Can you believe Sunday, March 23, is Easter? WTF? Doesn't it seem crazy early? Actually, it is pretty dang early. According to the shockingly complicated method used to calculate the date of Easter, the holiday can fall anywhere***image1*** between March 22 and April 25, but it hasn't happened this early since 1913. So what are you going to do this Easter?
In my family, Easter hasn't been a big deal since my sister and I were kids. Back then we'd dye some eggs and my parents would run out to the drugstore for plastic, grass-filled baskets. Only occasionally, when my entire extended family got together, would we get all dressed up and go to church, then sit down for a big meal. In our house, one of the highlights of a big, fussy Easter was the bunny cake.
You've seen the bunny cake: It's made with two yellow cakes cut and frosted to resemble the furry white head and ears of a rabbit wearing a big bow tie. I called my mom to get the recipe and she said she was pretty sure the recipe was on the back of a box of yellow cake. I did a little digging and found a picture of the cake on the Crisco Web site. Coconut-flecked frosting? Check. Strawberry Twizzler whiskers? Check. Black gumdrop eyes? Check. It was almost exactly like the bunny cake I remembered from childhood, the one my mom reprised just last year.
Last spring my mom's house was in the process of renovation, and she had already been staying with me for weeks when Easter came around. There were boxes and bags and pillows and blankets all over the house; morale was low. On Sunday I was hiding in my room doing the crossword when she came in to ask: "Are we going to do something or what?" I just shrugged my shoulders.
She picked up her keys and left the house. I figured she was going to the store. She probably felt guilty about infringing on my space for so long and she wanted to make it up to me by making exactly what she knew I wanted most: a big homemade meal. Would it be spiral-sliced ham and scalloped potatoes? Or lamb chops and asparagus drizzled with hollandaise?
Let me share a valuable lesson with you: Don't ever think you know what's going on in your mom's head. You didn't know when you were 7 and you haven't learned a thing since then. On Easter Sunday, my mom came back from the store with a box of yellow cake mix, two tubs of white frosting, two bags of shredded coconut and a collection of jelly beans and candy. No ham, no lamb, no potatoes, no asparagus. I made a peanut butter sandwich and worked my brow into a scowl.
But as the sandwich calmed my hunger pangs, I warmed to the idea of the bunny cake. I realized that I'd never actually made the cake myself, and after she'd done all the baking, I pitched in to help decorate. In a weird way, it turned into a really nice Easter. Instead of white kneesocks and Mary Janes I think I was dressed in my finest pajamas and fuzzy slippers, but whatever. If it's good enough for Christmas morning, it's good enough for Easter dinner. We ate about half of the cake while we sat on the couch and watched a bad movie.
Is this cake full of refined sugar, partially hydrogenated crap and artificial flavors? Yes, yes and yes. If you want to take a stab at making a healthier version, go for it. But as far as I'm concerned, boxed cake and canned white frosting provide a nostalgic trip that's worth breaking well-intentioned rules.
The Bunny Cake
(Adapted from
.)
I like to use Pull 'n' Peel Twizzlers because the shape is more whisker-like than regular Twizzlers. If you can only find regular Twizzlers, cut them thinly with a knife.
- 1 package Pillsbury yellow cake
- 1 cup water
- 1⁄3 cup Crisco pure vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 2 (16-ounce) cans Pillsbury classic white frosting
- 2 cups shredded coconut
- 1 small package Twizzlers
- 1 small package jelly beans
- Green food coloring, optional
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Prepare the cake batter according to the package directions and pour it into two 8-inch round cake pans. Bake as directed. Cool the cakes for 10 to 15 minutes before removing them from the pans. Cool completely.
Turn one cooled cake layer upside down. Mark the center of cake with a toothpick. Measure about 2 inches in from two sides of the cake, lining up the toothpicks. Using the tip of a sharp knife, lightly draw a 2-by-6-inch oval, a football shape, to make the ears. Cut it out with a serrated knife. The middle part of the layer will be the "bow tie" for the bunny.
Place the whole cake layer in the center of large tray. Place the ears and bow tie, rounded side up, to make the bunny. Frost the entire surface and sides of cake, connecting the pieces together with frosting. Sprinkle it generously with coconut. Cut licorice pieces for mouth and whiskers; cut jelly beans in half for eyes, nose and bow tie.
If you're feeling fancy, toss ½ cup shredded coconut with a few drops of green food coloring. Put this "grass" around the base of the bunny and serve.
Tell me where to eat! I need your input.
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