Easter Bunny Cake

I grew up with this cake as a kid. We made it every Easter as I recall. Now that I get to hang out with friend's kids I decided to make it again. Hershey's has a version on one of their websites complete with ingredients that are from companies they own. My sister gave me her instructions from memory. To all that I have added my own notes.


  • Prepare your serving pan. For two 8 inch layers you can use the 17x11 baking pan. For nine inch layers use large carboard or the bunnies ears will need to be snacked upon.
  • Line pan or cardboard with foil.
  • Prepare for your cuts. I tried using the strawberry strings to outline ahead of time. They did not hold their shapes well. Out of one of the rounds you are cutting two ears and a bowtie. Don't worry if you make a bad cut. The cake will not last long and people will think it is adorable no matter what.
  • Brush all the crumbs off the cake before arranging. (Otherwise you will have chocolate crumbs all over your fluffy white frosting.)
  • Arrange your cake pieces in the shape of a bunny. If you are trying to squeeze 9 inch layers into a 17x11 pan you can cut off the base of the ears as pictured here. (Quickly frost and eat those pieces before anyone figures out what you are up to.)
  • Do not worry about crumbs on the foil. You will cover it with coconut grass later.
  • Frost your cake with whatever white frosting you are using. You can make the frosting before you get to this step or wait until now. Some scratch recipes use boiled sugar syrup and require you to spread the frosting immediately. For those you will want to lay out the cake before you make the frosting.
  • To tint the coconut you will need some plastic containers with lids or plastic bags. Put about 3/4 cup of coconut into one container. Add one drop only of red food color. Shake vigorously until it turns a nice pink color. If needed add one more drop and repeat until desired shade is reached.
  • Put about two cups of coconut into a larger container. Add about 3 drops of green food coloring. Shake vigorously. If greener "grass" is desired repeat process with another drop of green food coloring.
  • Line the bunny's ears with pink coconut.
  • Use licorice jelly beans for eyes.
  • Pink jelly beans make a good nose.
  • It was not until I got to this point I realized that I had no idea how I was going to make the bunny's mouth. I made a little human smile with red jelly beans. It looked "not right." It has been suggested that a bunny's mouth is like a curvy 'W' or like two 'j's back to back. jj (mirror that last j) I would have wanted smaller jelly beans to do (which I had, but did not use.) Here we recall the earlier wisdom. Everyone will think whatever you do will look adorable and it will not last long.)
  • Cut some short pieces of strawberry string or pieces of licorice to use for the whiskers.
  • Line the tie with jelly beans. (In my messy case it helped let people know it was supposed to be a tie.)
  • Spread green coconut "grass" around the bunny. If you are going to a party and using a cardboard tray these last two steps can wait until you get there
  • Sprinkle remaining jelly beans in the grass.


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