Italian style meals, sustainable gardening tips, and lots of segues in between

My mother made this bunny-shaped cake for us in the Sixties. I made it for my kids in the Nineties. Now, twenty-five years later, I am happily making it for my grandson. I love the architecture involved in creating the bunny shape out of two round cake pans as much as I love the simplicity in the flavor of a vanilla cake.

Cake Ingredients

2¼ cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1½ cups sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, cut into half-inch slices, at room temperature
4 large eggs
½ cup milk (whole or 2%)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350º.
Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.

Place the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl and mix on slow speed until well blended.

Add the slices of butter and blend on medium speed until the mixture resembles pea-sized crumbles.

In another bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, and vanilla with a fork until well blended.

Pour the wet ingredients into the butter and flour mixture and beat on slow speed for one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Beat the batter on medium speed for one minute until smooth and fluffy.

Pour batter into prepared cake pans. Bake for about 25 minutes on the middle oven rack. When done, the cakes should be golden in color and a knife poked into the center should come out clean.

Remove cake pans from the oven. Let cool on a wire rack for ten minutes. To easily release the cakes from their pans, use a knife to loosen the edges and then flip the pans onto a rack. The cakes must be completely cooled before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

1 8-ounce bar cream cheese, softened
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3¾ cups (1 pound box) confectioners’ sugar
2-3 tablespoons whole milk

Instructions
Beat butter and cream cheese together in a large bowl on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar and start beating on slow speed until the sugar is incorporated into the mixture to keep powdered sugar from spraying all over the room. Beat frosting until smooth and creamy.

Add vanilla and beat for 15 seconds more. Add milk as needed to help fluff up the frosting.

To Assemble Bunny Cake

Cut one of the cake layers as shown.

Arrange cakes as shown below. Place parchment paper strips under the cake’s edges. Ice the cake and then remove the strips. Decorate with M&M’s.

My husband got into decorating the cake. I had to pull him off the job when he talked about applying eyebrows.

Meanwhile, a few miles away at my Goddaughter Leigh’s house, my dear friend Becky was busy making an Easter Bunny Cake for her three-week-old granddaughter. She sent me a photo.

The Barton/Meadors family made this beautiful bunny.

My friend Janet Davies sent a photo of her coconut-covered bunny cake. Here is her method of icing the cake: Cut each cake layer in half horizontally. Poke holes in the layers with a toothpick. Pour a mixture of 12 ounces frozen coconut, 1 pound powdered sugar, and 1 cup sour cream over the layers and allow to soak in. Add flakey coconut to the top. The sour cream gives it a tangy touch. Sometimes she takes off the crusty of the cake to make sure the runny icing gets inside the cake.

Here’s another cute one sent to me by mom’s cousin, Jean Maroney. Her daughter-in-law, Alena, made it.

My niece made this one.

Please share your creation on Instagram with the hashtag #judyschickensbunnycake

If you are celebrating Easter, Happy Easter!

Related Posts for Easter Day

Fun to do with Children:
To Dye For: Making Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs
How to Tell If an Egg Is Fresh or Hard-Boiled
Test Your Sense of Smell with Jellybeans

Brunch:
50 Ways to Make a Frittata
Quiche Lorraine with Bacon and Kale
Mom’s Monkey Bread, circa 1970
The Biscuit King

Desserts:
Italian Ricotta and Lemon Cookies
Italian Sesame Seed Cookies

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I enjoy making special-request cakes for loved ones on their birthdays. I was especially delighted when my son asked me to make a red velvet cake for his girlfriend, Lily, when she turned 21. I browsed through several cookbooks looking for a good recipe. My first three attempts were not pretty. The turning point came when I added strong coffee to the batter. It boosted the chocolate flavor in extraordinary ways. Now I look for reasons to make this cake!

This year, I gussied up the cake for Christmas Eve with pomegranate seeds and rosemary sprigs! So pretty!

