Kimberly's blog: "Recipes"

Easter Bunny Cake Happy Easter! This three-dimensional lop-eared bunny cake is ambitious, but it's a lot of fun to make -- and they'll still be talking about it at Christmas. See the More Recipes links for other holiday ideas. Credit: Easter Treats by Jill O'Connor Servings: 10 Ingredients: * 1 box standard white cake mix * 3 cups cream cheese icing (recipe follows) * 1 cup (6 ounces) white chocolate morsels * 2 blue, pink or black jelly beans or Junior Mints * 1 mini marshmallow * 1 large marshmallow * Red or black licorice strings, cut into 6 (4-inch) lengths * Cornstarch for rolling * 5 ounces ready-to-use rolled fondant (for ears) * Pesticide-free fresh or sugared flowers (optional) * 2 sheets tissue paper Cream cheese icing * 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature * 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature * 1 teaspoon grated orange zest (optional) * 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract * 4 cups (1 pound) confectioners' sugar, sifted Directions: Make the cake batter and divide among 1 (9-inch) round cake pan and 2 (6-inch) round cake pans. Bake as directed and let cool completely on a wire rack. Make the frosting: In a bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer set at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the orange zest (if using) and the vanilla. Beat in the confectioners' sugar, 1 cup at a time. Continue beating until light and creamy. Using a long serrated knife, cut the 9-inch cake round in half to form two half-moons. Spread the top of one half moon with about 1/3 cup icing and sandwich the halves together. Place on a 12-inch round or oval platter, cut side down. This will be the bunny's body. Using a small offset spatula, frost the body with a very thin coat of icing to seal the cake. For the bunny haunches, cut one of the 6-inch cake rounds in half to form two half moons. Stand one half-moon on its cut side so the rounded side is on top. Cut a small V-shaped notch from the far right of the rounded cake top to create a rabbit haunch. Repeat with the second half of the cake. Attach one haunch to either side of the bunny cake body with a little frosting. Give each haunch a thin coating of icing to seal the cake. Using a 4-inch round biscuit cutter, cut out a round from the remaining 6-inch cake layer. (Or create a 4-inch round cardboard template and place on cake and carefully cut around with a serrated knife.) This will be the bunny head. From the remaining cake, cut out a 2-inch round for the tail. (If it isn't perfectly round, don't worry; it will be covered with frosting.) On the bunny body, slice a narrow sliver of cake 2 inches from the center of the rounded top, going toward the bottom of the cake, to form a ledge for the bunny head. Spread the 4-inch cake round with a thin coating of icing and place on this ledge. Give the 2-inch round cake tail a thin coating of icing and press onto the back of the body, resting on the plate. Frost the entire cake with a thicker coating of icing, covering completely but allowing the indentations of the bunny's form to remain distinct. Place the white chocolate morsels in a heatproof bowl placed over barely simmering water, or in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat or microwave the chips, stirring as needed, until they are melted and smooth. (About 1 to 2 minutes in the microwave.) Pour the chocolate out onto the back of an aluminum baking sheet or onto the inside bottom of a rimless baking sheet. Using a long (12-inch) offset or icing spatula, spread the chocolate evenly about 1/16 inch thick. Let firm up, but not become completely hard, about 5 minutes. Place the baking sheet on a countertop and brace it against your body. Hold the blade of an 8-inch-long metal icing spatula in both hands and scrape the chocolate off the pan, toward you, in large curls. As the white chocolate continues to harden, the curls will break and become large shards. This is fine, as the white chocolate fur looks great when it contains different sizes of curls and shards. Your cake will resemble a fluffy angora bunny. Press the white chocolate curls and shards all over the bunny's face, body and tail to form fur. Press the 2 jelly beans or Junior Mints into the face for the eyes. Use the mini marshmallow for the nose. Cut 1 large marshmallow in half and press the cut sides into the frosting right under the nose to form cheeks. Pierce each marshmallow cheek with 3 (4-inch) licorice lengths to form whiskers (or tuck the licorice strands behind the marshmallow cheeks, if that is easier). To make the bunny ears, dust a work surface and rolling pin with cornstarch. Knead the fondant until smooth and pliable. Roll into a 10-inch round. Cut out a cardboard template of a 6-to-7-inch bunny ear, with a nice pointed tip and squared-off bottom. Or be daring and cut the ear freehand. Using a sharp paring knife or pizza wheel, cut two ears out of the fondant. Carefully pinch the squared-off end of the first ear together and position the ear -- pinched corners face down -- on the head to resemble a lop-eared rabbit. Attach the second ear, leaving a 1/4-inch space between them. Place 1 or 2 fresh or sugared flowers (if using) in the space between the ears for decoration. To prevent the ears from drying too flat, and to give them a little expression, crumple tissue paper into a ball and position it between the drooping ear and the side of the cake. Allow fondant ears to dry completely before removing the tissue. Surround the bunny cake with Easter grass made from shredded coconut dyed a pale green, or surround the cake with fresh or sugared flowers to give the illusion that the bunny is sitting in a flower bed. Note: Color your bunny pink -- or any other color you like -- by coloring the icing and white chocolate with food coloring. Color the white chocolate with oil- or powder-based food coloring to prevent it from clumping. The chocolate shavings can be prepared a few days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. For quick-and-easy fur, use shredded sweetened coconut instead of chocolate shavings. Either way, make sure to pat on while the icing is fresh. If you wait too long, the icing will form a crust and the "fur" won't stick.