Traditional Bunny Cakes

Traditional Bunny Cakes

Do you have a memory that's forged so deep in you that you don't even need to close your eyes and try to imagine it? It's almost Easter, there are 2 round cakes cooling on racks on my Grandma's great big round kitchen table. There is a yellow metal tray sitting on the table next to those cooling cakes, along with licorice, jelly beans, coconut and frosting. To my left, in the corner of the kitchen about half way up the wall is the cupboard that her plates & cups were in. I can see the contact paper, the paint, the metal latches on the cupboards. Inside the left hand door, near the bottom, is taped a clipping from a magazine. The clipping is worn, it's been well-loved and well-used. It's very similar to the one in the first picture.

Every Easter for my entire life (or at least it seemed that way) my Grandma made a very special Easter Cake with me. It starts with making the cake - any flavor, box mix or homemade. Bake the cakes in two round (8" or 9") cake pans and let them cool. Once they're cool, you're going to use one for the face of the bunny so you'll leave it round. The second will become the ears and bow tie. (See the first picture for directives on cutting it.) Assemble the cake on the tray and cover the entire thing with a layer of frosting. Once you've frosted it, sprinkle coconut all over so it looks like bunny fur. (If your kids hate coconut - it took me YEARS convincing mine it was tolerable - leave it off.)

Now comes the fun part: Decorating. As you can see from our various pictures above that we've done a lot of different things over the years. Dye a little coconut with red food color & a touch of water so it turns it pink. Use this for the center of the ears. Use licorice for whiskers, outlining the bowtie and to build the nose and the mouth. Make eyes out of Jelly Beans or M&Ms. Decorate the bowtie with Jelly Beans, M&Ms, shaped marshmallows, sprinkles or anything else you want to. I typically fill bowls with all sorts of candy and let the kids do whatever they want to it. That's what makes it fun - it's really their creation.

Yes, this is a tradition I've continued with my own kids their whole lives. When they were really little they weren't yet able to help, but we still made it together. Sometimes that meant a kid in a walker rolling around the kitchen oohing and aahing at everything and one sleeping in the swing next to the table, but it still got made. Even as teenagers, they look forward to this every year. When I brought home licorice and M&Ms from the store the other day, they knew what that meant!

I can't tell you what the one thing about this tradition is that makes it so dear to my heart, but it is. I remember how special it was to do that with Ganna and how we both looked forward to it every year. I know how special it is with my own kids now. We have a lot of traditions and things we do, but there's just something about the bunny cake.

After my grandma was gone, honestly, her kitchen was the hardest thing to sort through. And I can still remember how much it hurt to take that recipe down off that cupboard. It had hung there my entire life and removing it was heartbreaking. I always think about her when I make the cakes with my boys and I know how happy she'd be to see the tradition continue. In those moments, I absolutely believe she's looking down on us and smiling. All over a silly cake.

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