Bunny Cake Tutorial (Easy....I promise)

So I know that only like.....3 posts ago...I said I don't do cakes anymore.

Well,.......... I spoke too soon.

I just delivered one today.

Yep.  I caved yet again.  At least the times I give in are much fewer and farther between........right?

Progress????

(I sound like a smoker.   "I'm down to 5 a day.....no wait....4!")

One of my supervisors asked me to make a bunny cake for her nieces birthday who was visiting from out of town.   

And I don't know about you but I sure as hell have the hardest time saying no.  It's bad enough over text or facebook or email.....but in person......forget about it!   I cave in about 90% of the time if it's to my face.  

And it kills me cuz I say it so perky too

I'm all "Oh yeeeaaa.  Nooo problem at all.  Oh yea....absolutely.   Just let me know the details"

When inside I'm screaming  "NOOOOOOOO!  Don't do it!  Custard filling?  F*** that!  SAY NO!  SAY NO!  For the love of god woman get it together and just say you're busy!!!"

It's an exhausting internal battle.

And then the night comes to do it.  I worked a 10 hour day and I have to go home and create an edible bunny masterpiece.  I'm pissy......shaking like a leaf on the verge of a heart attach from all the Rockstars I've consumed.....and yet I'm still tired as ever.  The whole time I do it I'm grumbling and wishing I was on the couch crafting and watching The Golden Girls.  Crafts have no due date.....generally speaking.  You can take your sweet ass time.

But through all the shaking and swearing I managed to snap a few photos so you can see how this bunny comes together

I used an 8 in cake pan, and 8 in oven safe bowl, a 6 in oven safe bowl, and the smallest baking pan I have (I think it's 4 in)

 

Fill each pan 1/2-3/4 full and bake.  You will need 2 of the smallest cakes.

After they have cooled, fill and stack the dome shaped 8 in cake onto your regular 8 in cake layer

Next, slice a little bit off the edge of the 6 in dome cake so that it can lay flat on the board and be pushed against the other cake to form the head.  Put a dowel through both cakes as you put it in place

Crumb coat the entire cake using buttercream.  MY RECIPE works great

Here's how it will look

It reminds me of an igloo.  So note to self....someday if my kids ever have to do a project on the arctic....I'll know what to do.


Next, trim off the tops of you 2 mini cakes making them about an inch tall.  Then cut them like this

One basically in half...(minus a tiny bit in the middle) to be the back legs


And then the other trimmed a little off the sides to make smaller front legs.


Stick those to the sides and frost as well

I know what you're thinking....it kinda looks like ass.  But I promise it'll get better

Now comes the fur!  

Pipe on the buttercream using the grass tip.

I know it seems super daunting when you see this big huge cake and this little tiny tip....but here's what I found helps.

Make sure you give it a good coat of frosting with a spatula first.  That way when you sort of miss little spots that aren't perfectly close together you won't notice.  Especially with chocolate cake....it can be a bitch to cover.

Also, create little sections for yourself as you work.  It makes it go much faster to just look at on small area at a time to concentrate on

Here it is all covered

And with a big open tip swirl on a cute little cotton tail

Using fondant, make your cheeks, nose, eyes, and in this case because it was for a little girl...some girly little eyelashes!

(that's just cornstarch on there,,,,just rub a little shortening and it'll go away)


And of course a bunny isn't a bunny without those ears!


Form ear shapes out of rice crispy treats and cover in fondant.  Place a wood dowel through them that has been measure to make sure it is the right height to fit into the head.  Make these at least a day ahead of time so they can dry out a bit and harden up

Stick them in and you have yourself a bunny!

 I just noticed I didn't take any side pictures of it.....darn it!  But you did see the back in the butt picture