ByDiane Homan Published: Updated:
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Hop into spring with this adorable bunny cake! Printable cutting and decorating templates and step-by-step instructions means even beginners can enjoy this cute bunny cake for Easter, birthday, or just about anytime!
Have you ever made a cut-up cake? This was something we used to do all the time when I was little. The idea is simple – you start with normally shaped cakes (usually squares or circles), and then cut them up, reassemble them, and create fun designs.
The be-all end-all book we used when I was a kid wasBaker’s Coconut Animal Cut-Up Cakes, published in the 1950s. Yeah, that long ago. We had a bunch of photocopied pages (because it was out of print even then) and we’d pick something, and then make it. We used candy and frosting to decorate. I’m sure they looked pretty sad, but we had so much fun. That’s where I learned my basic cake decorating skills.
All of that to say that cut up cakes are a great activity to do with kids.This bunny cut-up cake is made with two 9-inch round cakes, no special bunny cake pan required! You only need one cake mix to make this guy, which makes him super cheap. I made mine super fancy for the picture, but if youclick here, you can see tons of different versions – some decorated with candy or coconut, some with frosting, some that look professional, and some that look like the kids definitely helped.
If you’re interested in more cut-up cakes, Hoboken Historical Museum madeBaker’s Coconut Animal Cut-Up Cakesavailable in PDF form.Click hereto download the whole book!
Why You Want This Bunny Cake:
- no special equipment needed.
- easy to decorate
- printable cutting templates mean your bunny is always in proportion
- excellent kid baking project
- super cute!
The Recipe
Just a note about the recipe. I’m a big believer in doctoring cake mixes, so that’s what you’ll find at the end of this post. I love the gorgeous denseness you get by adding an extra egg, milk, butter, and pudding. If that’s not your thing, this cake can be made perfectly well by just following the directions on a cake mix box, orby using your favorite cake recipe. What’s most important is that you can get two evenly sized 9-inch rounds out of it, no matter what recipe you choose to use.
This recipe is also for a vanilla cake. Feel free to change the flavor of the mix and the pudding to anything else you’d like! This would taste great as a coconut cake, or a lemon one!
More Easy Easter Cakes
Chick Cut Up Cake
Duck Cut-Up Cake
Lamb Pull-Apart Cake
How to Make the Bunny Shape
Step 1 | Gather Materials
You will need two round cakes, a copy of the cutting template, and a board of some sort to put your cake on. Mine’s half an old diaper box with foil taped on. You’ll need your board to be at least 16″x18″.
Step 2 | Cutting
I won’t lie, this part scares me every time (What if I mess up?!). That’s why I made a template this time. I figured I’d let all the rulers in Illustrator figure out the math for me and then I could bask in the glow of a perfectly proportioned bunny. And of course, I’ll share.Click herefor the ear/bow-tie template.
I just laid the template over the second cake, then cut through the paper and the cake along the lines. Use a serrated knife for this so that you get clean, even lines.
You can also poke holes in the paper with a toothpick, leaving marks on the cake underneath. When you remove your paper, you’ll have a nice line of toothpick marks showing you where to cut. Either way, this is what you end up with:
Step 3 | The Set Up
Now you can transfer your cakes to your board. Your uncut round becomes the bunny’s head, while the two outside pieces of the cut round become his ears. The last piece is placed at the bottom to make a bow tie.
Decorating Ideas
There are so many ways to decorate this cute easter bunny cake. The traditional way is with shredded coconut, but you can feel free to use any method you’d like. I’ll touch on some ideas, then show you how I did mine step-by-step.
Shredded Coconut
This is the way the original recipe handled it. To decorate with shredded coconut, you’ll put a thin layer of white frosting over the entire cake (may I suggest cream cheese frosting? This recipe is divine!). Then, you can sprinkle shredded coconut over the entire thing. You’ll need about 4 cups of coconut to cover the entire cake.
If you’d like to dye the coconut for the ears and bow, you can use this tutorial from Lady Behind the Curtain, then use your pink and green coconut to level up your bunny. It’s super easy!
Candy
You can use candy to create details on your fun cake. Here’s some ideas:
- Use Twizzlers to create whiskers, a mouth, and to outline the bow.
