Bunny Cake

I realize that Easter is over for this year, but I had to share this anyway. Lucky grandma that I am, I have spent the last several days with two of my grandchildren while they welcomed a new sister into their family. Before I came, I saw a picture of a cute Easter Bunny cake and thought it would be a fun project for the three of us to do together. The wonderful thing about it is that it is simple enough that the children, ages three and five, could really be involved in making it.

What you will need: a white cake mix, a tub of white frosting (unless you are a purist and make these from scratch), flaked coconut, one large marshmallow, two small candies (raisins or chocolate chips would work as well), and construction paper for ears.

Bake the cake according to package directions in two round pans. Cool, remove from pan, wrap in plastic, and freeze. (Frozen cakes are much easier to frost.) You will only need one of the cakes for this project, so wrap the other one well and save it for another occasion.

After your cake is frozen, choose a plate or tray large enough to hold the completed cake--we chose a white cutting board--and, using a knife or spatula, frost a line down the middle of it. This will be the glue to hold your bunny in place:

Cut your cake in half and frost one of the halves on the flat side. The rounded sides will become the plump bunny's head and body:

Put the two halves together--using the frosting as glue--and place it, cut side down, along your line of frosting:

Using a serrated knife, cut a notch out of the top of the cake to create a neckline. I gave each child a butter knife, and they covered the entire cake with frosting. We didn't worry that some crumbs came off the cake and mixed in with the frosting because we knew that the crumbs would be hidden under the coconut:

I wiped extra frosting off our board with a damp paper towel and gave each child a small bowl of coconut. They sprinkled it all over the cake, patting it gently into place. Two green skittles made perfect bunny eyes:

Cut the large marshmallow in half. On the back end of the bunny, clear away some of the coconut and put the cut end of one of the marshmallow halves into place for the bunny's tail:

We cut two bunny ears out of pink construction paper, stuck them into the top of the head, and Peter Cottontail was complete:

Like I said, the fabulous thing about this project is that the children really did most of the work themselves. And since Easter is over, I think we will use the other half of the cake to make a brown (chocolate frosting with brown sprinkles or mini chocolate chips) bunny to share with a friend. He can be "Little Bunny Foo Foo" or the little rabbit hopping by from "There was a little house in the middle of the woods. . . ."

I love these talented little bakers!