Growing up in Irish/Italian Catholic family, Easter Sunday has always been a pretty big deal and it was always one of my favorite holidays. I remember as a little girl, when my parents yelled for me to get up on Easter Sunday Morning because “the bunny came” there was only one bunny I was concerned about and he came in the form of a cake. Creamy frosting, tangy coconut flakes, moist white cake and semisweet chocolate chips all in one forkful was reason enough for me to wake up and rejoice.

 Even though I am now in my late 20s, I have refused to let the Bunny Cake tradition die. Every Easter Sunday, my mom and I still make the Bunny Cake.  I force my cousins into helping me decorate it (we’re all in our 20s, but I think they secretly enjoy it too).  We have so many desserts that I usually end up eating a big chunk of this cake (ears and bowtie included) myself.  Luckily, there are some ways to tweak this recipe to make it helpful and save on calories. (I have included these below).

Now, I am certainly NOT a baker. Whenever I have baked something from scratch, I’ve ended up with vanilla cupcakes with black, charred bottoms, cookies that were harder than rocks, and cakes that tasted like cement and weighed more than a ton of bricks.  Oh, and I can’t forget the chocolate peanut butter fudge that could ignite the gag reflex of the strongest stomach.  I’m working on the baking from scratch, but until then, I will rely on help from two amazing and reliable friends, Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker. They play a big part in the tastiness of the Bunny Cake.

This recipe is simple, fun at any age, and a great project for kids. Most importantly, it tastes great! This Bunny Cake makes me want to skip along a sidewalk lined with tulips, singing, “Hippity, hoppity, Easter is on its’ way!” I hope you’ll feel that way too!

THE BUNNY CAKE

1 box of white cake mix (Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker)
3 eggs
1/4 cup of oil
1 container of cool whip
1 package of coconut
1 bag of jelly beans
1/2 bag of Nestle Semi Sweet chocolate chips
Small bottles of food coloring (red, green, blue)
Optional: Twizzlers

2 10 -inch cake pans
1 large pan or tray to display cake
3 small bowls (to die coconut in)

1) Prepare cake mix according to directions. Pour into two 10 inch round baking pans. Bake. Let cool.
2) When completely cool, take 1 10 inch round cake and cut out bowtie shape from one of cake. (in the shape of two half moons).
3) Assemble the cake to look like the bunny in the picture in a large pan or on a large tray.
4) Ice the bunny with cool whip icing.
5) Outline the ears and the bow tie with the chocolate chips.
6) Die the coconut in small bowls. I usually use green coconut for the grass around the bunny, pink to outline the ears, and blue, yellow, or purple for the tie.
7) Use jellybeans for the eyes and nose.
8) Use twizzlers for the whiskers. I use chocolate chips – the more chocolate, the better.
9) Garnish the grass with the jellybeans.

Healthy tip: To save calories, use the 1/2 sugar boxed cake mix and fat free cool whip.

Happy Easter or Buon Pasquale to you and yours! Enjoy 🙂