- Use M&Ms to create polka dots.
- Use Hershey’s Kisses or mini Reese’s cups for the eyes
- Use sprinkles or jelly beans for the inner ears
- Use a pink jelly bean or an M&M turned sideways for the nose
Piped Frosting
This is the method I used. Basically, I stick a bunch of frosting in a decorators bag, screw on aWilton 18 tip*,and make little stars all over the cake (the detail piping was done with aWilton 3*for the face, andWilton 12*for the bow tie knot). I did all the piping and detail work first, then filled in with the stars. It’s not hard at all – but I won’t lie, it’s pretty time consuming. It definitely packs a visual punch, though!
Budget at least an hour for decorating if you try this method.
How to Decorate the Bunny Cake Using Piped Frosting
Step 1 | Face Details
We’re going to start by piping in all of the details on top of the cake.
I usedthis templateto get the eyes the right shape. I am a terrible freehander, so I printed this, cut out the eyes, then laid them on the cake and piped around them. Then, I used a toothpick to get the paper back off the cake after I pipe, doing the same for the nose. For the mouth, I cut out the curve from the template, then laid the paper on the cake and piped around the curve. The whiskers were freehanded.
Step 2 | Fill It With Stars
The next step is to fill in the entire bunny’s face with white stars. This was done with a Wilton 18 tip. You lower the bag to the cake, then apply pressure while gently moving upward. Release the pressure, and repeat the process over and over and over and over and over again! It might take you a minute to get the hang of how much pressure to apply and when to start moving upward, but once you get it, it’s very simple to just repeat to cover the entire cake layer.
Tip: Move the ears and the bow out of the way until you’ve covered the entire head with stars. Then, you can move them right back. It makes it a little easier to pipe on the sides.
Step 3 | Ear Details
Usethis templateto make the inside of the bunny’s ears. Just like with the face, print off the template, cut it out, lay it down, pipe around the ear shapes with the size 3 tip and pink icing, then lift the paper off with a toothpick.
Step 4 | Fill It With Stars Part 2
Start by using pink frosting to fill in the inner ear outline you’ve created. Then, switch to white to fill in the rest of the ears.
Step 5 | The Bow Tie
I used the Wilton tip 12 to pipe the circle “knot” in the center with green buttercream frosting and then filled in with the star tip and the rest of the green frosting. Here’s the finished product:
Step 6 | Take Your Bunny to the Party
Your bunny is ready to head out the door to help your birthday or Easter celebration. Mostly, he’s ready to make your friends go “Wow! That’s amazing!” And that’s right. It is amazing. And you did it! Maybe you’re a little amazing too 🙂
More Delicious Easter Desserts
Flower Pull-Apart Cake
Easy Easter Cupcakes
Easter Egg Sprinkle Cake
5 from 13 votes
Print Pin
5 from 13 votes
One cake mix, two round cakes, a little cutting, and an adorable bunny!
Prep Time 1 hour hour
Cook Time 50 minutes minutes
Total Time 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes
Servings 24
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 pkg cake mix
- 1 pkg pudding
- 4 eggs
- ⅓ cup butter melted
- 1 cup milk
Frosting
- 1 cup shortening
- 1 cup margarine or butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 8 cups powdered sugar
- 1-4 Tbsp water
- Food coloring opt
- Candy coconut, sprinkles, etc. for decorating (opt)
Instructions
Either grease and flour or line two 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients for cake on low sped. Split in half and place 1/2 in each greased or lined pan.
Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Remove cakes from pans. Leave one cake intact, and cut the other using the template above.
Assemble bunny shape using template above. Set cake aside.
In a mixing bowl, whip together shortening and butter. Add vanilla and mix well.
Add powdered sugar in 1 cup amounts until frosting reaches desired consistency.
Use frosting to decorate cake as desired.
Notes
Adapted from Bakers Coconut Animal Cut-Up Cakes
Tried this recipe?Mention @homanathome or tag #homanathome
*Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something from these links, I will receive a portion of the profit. However, all opinions and recommendations are my own. I will only ever recommend something I love!
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Holy moly, no wonder my cakes never turn out like that–I spend about five minutes decorating, ha ha. I love yours! I want to try the cut-up method with my kids (but then totally phone it in as usual).
