Easter Bunny Cake 2
Makes 1 bunny cake
Easter Bunny Cake
This three-dimensional lop-eared bunny cake is ambitious, but a lot of
fun to make. Color your bunny pink—or any other color you like—by
coloring the icing and white chocolate with food coloring. Color the
white chocolate with oil—or powder-based food coloring to prevent it
from clumping. The chocolate shavings can be prepared a few days in
advance, and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. For
quick-and-easy fur, use shredded sweetened coconut instead of chocolate
shavings. Either way, make sure to pat on while the icing is fresh. If
you wait too long, the icing will form a crust and the fur won't stick.
Ingredients:
1 standard white cake mix
3 cups Cream Cheese Icing
1 cup (6 ounces) white chocolate morsels
2 blue, pink, or black jelly beans or Junior Mints
1 mini marshmallow
1 large marshmallow
Red or black licorice strings, cut into six 4-inch lengths
Cornstarch for rolling
5 ounces ready-to-use rolled fondant (for the ears)
Pesticide-free fresh or sugared flowers (optional)
2 sheets tissue paper
Directions:
Make the cake batter and divide among one 9-inch round cake pan and two
6-inch round cake pans. Bake as directed and let cool completely on a
wire rack.
Using a long, serrated knife, cut the 9-inch cake round in half to form 2
half-moons. Spread the top of 1 half-moon with about 1/3 cup icing and
sandwich the halves together. Place on a 12-inch round or oval platter,
cut side down. This will be the bunny's body. Using a small offset
spatula, frost the body with a very thin coat of icing to seal the cake.
For the bunny haunches, cut one of the 6-inch cake rounds in half to
form 2 half-moons. Stand 1 half-moon on its cut side so the rounded side
is on top. Cut a small V-shaped notch from the far right of the rounded
cake top to create a rabbit haunch. Repeat with the second half of the
cake. Attach one haunch to either side of the bunny cake body with a
little frosting, and give each haunch a thin coat of icing to seal the
cake.
Using a 4-inch round biscuit cutter, cut out a round from the remaining
6-inch cake layer. (Or create a cardboard template and carefully cut
from the cake with a serrated knife.) This will be the bunny head. From
the remaining cake, cut out a 2-inch round for the tail. (If it isn't
perfectly round, don't worry; it will be covered with frosting.)
On the bunny body, slice a narrow sliver of cake 2 inches from the
center of the rounded top, going toward the bottom of the cake, to form a
ledge for the bunny head. Spread the 4-inch cake round with a thin
coating of icing and place in this ledge. Give the 2-inch tail a thin
coating and press onto the back of the body, resting it on the plate.
Frost the entire cake with a thicker coating of icing, covering
completely, but allowing the indentations of the bunny's form to remain
distinct.
Place the white chocolate morsels in a heatproof bowl placed over barely
simmering water or in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat or microwave until
smooth, stirring as needed. Pour the chocolate out onto the back of a
large aluminum baking sheet or onto the inside bottom of a rimless
baking sheet. Using a long (12-inch) offset, or icing spatula, spread
the chocolate evenly about 1/16 inch thick. Let firm up, but not become
completely hard, about 5 minutes. Place the baking sheet on a countertop
and brace it against your body. Hold the blade of an 8-inch long metal
icing spatula in both hands and scrape the chocolate off the pan, toward
you, in large curls. As the white chocolate continues to harden, the
curls will break and become large shards. This is fine, as the white
chocolate fur looks great when it contains different sizes of curls and
shards. Your cake will resemble a fluffy angora bunny.
Press white chocolate curls and shards all over the bunny's face, body, and tail to form the fur.
Press the 2 jelly beans or Junior Mints into the face for the eyes. Use a
mini marshmallow for the nose. Cut 1 large marshmallow in half and
press the cut sides into the frosting right under the nose to form
cheeks. Pierce each marshmallow cheek with three 4-inch licorice lengths
to form the whiskers (if necessary, pierce holes in the marshmallow
cheeks to ease the way for the whiskers).
To make the bunny ears, dust a work surface and rolling pin with
cornstarch. Knead the fondant until smooth and pliable, and roll out
into a 10-inch round. Cut out a cardboard template of a 6-to 7-inch
bunny ear, with a nice pointed tip and squared-off bottom. Or be daring
and cut the ear free-hand. Using a sharp paring knife or pizza wheel,
cut the ear out of the fondant. Lay the first fondant ear over the
remaining rolled-out fondant, trace a second ear, and cut it out.
Discard any remaining fondant. Carefully pinch the squared-off end of an
ear together and position the ear—pinched corners face down—on the head
to resemble a lop-eared rabbit. I find it is best to pierce a small
indentation near the center of the top of the bunny's head to position
the ear. Attach the second ear, leaving a 1/4-inch space between them.
Pinching the ends of the ears gives them a little height and helps them
better resemble the real thing. If using, place 1 or 2 fresh or sugared
flowers in the space between the ears for balance and decoration. To
prevent the ears from drying flat, and to give them a little expression,
crumple tissue paper into a ball and position it between the drooping
ear and the side of the cake. Allow to dry completely before removing
the tissue.
If using, surround the base of the bunny cake with fresh or sugared
flowers to give the illusion that the bunny is sitting in a flower bed.
Cream Cheese Icing
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups (1 pound) confectioners' sugar, sifted
To make the icing, in a bowl beat together the butter and cream cheese
with an electric mixer set at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat
in the orange zest and vanilla. Beat in the confectioners' sugar, 1 cup
at a time. Continue beating until light and creamy. You should have
three cups.
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