Bunny Cake Revisited!

 Jenn McKinlay: Happy Easter to all who celebrate! Happy Passover to those who celebrated last week, and Happy Nav Varsh Samvat (Hindi New Year), which is coming up on the 13th! I must admit I do love a good Interfaith Calendar as there is always something to rejoice or be thoughtful about.

My very first year as a Jungle Red (2017), I wrote a blog about the baking of the annual Easter bunny cake. You can read it HERE, plus, there are pictures. Fast forward four years (I'm in my fifth year as a Red!!!) and here I am again baking a bunny cake the night before Easter, as I do every year, and posting about it. 

This year's bunny is strawberry - strawberry cake and strawberry buttercream! Yum! The recipe is being adapted from one that I'm using  in my cupcake bakery mystery - Strawberried Alive (my current work in progress, coming out in 2022). Consider this a sneak peek!

The Cupcake Version:

The Recipe:

1 2/3 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 large egg whites

1/3 cup strawberry puree

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup diced strawberries

Preheat over to 350. Put paper liners into cupcake tin (or in my case, grease the heck out of the bunny pan). Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whip the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Mix in the egg and then egg whites. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, strawberry puree, and vanilla extract. Alternately add the flour and buttermilk mixtures to the large mixing bowl with the butter, sugar and eggs until just combined. Fold the 3/4 cup of diced strawberries into the batter. Scoop the batter into the cupcake pan, filling each one 2/3 full. Bake 20-24 minutes. Makes 12.

Strawberry Buttercream:

1/2 cup strawberry puree

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, heat the strawberry puree over med-low heat, until it is reduced by 2/3 to 3 Tbsps. 10-14 minutes. Pour into a glass bowl and put in the freezer to cool. It will cool quickly as it's a small amount. In a medium bowl, whip the salted and unsalted butter until fluffy. Alternately mix in the powdered sugar, strawberry puree, and vanilla until frosting reached the desired consistency.

For my cupcakes, I hollowed out the center of the cupcake and scooped in some diced strawberries. I won't be doing that with the bunny, but it definitely kicked up the strawberry flavor and was a cool surprise in the cupcakes!

When cupcakes (or bunny) are cool, pipe the strawberry buttercream on top in desired amount. Enjoy!

The Bunny Cake Version: 

Naked Bunny

Frosted Bunny!
Strawberry buttercream - sooooo good!

So, Reds and Readers, what dessert are you enjoying today? And if not, you can weigh in on the most pressing question in our family. Where do we cut the first slices of the bunny cake - the ears or the tail or the feet? We debate this every year.

The Bunny Cake

JENN: How do I get myself into these things? This was the question I asked myself every Easter Eve when I was in my kitchen with my frosting shooter strapped to my hip, getting ready to decorate the annual bunny cake. Yes, I did say frosting shooter -- it's like a gun but for frosting. Personally, I think all guns should only shoot frosting but that's just me. 

How did the bunny cake come about? It all started when the hooligans were toddler sized mess makers and I bought a cake pan in the shape of a bunny. Why? No idea. My best guess is that it was on sale and I thought a cake in the shape of a bunny would be cute. It was. 

          Once. 

             Twice. 

     Three times. 
(Yes, the hooligans
shirts match the bunny cake - the height of my 
Martha Stewarting).


And then...it became expected.

Because stuffing baskets and hiding eggs all over the backyard late at night wasn't enough to do, baking a cake in the shape of a bunny was added to the list as well. Debates ensued over what flavor of cake the bunny should be. Vanilla vs. chocolate became the annual argument and a hooligan protest erupted when I went radical and made a carrot cake. I still say that was the most logical choice.

And then, a few years ago, my frosting shooter died. The trigger simply would not lock and load the frosting. The bunny was doomed to be naked. We all agreed this was unfair to the bunny. I suppose I could have used a pastry bag, but I was really partial to my gun. I have not made a bunny cake since and, honestly, I kind of forgot about it. 

Recently, we began the process of decluttering the house, that whole does it bring you joy thing, and while I was cleaning out my baking cupboard guess what I found? The bunny pan, buried behind an ancient muffin tin and a giant silicone cupcake cake mold. As I held the bunny pan in my hands, I realized it did bring me joy. 

There were so many memories of the hooligans helping mix the batter, watching the bunny cake bake through the glass window of the oven, decorating the bunny with jelly beans, and licking the beaters from the frosting bowl. The nostalgia was pretty thick and it made me want to revisit those days. So, guess how I will spend this Easter Eve? Yep, baking a bunny cake and decorating it with a pastry bag full of frosting. The hooligans have already started debating the flavor of cake and the color of the frosting...and so the tradition lives on. I'm pretty happy about that even though I still miss my frosting shooter.

Now it's your turn, Reds. What family traditions does your family have? How did they come about? Do holidays or gatherings feel wrong or less than without these personal rituals?