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 was Baker’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 you click 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 made Baker’s Coconut Animal Cut-Up Cakes available in PDF form. Click here to 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, or by 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

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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 here for 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 a Wilton 18 tip*, and make little stars all over the cake (the detail piping was done with a Wilton 3* for the face, and Wilton 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 used this template to 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

Use this template to 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

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5 from 13 votes

Easy Bunny Cut Up Cake

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

*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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