Serve up the cutest coconut bunny cake for Easter! It’s a nostalgic favorite made from a single yellow 9-inch cake layer and decorated with flaked coconut.
This cut-out cake design has been around for decades. I’ve seen so many home-baked versions over the years from friends and neighbors. I didn’t deviate much from the original design. I did opt for edible candy ears instead of the usual construction paper ears, but you should use whatever best suits your time constraints. The candy ears do take a little more effort.
Melted pink candy and sanding sugar will give the bunny’s ears more detail. I also brushed the white areas with corn syrup and added coconut for a fuzzy appearance. A little buttercream dotted on the back of a real satin bow holds it in place and makes the cake look cuddly like a toy. (Aw!)
Yields 8 servings
Cake
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 2/3 cups (200g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (227g) sour cream
Bunny ears
3 oz. vanilla almond bark, melted
2 oz. pink candy melting wafers, melted
1/4 cup pink sanding sugar
Clear corn syrup or piping gel
3 tablespoons unsweet flake coconut
Coconut buttercream and décors
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups (1 lb.) confectioners’ sugar
Milk or cream to thin
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 black Sixlets candies
1 pink heart-shaped hard candy piece (or pink jellybean)
10 oz. (two 5 oz. bags) unsweet flake coconut
Green food color
Grass green sprinkles
Sconza Pastel Jordan Almonds
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9″ round cake pan with vegetable shortening, and line the bottom of the pan with parchment.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the sugar and butter until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase mixer speed to high for 2 minutes. The batter will become light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla, almond extract, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
With the mixer on low speed, add 1/3 of the flour to the mixture. Add half the yogurt. Add 1/3 flour followed by the remaining yogurt. Finally, beat in the last 1/3 portion of flour. Beat on low speed to combine after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and incorporate any streaks of flour or sour cream by hand using a large spatula.
Spoon cake batter into the pan, spreading to level. Bake for 30-35 minutes until browned on top, and a toothpick tester comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out onto a rack to cool completely before frosting.
For the bunny ears:
Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Lay down another sheet of parchment on a work surface. Cut out two bunny ears from thick card stock using scissors. Lay them on the parchment on the work surface. Coat the pieces with the melted white candy spreading past the edges. Use a tooth pick to pick up the end of one piece and carefully transfer it to the parchment-lined pan. Repeat with remaining piece. Freeze until solid, about 10 minutes.
Use a toothpick to find the edge of the paper on the back of the ears and gently pry/peel it off using the toothpick. Alternatively, place the white candy in a piping bag or zip-top bag with a corner snipped and pipe two bunny ears on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Freeze until solid. Another alternative is to just use the card stock as the ears (this is the way my mom did it – using construction paper).
Place the melted pink candy in a piping bag or zip-top bag with the corner snipped. Pipe an oval inside the white ears and fill completely with candy. Use a toothpick to fill in gaps. Let stand until set, about 15 minutes. Use a small art brush to coat the pink candy with corn syrup; sprinkle on the sanding sugar. Shake off the excess sugar and brush it away using a small dry art brush. Brush corn syrup on the white area around the pink sugared center. Lightly press flake coconut on; tap away excess. Let stand until set, 30 minutes.
For the frosting and decors:
Place the butter and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on low speed until crumbly. Add milk or cream to bring the frosting to spreading consistency. Add extracts and mix on high speed until light and fluffy.
Assemble the cake:
Place the cake layer on a work surface and cut in half. Spread a generous layer of frosting on one half and sandwich the two pieces together. Stand the cake upright. Trim away an L-shaped notch from about one-third of the way up one end of body to create the head. Attach cake scraps on top of the head area using frosting; trim using a serrated knife to make a round shape (see video). Cover with frosting, rounding the head. Place another small cake scrap at the opposite end of the head for a tail. Cover with frosting and round the tail using an offset spatula. Sprinkle the entire cake generously with coconut, and press it into the sides and crevices of the cake. Refrigerate until firm, 20 minutes.
Transfer the cake to a serving plate. Cut a line into the top of the head shape using a small paring knife; Insert ears upright, slightly overlapping, with the pinks facing forward. Use leftover frosting to dot the back of the candy heart and attach in the center of the rabbit’s head for a nose. Press the two candy Sixlets into the cake on either side of the face. Combine leftover coconut and green food color. Mix well with gloved hands, rubbing the pieces together between your palms to completely coat. If you don’t have gloves, place coconut and food color in a zip-top bag and massage the bag until the coconut is consistently green. Spoon green coconut around the bunny. Add sprinkles and Jordan almonds to the grass. Serve at room temperature.
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Published:
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
