Easter Bunny Cake, or a Foolproof Way to a Festive Dessert

I am, admittedly, not a very crafty person. I love to bake and make a ton of cookies for the holidays, but then have my sister arrange the plate. I attempt to make cute cards and such for Greg, but really I am pretty sure he holds onto them because he has a big heart; he certainly doesn't keep them because they look good. Every time I see a Pinterest "fail" meme, I quietly nod to myself and realize those "disaster" photos perfectly encapsulate any project I've ever attempted.

So with that introduction, I give you - the bunny cake!

Yes, this adorable piece of Americana was actually baked, put together, and decorated, by me! Several years ago, my mom found a Betty Crocker ad that explained how to create this wonder and passed it along to me, and we have had an annual bunny cake pretty much ever since then - the only difference is that the cake is vegan now, but the concept remains the same.

I realize lamb cakes or even lamb butter is usually all the rage this time of year, but that usually requires special molds of some kind, which is not in keeping with my mantra of keeping things easy and cutting down on the special equipment you keep in the house. The beauty of the bunny cake is that nothing extraordinary is required - just a knife and cutting board.

First things first - one layer of a cake! Or, if you have a cupcake recipe (like the one I used from  Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet), prepare the equivalent of 12 cupcakes but pour in a round pan instead.

Once the cake is cooled, cut it in half.

 Then frost the bottoms of the bake and push the two halves together. (Full disclosure: I did not frost this cake because I needed to freeze it  for later use! But I hope you can see where I'm going.)

About a third of the way up of the semicircle, cut out a notch.

Place the cake that you cut out at the end of the semicircle. Now, you have a head, body, and tail!

Another angle of the bunny masterpiece.

And then frost! Basically, I use a vegan buttercream frosting - think the Domino Sugar buttercream frosting recipe, but to make it vegan, sub Earth Balance, non-dairy milk, and organic powdered sugar (to make sure the sugar is vegan); I also usually leave out the salt. (Okay, I just realized typing that I pretty much have my own riff on the Domino Sugar recipe, but still - it works!)

Frost the entire creation, then coat with shredded coconut to give your bunny a fluffy coat. You can create a face using vegan chocolate chips or Starburst jelly beans or Jolly Ranchers jelly beans, since those are vegan. Then I usually cut out ears from a sheet of paper (just two long ovals, with one of the ends cut bluntly so they stick flat behind the head), stick those in the notch, and you're done!

For bonus points, you can also put some coconut in a disposable container, add some green food coloring, and shake until the coconut is green. Put it around the bunny for grass, put on extra jelly beans as eggs, and you have a cute and delicious Easter dessert, ready to go!

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, I hope all of you enjoy the holidays, spring, or whatever makes you happy!

Thou Shall Eat Buttercream Frosting

As someone who is perenially terrified of things such as trans fats, partially hydrogenated anything, and high fructose corn syrup, I decided a long time ago that I would no longer purchase frosting from tubs at the grocery store. Though delicious, store-bought frosting is the intersection where all of these scary ingredients come together.

This realization never really bothered me because my wise mother had pointed me to the direction of a Domino's powdered sugar box, which, if you've ever looked on the side, has an ages old buttercream frosting recipe which is easy and is hands down a favorite that people have always enjoyed. I used this recipe for everything, but two of its ingredients have recently proved problematic for me: milk and butter.

A couple of weeks ago, I made cupcakes and took the opportunity to play around with two separate recipes: veganizing the Domino's recipe and applying the same techniques to the Barefoot Contessa's unbelievable peanut butter frosting. I was truly pleased with the results; the buttercream frosting was decadent and, I think, tasted identical to the Domino's recipe, and the peanut butter frosting was so good...that maybe I finished up the leftovers as a snack. I'm just saying...

Both recipes are below and can easily be increased in size.

"Buttercream" Frosting - Vanilla and Chocolate
Yields: Frosting for 12-15 cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. non-dairy butter substitute, softened (Earth's Balance Vegan Buttery Spread is still my fave)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2-4 Tbsp. soy milk or soy creamer
1-2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa (if making chocolate frosting)

1) Cream together sugar and butter substitute until mostly mixed (it won't mix all the way without the liquid ingredients)
2) Slowly add the soy milk or creamer until the desired level of creaminess while mixing the ingredients on high. A little goes a long way here; I would start with 1 Tbsp and gradually work your way up. If you inadvertently add too much milk, you can add more sugar to even out the mixture.
3) Mix in vanilla. For vanilla frosting, stop here; you're done!
4) If you would like to make chocolate frosting, add 1-2 Tbsp. of cocoa, a little at a time, until desired chocolatey-ness. I tend to use a heaping spoon of cocoa. I have found that 1 Tbsp isn't quite enough, but once I used more than 2 Tbsp. and found that there was a slightly bitter aftertaste, so I'd add a little cocoa at a time. (A special thank you to Dave Lieberman, author of Young and Hungry, whose chocolate icing recipe was the inspiration for my own adaptation.)

***
Peanut Butter Frosting, adapted from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa
Yields: Frosting for 12-15 cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. creamy peanut butter**
1/4 c. non-dairy butter substitute, like Earth's Balance, softened
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 c. soy creamer

1) Cream together sugar, peanut butter, butter substitute, and vanilla, until well mixed.
2) Slowly add soy creamer while mixing the ingredients at high speed until the ingredients are blended and smooth.

**After reading my opening paragraph of this post, you will probably be surprised to read that, for this recipe, I don't recommend natural peanut butter; though I love it and use it elsewhere, I would use a shelf-stable creamy peanut butter. This probably seems odd, since shelf-stable peanut butters often have partially hydrogenated oils. However, if you poke around your grocery store shelf, you will can probably find a stabilized peanut butter that does not contain these ingredients. When baking, I use 365 Everyday Organic Creamy Peanut Butter, which is found at Whole Foods and is delicious.