As a child, the only thing I looked forward to at Easter more than hunting for Easter eggs was my mom’s Easter Bunny Cake. This party-pleaser can be easily whipped up with a cake mix, but if you’re like me and truly crave real vanilla flavor, here’s a recipe from scratch:

Vanilla Easter Bunny Cake

You’ll need:

• Round cake pans (I used two 8” round pans)
• A large cake board

Ingredients:

• ¾ c. coconut oil (a little less than ⅔ of a 250ml jar)
• 1 ¾ c. white sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 package vanilla sugar (3-4 tablespoons)
• 1 ¾ c. vanilla yogurt
• 6 eggs (room temperature)

• 3 ¼ c. universal flour
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Decorations:

• Vanilla icing (I used a coconut almond buttercream)
• Coconut
• Food coloring
• Jelly beans, smarties or sprinkles for color
• Marzipan for the nose

Preheat the oven to 175°C.

To begin, cream the coconut oil by scooping it out of the jar and beating it in large bowl with a wooden spoon until it is light, fluffy and easy to stir. I highly recommend Öhlmühle Solling’s coconut oil- the 250ml jar is perfect for this recipe. As you can see, it has a very airy texture that really doesn’t require extra work to cream.

Next, add the white sugar, vanilla sugar, and vanilla extract to the coconut oil and mix. Stir carefully until combined. Beat in the eggs one by one and mix until smooth. Then carefully add the yogurt.

In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients until well combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring well. Beat the mixture with cake beaters on a high speed for 3 minutes until the cake batter is airy.

Prepare two round cake pans with parchment paper to keep the cake from sticking. Butter and flour the sides of the pans as well.

The quickest way to prepare your parchment paper is to cut a pan-sized piece and poke it into the sides of the pan. Use your fingernails to trace a line around the edge. When you lift the paper up you can still see the line. Just cut the circle out and place it in the bottom of the prepared pan.

Pour half of the batter into each pan. Bake each round pan in the oven for about 30 minutes. When the center is firm, take out of the oven and allow to cool.

When both cake pans are cool, you are ready to decorate! The first half of the round pan becomes the bunny’s head. The second half can be cut to form two ears. Here you can see how one round cake becomes a bunny's ears and bowtie:

Decorate your bunny as you please with vanilla icing, candies or coconut flakes!