutting board. Cut four sides off first cake 9" round cake, leaving a 6 ½” square, this will be the bunnys body. The 4 side pieces will be the bunny’s ears.
- On the second 9” cake round, measure 1 ½” from edge, slice evenly around the cake in a circle. The center circle will be the bunny's head. Then cut the outer ring into 8 equal pieces. Start at top, bottom, then each side, then slice those in half so you have 8 even slices from the outer edge, those will be the paws.
Assemble The Bunny
- On your wrapped cake board, spread a small amount of frosting and place the large square as the body toward bottom of the tray. Place more frosting on the board, and place the head on top of the square. TIP: The frosting helps to hold the cake pieces in place!
- Next, put frosting in between two side edge pieces with flat sides together forming the ears on top of round head and secure with more frosting to the board.
- Put frosting in between 2 of 8 ring pieces on top of each other for each paw on each side of the square, again put some frosting on board to secure. Now your bunny is ready to decorate!
Decorate The Bunny
- Using a small offset spatula or butter knife, frost all the bunny pieces including sides of cake, ears, and stacked paws with white buttercream frosting. Sprinkle white coconut all over the entire cake, covering all the sides. Use a small brush and paper plate to clean up the coconut pieces.
- Ears - sprinkle pink coconut inside ears.
- Eyes - trim thin licorice pieces, and curve them, place on top of each black jelly bean turned sideways.
- Mouth - sprinkle some pink coconut, use a red jelly bean turned sideways for the tongue and place two white jelly beans side by side for the bunny's front teeth.
- Nose - use a sideways pink jelly bean on top of pink coconut.
- Whiskers - use 3 thin slices of black licorice on each side about 3-4 inches.
- Upper Paws - use 3 snips of black licorice for upper paws about 1" each. Bottom paws - use pink coconut.
- Add bright colored bow and serve!
Notes
cake mix:
One standard box of cake mix will make two 9" layers.baking:
Tap the pans on the table to bring the bubbles up in the batter, this bakes flatter cakes.coconut:
I used sweetened coconut for this bunny cake, you could just frost the entire cake and skip the coconut, and use just a bit of pink coconut for decoration or color frosting pink.frosting:
You can buy a storebought brand, ask for it in your grocery bakery, or make homemade buttercream frosting.decorating tips:
- You can use either the thin black licorice or the thicker sticks of the licorice. Just carefully slice the thick licorice pieces into the shapes you need to decorate your bunny cake.
- Another option to get the black decorations on the bunny is to use a black frosting pen or tube of black buttercream from the store or make your own black frosting at home.
- I made a couple of shades of pink coconut, totally optional.
- Use a small pastry brush and a paper plate to "sweep up" the pieces of coconut that don't stick.
- Keep stirring your buttercream as you decorate, as it will crack on the surface a bit. Also, if your buttercream frosting is too thick, you can add more milk, too thin you can add more powder sugar.
- Alternative decoration ideas: Use gumballs for eyes and mouth, or red licorice will work great as well! If coconut is not your thing, you can simply ice the whole cake, and use a little pink coconut or some pink jelly beans or candies on the ears and paws, or color some buttercream pink.
This is the most adorable bunny cake and so easy to make!! I used coconut from the freezer section and loved all of your suggestions for decorating it! So perfect for Easter or even a kid's birthday party!