Country Living Magazine recently shared my Bunny Cake on their site. Granny would’ve been “tickled pink” – as I’m sure she would’ve said : )
…..
We could always depend on what was going to come out of Granny’s kitchen – spaghetti and meatballs any day of the week, shrimp dip on Christmas Eve, fried mushrooms during mushroom season, fried donuts on Saturday mornings and the infamous Bunny Cake on Easter. Easter wasn’t Easter without the Bunny Cake. As I look back on the Bunny Cake, I can remember thinking it was amazing when I was really young. We were fascinated by anything in the “cake decorating” realm and I loved seeing it come together in person.
We never really ate the cake – none of the kids liked coconut and my Mom’s cream pies piled with meringue tended to distract us. None-the-less, the Bunny Cake always showed up and we always got a kick out of it. She presented hers similarly, in a basket with fake green Easter “grass” surrounded by cupcakes topped with jelly beans.
Granny was better than me – I forgot to only make one 8-inch cake* and bake the rest of the batter as cupcakes… I made two cakes and ended up with two bunnies. I guess it really is true what they say about bunnies…
*I’ve added the perfect, deep 8-inch cake pan to my store. It fits the entire cake mix into this one pan, perfect for 1, plump bunny.
Coconut Bunny Cake
3 sticks of butter, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar 6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup milk 4 ounces sweetened shredded coconut … Parchment Paper ($10 for 100can buy here) 8-inch Cake Pan
…
Cream Cheese Icing
Coconut
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder, soda, salt and coconut. Add it to the butter mixture a little at a time alternating with the milk. End with adding flour coconut mixture. Do not over mix. I line my 8-inch Cake Pan (and cookie sheets, and everything…) with parchment paper that I cut to fit. Bake the cake for 30 minutes and cupcakes for 15.
See cream cheese icing recipe below.
I made a base for the cake to sit on by wrapping a piece of cardboard in parchment paper. You can use wrapping paper, printer paper or foil… whatever you have.
Cream Cheese Icing 2 sticks of butter, softened 1 block of cream cheese, softened 1 pound of powdered sugar 1 teaspoon of vanilla 1/4 cup of milk Cream together butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Stir together until creamy – do not whip.
I put a smear of frosting on the base to help the cake stick.
Cut a notch out of the top to form the head. Use part of the scrap to create a little tail.
Cover the bunny in icing. You may need to put it in the refrigerator then add a second coat if you like a lot of icing like me.
Cover the outside with flaked coconut. I put some of spanish moss around the bunny to give it some natural texture and life. 
I created the little ears by cutting them out of textured cardstock and painting pink centers with Emma’s watercolor paints. Granny used good ol’ fashioned pink construction paper.
I added a little pink nose, too, but kept the bunny blank… I like just the nose and ears. Too much decor takes away from the simplicity of it.
The Bunny Lives on! Both of them. The eggs came from my Mom’s friends’ farm – I’ve been saving them just for this. It will make a great centerpiece for our Easter dinner!
The Easter Collection Easter is always a welcome celebration in our family. We’ve had a welcomed rest after the holidays, usually suffered through a boring winter and are ready to celebrate the emergence of blossoms, blooms and fresh air. I’ve compiled my Easter Essentials here – many are actually Everyday Essentials, too, that can be used in many different ways. Table Setting : -Basket Centerpiece made using Wet Foam Block -Terracotta Pot Place cards with Eggs or Bulbs -Buttercup Blockprint Napkins -Gingham wrapped gifts I’ll walk you through creating the centerpiece and the place cards later this week! 
The Bunny Cake! One of my post popular posts of all time : ). Granny would be proud! I use an 8″ Cake Pan + Parchment Paper + Sage Moss to create this entire look. Details are in this post. 
I’m planning an entire post to creating darling Easter Baskets later this week – stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, here are the supplies I use. Cello Bags Ribbons Tags Wrapping Paper
Parchment Wrapped (parchment paper’s use is endless) Banana Bread tied with Blue Bunny Tag