Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Original Silly Bee's Bunny Cake


Finally-- a post about my famous (thanks to CakeWrecks.com) old-school bunny cake!  I was recently surprised to find my photo on a few internet sites that I didn't know about.  So, I thought I better claim it before anyone else does!


A little history:



The traditional bunny cake was invented by Baker's Coconut around 1970 when it was included in a promotional booklet (the 2nd in the series) of "cut-up" animal cakes.  As far as I can tell, the only one that really took off was the bunny. The hobby horse cake was not so popular.  Its demise may have something to do with the fact that you had to be an architect to figure out the blueprint.  Anyhoo, since then, there have been several versions of the diy bunny cake, but this one remains my favorite.



Here's how I make my signature bunny cake:




First, you'll notice she has no bow tie-- more on that later. What makes my bunny cake so cute (and perfect for a baby shower) is its soft colors, tiny eyes and big cheeks.  It's more Beatrix Potter and less Looney Tunes. Anyhoo, to make your very own, you need 2 round cakes, icing, flaked coconut, red & green coloring, black jelly beans (or chocolate chips) and a fork. 

Once you've cut out the shapes, trim one end of each ear and attach the ears to the head. Save the leftover piece of cake (formerly known as the bow tie) to eat while you're decorating-- that's where the fork comes in.

Before you ice the cake and go crazy dumping coconut on it, set aside about 1 1/2 cup of coconut to dye pink and green. Split the coconut in half and put each in a sealable container with a drop of food coloring and shake it up until it's evenly coated. You can add more drops as you go.

Next, ice the cake and immediately cover it with a generous amount of coconut. If you wait too long, the icing will set and the coconut won't stick. To make the nose, take a grape-sized amount of pink coconut and squish it together in your hands to form a little triangle. Add the candy eyes, and you are done!



Last year's bunny cake had little chocolate egg eyes.



This year I also made a choco bunny with chocolate sprinkles for the non-coconut eaters!



Click on the Betty Crocker Bunny Cake logo below to download a copy of their bunny cake booklet. The booklet shows you how to make the old-school bunny cake plus 3 others-- including cupcakes.




P.S. Don't be tempted by Bunny-shaped pans! Make it old-school and keep the tradition alive!

15 comments:

  1. I really love these cute bunnies you made for easter. I wrote two little posts about the 'coco' and the 'choco' one, linking back to you. Hope to inspire some dutch cake-lovers here in Holland with your ideas! Thanks for sharing.
    coco: http://www.taartencake.com/schattig-paashaas-taartje/
    choco: http://www.taartencake.com/choco-haasje-voor-de-chocoholic/

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  2. Thank you so much for posting this!
    I first found the image on a site with no link to the original poster (you). But it did have your comment about taking it down or giving credit. With your name and a couple of Google searches I was able to track down your original blog. Your cake is stunning and I can't believe I missed it on Cake Wrecks originally.

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  3. I love this Sweet Easter Idea,
    Thank You, Melisa!!
    I also saw a picture in images of Easter Cakes, and tracked you down. Pretty easy to find you, with a couple Clicks. So its Not all Bad . . good Advertising for Your Cake.

    I plan to Mke this using "Whip cream" in place of That Sweet Frosting. Wish me Luck. Hope You don't mind me using your Idea.

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  4. Hi Mel,
    I am starting a section on my blog about PINspired projects, and it will show projects I tried because I saw them on Pinterest. I wanted to show a picture of my bunny cake attempt and then link back to your blog for the how-to on my Easter Pinspiration post. I just read your "fine print" at the bottom of the page. :O) Thanks for posting this. The most helpful part for me was the ear carving.

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  5. Thanks for your posting.Your version of the original cake is stunning. Many years ago I made one of the original Baker's Coconut bunny cakes. I'm so glad that I took a pic of the cake before I loaded it in the car to take to my parents house for Easter dinner. It was rather warm that Sunday and I never gave that a thought as I placed the bunny cake in the back of my station wagon and headed out with my family to church. After the worship service, I loaded the family back into the car to go to my parents house. I never gave a thought to "Mr. Bunny". Arriving at my parents' house, I went to the back of the car to get the cake. Imagine my shock, when I discovered my bunny had suffered a " heat stroke" from being in the heat during church! The frosting and coconut was sliding off the cake, jelly beans were everywhere. It was a true Cake Wreck! It was still delicious. Now that I have grandchildren, I might try your version for Easter this year. I will just be sure to keep it out of the heat! LOL

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  6. Yikes, heat stroke! Say it isn't so. Hee hee. I have a remedy for that... it's a fork. Nom nom.

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  7. This cake is awesome, Melissa! We found it on Pinterest and gave you a repin on our Pin of the Day board. We are going to feature you this afternoon on our Facebook page.

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  8. Oh my god! Thank you sooooo much! I've been looking for this very book the past few weeks! A crazy aunt stole it from my mom and, of course, it was my favorite as a kid and I couldn't remember what it was. I've asked an other blogger and she told me pretty much the right info BUT the edition year wasn't the same and this was not MY childhood version. But this one is. So thanks for sharing.

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  9. my mom made this at least a few times during my childhood (I am a child of the 70s) and I have made it a couple of times. So fun and not difficult! Thanks for posting.

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  10. This cake looks AMAZING! I will try to make it for Easter this week. I love the history that you posted of the traditional bunny cake, what a clever idea ~ this brings back memories of Easter bunny cakes that my Mom used to make for easter.. what wonderful memories - thank you so much!

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  11. I made this cake today and it is so cute! Easy and fun recipie.

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  12. In my family we have three birthdays that often coincide with Easter. If it's your year to be the lucky birthday bunny you get The Bunny Cake! (Even though my children are now in their 20's and 30's!) I have one who dislikes coconut and I never thought of sprinkles. Great idea! Thanks for keeping the tradition hopping!

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  13. Thank you for this recipe/instructions! I made this cake today! I used everything from your instructions, but I changed a couple things like I put Cadburys' hard tiny eggs around the outside. I also made a different anime style face. Your instructions are excellent. The cake was a huge success! Thank you!

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