A vintage coconut bunny cake with fluffy frosting and a pretty pastel swirl surprise inside.
The Tell:
While gathering stories for my cookbook last year, one of the families I interviewed shared an Easter tradition so delightful that I know it’s one I’ll be baking myself every spring from now on.
It’s the classic bunny-shaped cake from vintage cookbooks—frosted with fluffy, marshmallow-like icing, sprinkled with sweetened coconut, and decorated with paper ears and jelly beans.
Leigh’s family’s version has a fun twist—it’s adorable inside and out! Her mother, Catherine, would start with a simple white cake mix, divide the batter into three bowls, and tint each one a different pastel shade—purple, pink, and yellow. Then she’d layer spoonfuls of each color into 8-inch round cake pans, swirling them with a knife a few times to create a marbled mosaic. The effect is a cheerful burst of spring when you cut into the cake.
After frosting the cake and covering it with coconut, Catherine would tint the leftover coconut green for the plate and add jelly beans in the “grass.”
“Every grandchild was impressed when she sliced the cake. Now they make them!” said Leigh, who also makes the cake and has been known to make two versions, one with coconut and one without (the recipe conveniently makes two bunny cakes).
So if the thought of cutting into your cute little confection makes you pause, I promise this version with its colorful interior will make that moment a bit sweeter!
A vintage coconut bunny cake with fluffy frosting and a pretty swirl pastel surprise inside.
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
1 14.25-ounce white cake mix, plus ingredients like oil, eggs and water that your particular cake mix calls for
1 teaspoon coconut extract , can substitute with vanilla
few drops food coloring, green, red, yellow, blue
2 bags 14-ounce sweetened coconut
jelly beans
white paper and pink crayons or markers, to make bunny ears
7-minute Frosting
2 cups sugar
4 egg whites , reserve yolks for another use
1/2 teaspooon salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablesppoons water
2 teaspoons coconut extract (or vanilla)
To make the cake:
1)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour two round 8-inch cake pans.
2)
Blend cake mix, eggs, oil, water, and coconut extract and divide into three bowls.Add a few drops of food coloring to each bowl to make three different colors. For pink, add a splash of red. For lavender, mix a drop of red and a drop of blue. Blend well.
3)
Spoon batter into cake pans by alternating the colored batter. Once pans are filled, gently swirl a knife through the batter, back and forth, a few times.
4)
Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Cool cake before assembling the bunny.
To make the frosting:
1)
Combine egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, salt, and water in a saucepan. Place over medium heat. Use electric mixer and continuously beat the mixture (over the heat) for approximately 7 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Remove from the heat and gently stir in coconut extract.
To assemble the bunnies!
1)
Remember this recipe makes two bunnies! Cut cake layer in half. Stand cake on cut edge, adding frosting in between layers. Cut out a small angle for the rabbit’s head, using the cut-out piece for the bunny tail. You can position the tail with a toothpick but I just lay it on the plate and cover with frosting and coconut.
2)
Frost the cake with 7-minute frosting and cover generously with coconut. Make bunny ears with folded white paper, coloring the inside pink. Insert paper ears into the cake near the head, where a cut was made. Use jelly beans for the eyes and nose.
3)
Tint leftover coconut with green food coloring to make “grass” and garnish with jelly beans.
Cake Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour two round 8-inch cake pans.
