If this bunny-themed Easterbunny cake doesn't look great, I don't know what does look great! Of course, classic carrot cake or eggnog cake are always lovely too. But a little variety at Easter does not hurt, right? Just for example, in the form of a cake with the bunny motif.
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Taste and Occasion
A cake with hidden colorful bunnies in the dough, which only become visible after cutting: easy, funny & naturally colored.
You can expect a lovely, super moist hidden Easterbunny cake. And thus a pastry with a wow effect - on the one hand, because it is a cake with an Easterbunny motif as a surprise in the middle; on the other hand, because the cute bunnies shine wonderfully and taste slightly fruity. In itself, the recipe is straightforward. Buuuuuuut: For it to succeed, you have to follow a few points. You won't get such a pretty Easterbunny cake if you don't follow the tricks. But if you do it right, you'll get an excellent, bright motif that is also naturally colored. In any case, the Easter cake with bunny surprise hits the spot with our kids! And I was relieved that the look succeeded 😉 .
Ingredients
The coloring food powders are made of 100% fruits and vegetables - in the case of purple, these are concentrates of carrot and hibiscus. A particularly best thing to decorate the Easter bunny cake is colorful icing or fine lines of colored white chocolate. Since the powders are fat-soluble, unlike the vast majority of artificial food colors, this works out great (see my colorful, healthy donuts).
You will need to allow some time to prepare the two cake bases. To get the purple bunnies, first bake a dough sheet, from which bunnies are then cut out. These need to go into the freezer for about an hour to become more stable and heavier and not "float" to the top during baking. Also, the cookie cutter for the Easter bunny in the cake should be relatively small.
How to make the Hidden Easterbunny Cake
Let's start with the bunnies: Line a small square baking pan (roughly 10*8 in / 25*20 cm) with baking paper or grease and dust with flour. Alternatively, use a springform pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Stir 4 teaspoon of the coloring into about 20 ml juice until no lumps are visible. Beat the softened butter and sugar for a few minutes until creamy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Mix the flour with the baking powder and stir alternately with the juice. Use as much liquid until the dough falls from the spoon with difficulty tearing. If the dough is too light, use more color. To do this, stir the powder into very little liquid until smooth and stir it into the dough briefly but vigorously.
Now, pour the dough into the pan, smooth it out very well, and bake for about 12-15 minutes. Let cool completely, turn out of the pan, and cut out tiny bunnies with a cookie cutter (about 2,5 in / 6 cm). Depending on the thickness of the cake, you will need about 8-12 pieces. Freeze the bunny pieces on a baking sheet or plate, covered with cling film, for at least 1 hour.
For the cake, line a small loaf pan (about 8 in / 20 cm) with baking paper or grease and dust with flour. Preheat the oven again to 350°F/175°C. Beat the soft butter and sugar for a few minutes until creamy. Gradually stir in the eggs. Mix the flour with the baking powder and lemon zest and stir alternately with the milk. Use as much liquid as necessary until the dough falls from the spoon, a little more liquid than hard to tear. To finish, spread a thin (!) dough layer on the loaf pan's bottom.
Place the chilled bunnies close together. Spoon the remaining dough around the sides of the bunnies and on top of the bunnies so that the bunnies are entirely covered and enclosed by the dough.Bake the cake for about 45 minutes. Cover it with aluminum foil after 30 minutes if it gets too dark. Test with chopsticks. Cool briefly in the pan, then turn out and cool completely before cutting. Decorate with colored chocolate lines as desired.
Top Tip
You can bake the dough for the bunnies (I have this cookie cutter) the night before, cut out the bunnies after they have cooled, and freeze them overnight. It's easy to snack on the remaining cake "sections" plain or turn them into cake pops.
Recipe Card
Hidden Easterbunny Cake
Equipment
- 1 Small Loaf Pan
Ingredients
For the purple bunnies
- 90 grams (⅖ cup) butter, soft
- 70 grams (⅓ cup) sugar
- 2 eggs, medium
- 140 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 60 milliliters (4 tablespoons) cherry juice, or milk
- 4 teaspoons colors, amount to taste
For the light cake
- 170 grams (⅘ cup) butter, soft
- 140 grams (¾ cup) sugar
- 4 eggs, medium
- 260 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 100 milliliters (6 ¾ tablespoons) milk, coarse
Instructions
For the bunnies
- Line a small square baking pan (roughly 10*8 in / 25*20 cm) with baking paper or grease and dust with flour. Alternatively use a springform pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Stir 4 teaspoon of the coloring into about 20 ml juice until no lumps are visible.
- Beat the softened butter and sugar for a few minutes until creamy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Mix the flour with the baking powder and stir alternately with the juice. Use as much liquid until the dough falls from the spoon with difficulty tearing. If the dough is too light, use more color. To do this, stir the powder into very little liquid until smooth and stir it into the dough briefly but vigorously.
- Pour the dough into the pan, smooth it out very well, and bake for about 12-15 minutes. Let cool completely, turn out of the pan, and cut out tiny bunnies with a cookie cutter (about 2,5 in / 6 cm). Depending on the thickness of the cake, you will need about 8-12 pieces.
- Freeze the bunny pieces on a baking sheet or plate, covered with cling film, for at least 1 hour.
For the cake
- Line a small loaf pan (about 8 in / 20 cm) with baking paper or grease and dust with flour. Preheat the oven again to 350°F/175°C. Beat the soft butter and sugar for a few minutes until creamy. Gradually stir in the eggs. Mix the flour with the baking powder and lemon zest and stir alternately with the milk. Use as much liquid as necessary until the dough falls from the spoon, a little more liquid than hard to tear.
To finish
- Spread a thin (!) dough layer on the loaf pan's bottom. Place the chilled bunnies close together. Spoon the remaining dough around the sides of the bunnies and on top of the bunnies so that the bunnies are entirely covered and enclosed by the dough.Bake the cake for about 45 minutes. Cover it with aluminum foil after 30 minutes if it gets too dark. Test with chopsticks. Cool briefly in the pan, then turn out and cool completely before cutting. Decorate with colored chocolate lines as desired.
Notes
- Instead of purple, you can use other colors. Blue and green fade during baking, though, so use a lot of that powder. For a vibrant purple, it helps to mix the powders with some tart fruit juice or lemon juice.
- For decoration, powdered sugar or a colored icing, or fine colorful chocolate stripes are suitable. For this, melt white couverture in a hot water bath and stir in some color powder vigorously as desired.
- For the colorful pastel eggs, dip white chocolate eggs or sugar almonds in colored white couverture and let them drip off.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
The taste and color of the cake can be wonderfully varied with hidden Easter bunnies: For example, mixing the outer dough with lemon juice and additional yellow food coloring. Or dye the bunny in the Easter bunny cake bright red and pimp it with some strawberry puree. Now have fun re-baking my Easter recipes like this Easterbunny cake!
About Kathrin & Jan
It's like a little miracle to me every time. Seemingly simple ingredients are made into something that can brighten up your life. Butter, sugar, eggs, and flour melt into an airy biscuit, a fine tart, a juicy cake, or a crispy biscuit. Baking simply makes you happy. Welcome and enjoy our blog!
Kathrin & Jan
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