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I don’t normally spend this much time on cakes either – but putting things on the Internet makes me nervous! You might try the candy method. It’s way faster and looks pretty cute too 🙂
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I was little girl age 2 my mom Ella. Use to make my dads birthday cake. Down Florida me. And my mom Ella Use to make wedding cakes. Birthday cake. And every cake. We make. We make every Holliday cake We where in homestade fl
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What a super cute idea for Easter!
Kari recently posted…Lightened Shepard’s Pie
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Thanks!
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I can’t wait to make this cake. However I don’t see any instructions on how to do the ears. Easter is still a while away. Please post instructions for the ears. I just can’t wait to make the cake. Thanks so much for all the instructions.
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I went ahead and added in a picture and a template along with instructions for how to do the ears. I hope this answers your questions, but please let me know if you need anything else! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
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What tip did u use to pipe frosting on bunny ?
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I used a Wilton 18 for the stars, and a Wilton 12 for the circle on the bow tie.
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I can’t wait to make this cake. Tips for ears are not in your instructions. Thanks
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I made this cake the first year I was married,in 1964.I was thinkibg about making it this year for my 2yr old grand daughter. Now that I saw it again I will reallybhave to make it I used icing and toped with coconut
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Wow! That’s such a fun memory – and coconut on top sounds delicious 🙂
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When making your version do you just ignore all the box ingredients? Or do you still use oil and water along with yours listed?
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I ignore what the box says completely 🙂
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This is adorable I would love to use this post in an Easter Treats Roundup!
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Thank you! We’d love to be included 🙂
Me and my mom Ella Use to make wedding cakes Birthday cake And every cake We where in down Florida. We make every cake I was little girl age 2 my mom Ella Use to make them all the time.
Love heather colby I’m 36 years old
heather. colby recently posted…Welcome to Easterbunny.com!Reply
I used frosted the cake with white frosting then use pink sugar for the inner ear,sprinkle the face and ears with coconut. Use jelly beans for the eyes and nose,red licorice for the whiskers. Can use any colored sugar for the bow tie.
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Thanks so much for this tutorial. I tried my hand at the bunny cake today. It came out pretty good for a first try!
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I’m so glad it came out for you!
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Instant pudding or cook pudding?
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Instant!
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So cute! Small or large box of pudding? I’m assuming you went with vanilla?
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I use the little one, and yes to vanilla although this year I tried coconut and it was delicious!
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Thanks for the super quick response! Making it now!
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I want to thank you for your step-by-step instructions – with pictures! I am a beginner cake decorator and have failed the first 3 times in decorating. However, your steps are so simple and easy to follow, that I decided to give it one more try. If I can be patient enough to follow directions, I will post a pretty-near perfect Bunny Cake! Thanks again!!
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I hope they work for you! I’d love to see how it turns out 🙂
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I have made this bunny cake several times, and it is so cute! No problems with it!
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I’m so glad you liked it!
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I going to make this bunny cake, thanks for posting and giving the instructions. Can you please tell me which tip you used for the face (fur) and bowtie.
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All the stars are done with a Wilton 18 star tip, and the thick lines on the bow tie are done with a Wilton 12. I used a Wilton 3 for all the other piping on the cake. Hope that helps!
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Should use instant pudding? Could I use Dream Whip instead? Remember making this recipe when my boys were younger now I’m doing this for my grandchildren.
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I have never used Dream Whip, so I can’t help you out there, I’m afraid. Hope you and your grandchildren have a lovely Easter!
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I just made this and it is darling!!! How do you store the frosted cake?
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I’m so glad it turned out for you! For storage, I stretch Saran wrap over the board. It usually takes two pieces to cover the whole thing.
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This was the best and easiest direction set to follow. The step by step instructions were a god send and the templates were extremely helpful! Thank you for sharing!Reply
I’m so glad it worked for you! Happy Easter 🙂
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That looks so cute! I just gotta try this out 🙂
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What size board do I need forbthis cake. I know you said half a diaper box, and I have plenty of those (lol) but what ate the dimensions? I’m making this cake as Harry the Bunny from Baby First TV and I have to travel with it. I want to purchase a good, solid board for it.