While researching red velvet cakes, I learned the Adams Extract Company, maker of food coloring and flavor extracts, is credited with making this cake popular during the Depression. As a marketing strategy, the company placed point-of-sale tear-off Red Velvet Cake recipe cards under the grocery store shelf’s food coloring bottles. The idea took off, and Red Velvet Cakes became all the rage.

Cake Ingredients:

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature (not low-fat)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
½ cup freshly brewed warm coffee
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Mise en Place:

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350º. Place a cooking rack in the center of the oven.

Prepare Cake Pans with Liners:
Grease two 8 or 9-inch cake pans or a bundt cake pan with cooking spray or butter. Dust insides with flour. Tap pans upside down over a trash can to remove excess flour.

If making a layer cake, line the pans with parchment paper (waxed paper will work) as extra insurance the cake will not stick to the pan. Even when I grease the living daylights out of cake pans, some cakes still want to stick to the bottom. This is one of them. Liners guarantee they will drop out easily.

How to Make Liners for Cake Pans:
Draw an outline of the cake pan on two sheets of parchment. Cut out the paper disks. If you trim to just inside the outline, your disks should fit nicely inside the pans. Place a liner inside each pan.

Make the Cake Batter:
Beat together the oil, sugar, and eggs for three minutes at medium speed.

Add the rest of the wet ingredients to the mixing bowl: buttermilk, vanilla, food coloring, vinegar, and coffee. Mix on medium-low speed for one minute. The batter should appear smooth. Beware, any speed higher than medium-low will cause red batter to spread all over you and your kitchen!

In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients with a whisk: the flour, chocolate, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Spoon one-third of this dry mixture at a time into the mixing bowl and stir at low speed until the flour disappears. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula as you mix. Mix until dry ingredients are fully incorporated into the batter.

Pour batter evenly into the two prepared pans.

Place pans on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating pans halfway through cooking. Use a knife to check cake centers for doneness. If the knife comes out clean, the cake is done. If not, set the timer for five more minutes and recheck. Be sure to test each pan. When done, remove pans from oven and cool for 5 minutes.

Next, run a knife around the edges of the pans to release cakes from sides. Turn pans upside down on a cooling rack and peel off the parchment paper. Invert cakes and cool to room temperature. Once cool, store in plastic bags until ready to use or frost them.

Butter and Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1 8-ounce bar cream cheese, softened
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3¾ cups (1 pound box) confectioners’ sugar
2-3 tablespoons whole milk

Instructions:
Beat butter and cream cheese together in a mixing bowl on medium-high speed until smooth.

Add sugar and beat until fluffy.

Add vanilla and beat 30 seconds more. Add milk, one tablespoonful at a time, to thin frosting to desired spreading consistency.

How to Frost a Cake

Line the edges of a cake plate with parchment paper or plastic wrap.

Place the first cake layer down. Scoop up 25% of the frosting and spackle it across the top with a long metal icing spatula.

Place the top cake layer, smooth side up, over the frosted layer. Place the remaining frosting on top and use it to frost the sides and top of the cake.

Remove liners from cake plate. Let frosted cake sit for an hour or two before serving so flavors can meld. I like to serve this cake chilled.

Recently, I needed an elegant cake that would serve twenty. I decided to make a taller version of the cake by preparing one and a half recipes. This gave me three 9-inch layers. I increased the frosting recipe by half. The cake looked beautiful and regal on the dessert buffet. Sadly, I didn’t get a photo.

Triple Decker Cake Ingredients List
(I’ve done the math for you –and for me)

3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoon baking soda
4½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups sugar
1½ cup canola oil
3 large eggs, room temperature
1½ cup buttermilk, room temperature (not low-fat)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ ounce red food coloring
1½ teaspoon white distilled vinegar
¾ cup freshly brewed, plain, warm coffee

I LOVE when readers send photos of their creations from the blog. Here’s one from our friends-who-are-family, Markham and Cati, who made red velvet cupcakes for Valentine’s Day. I couldn’t love them more!