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A Harry cake would be so cute! What a fun idea 🙂 To answer your question, my diaper box board measures 16″x18″.
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When I was little my grandmother show my uncle how to make this cake and he made them for Easter almost every year. He made his with carrot cake and cream cheese frosting and put coconut on it. He then decorated it with jelly beans and licorice.
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What a lovely memory! It sounds delicious 🙂
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Made this cake with my daughter last night. It was our first cut up cake. Thank you for the wonderful idea 🙂 We had alot of fun making it & it turned out great. I will definitely be making another cut up cake 🍰
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I’m so glad!!!!! Happy Easter!
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Decorative cake usually ends up by wasting a hell lot of side pieces. Luckily your cutting method didn’t waste a single crumb of it. Lovely technique. Thank you for sharingReply
Do you have a cookbook available with other styles to make
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I don’t, but the original Baker’s Coconut book that I got this design from is available online. I think I put the link up in the post!
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Awe Ilove this thank you sooo much,,
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I’m so glad you liked it!!!!!
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Thank you so much for this! My granddaughter wanted a bunny cake and I fell in love with yours! Thanks for making the instructions so East to follow. I wanted to post a picture but I couldn’t figure out how.
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I’m so glad this worked for your family! I’m sure your bunny was adorable!!!!
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What type of pudding mix do I use for the cut up bunny cake? Instant or Cook N Serve?
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Instant!
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The last time I made this cake, the ears looked crooked to me as did the pink inside. Your templates are a gift to me! Thank you so much for offering the link.
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I’m so glad they were helpful to you!
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Just like the one my mom made for us back in the 60’s.Reply
The templates take the stress out of cutting they’re so perfect! My mother made this cake every Easter since the mid-70’s. She passed away in January and this year I have the honour of baking the family bunny cake.Reply
I’m so glad they worked for you! And what an honor it is to carry on such a sweet tradition!
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I wish I could send you a pic. It turned out just like your photo! Thank you again.
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Hi ! I’m actually making this cake tonight with my daughter! 🙂 but just curious what are the measurements you use for *your* Ingredients?? And this may sound like silly question but do you just add the pudding mix or do you have to make it first and then add to the other ingredients for the cake ? Thanks so much I can’t wait to make this cake!! 🙂Reply
I just put the powder in as-is. No need to make it first. The pudding mix is a 3.5 oz box. Hope that helps!
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Yes it does thank you!! 🙂 was there special measurements for *your* Ingredients that you put into cake ? ( if I decide not to follow box instructions for ingredients )
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I just use the recipe as listed in the post. I’m not a “from-scratch” cake maker — I’ve never met a recipe that competes with a doctored box mix!
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The templates take the stress out of cutting they’re it’s WOW!https://www.patran.co.il/Reply
Going to try making this cake for my granddaughter tomorrow. Thank you for sharing such a detailed recipe, along with the templates. Does your recipe work with any brand of boxed cake mix or do you prefer a certain brand when making this cake?
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I’ve tried Pillsbury, Duncan Hines, and Betty Crocker, and they’ve all worked well. Good luck with your granddaughters cake. I know she’ll love it!
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Great! Thank you for getting back to me so quickly!!! 🐰
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I can’t thank you enough for this recipe post and all of your tips! My bunny it was huge success – granddaughter loved it, and my three adult sons were very impressed with my bunny cake!!!! what’s going to try to post a picture of it, but it doesn’t seem like I can post pictures on this site!
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I’m so glad it turned out for you! If you have the picture on social media anywhere, you can post a link of it. I’d love to see!
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Hmmm- I just posted it to my facebook post, but have no idea how to share a link to it! 🤪🤷🏻♀️
Thank you for the inspiration and idea. Here is how my version turned out. (Cut off a little on the bottom of the ears to make them look more connected and didn’t do texture on on inside of ears or on the the bow)
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It came out so cute!
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I followed your directions to a T for the cake and the icing. This is the best I’ve ever made. I’ve been trying to find a made at home bakery cake and icing! This is so awesome my family couldn’t be to made it. I did make the bunny. I will keep the cake and icing for other projects.
Jenni Campbell recently posted…Free Printable Apple Puppet Template and CraftReply
I’m so glad you and your family enjoyed it!
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5 from 13 votes
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