Happy Spring! It’s officially here and I’m excited to share this sweet bunny cake with you today. It’s inspired by a childhood memory that is dear to my heart – an Easter cake that my beloved grandmother, Mama Lola, would make every year. While she usually baked up a vanilla cake, I changed it up a bit with this tasty Carrot Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting. After all, what makes her cake so memorable to me is not the cake itself, but how we decorated it together.
Mama Lola loved to entertain as much as people loved to be entertained by her. She was a gifted storyteller, able to capture everyone in the room with her lively, yet unhurried, energy. She was poetic…an accidental poet, perhaps. But, more likely, gifted with verse like her brother, a well-known Nicaraguan poet.
She was a second mother to me. We always lived with her and she helped raise my brother and I at times when my mother couldn’t. She greatly enjoyed holiday time and always had a way of making those days special. Easter was no exception. Our Easter Sunday table was always decorated with pretty pastel linens, dyed Easter eggs, flowers, and a very special bunny cake.
Mama Lola’s Easter cake didn’t involve fondant or anything fancy (leave it up to me to complicate things). Hers was a simple, rectangular cake frosted with white vanilla icing. The cake had green-tinted coconut for grass, small chocolate Easter eggs, and marshmallow bunnies all around. I remember her teaching me how to make the bunnies by skewering marshmallows together with toothpicks. Then, we would cut pink and white paper in thin, long oval shapes for bunny ears and lastly, dot the bunnies’ eyes with toothpicks dipped in food coloring. I remember laughing at some of my bunnies with their distorted eyes and creepy grins, but those made it onto the cake too. No bunny left behind.
This is my tribute to Mama Lola’s cake. It’s a bunnyfied Carrot Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting. The cake is moist, spiced with a good amount of cinnamon, and packed with a whole pound of finely grated carrots. This recipe is a mashup of several carrot cakes I’ve made in the past. I took my favorite elements from each to end up with this one. I would normally also add raisins and chopped pecans or walnuts, but my daughters voted “no”…and I withheld my veto power this time. It’s delicious either way.
Once I baked the cakes and allowed the layers to cool, I leveled the domed tops, filled, and frosted them. I covered the cake in white fondant and then decorated it with small bunny cut-outs. If you’ve never worked with fondant, I’m here to tell you it’s not as difficult as you think. If you’ve ever played with play-dough, it’s very similar.
To give the cake even more of an Easter flair (as if the 27 bunnies weren’t enough), I made some edible moss using graham cracker crumbs and green food coloring. I used three different shades of green I had at home. I really like the rustic, natural effect of the moss against the white fondant. It would be nice on frosted cupcakes too…maybe with a small chocolate bunny or some mini chocolate Easter eggs on top.
I really enjoyed making this Carrot Cake, especially because it reminded me of such happy times with my grandmother. I miss her, but I feel her warm, joyous spirit with me all the time. I carry it with me and it motivates me to focus on the important things and to bake up sweet memories like this for my girls.
Happy Easter, Happy Spring to you and your loved ones.
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Carrot Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
This Carrot Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting is moist and tender, spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and has a whole pound of finely grated carrots. The frosting is silky and delicious. Truly, a perfect carrot cake.
Carrot Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and finely grated
- 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
- 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
- 1 (8 oz) package Cream cheese, slightly softened
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used clear vanilla extract)
- 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted or whisked to break down lumps
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Prep
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Spray the bottom and sides of three 6″ or two 8-9″ cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Line pan bottoms with parchment paper circles.
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Place oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Carrot Cake
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
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Place oil, sugar, and eggs into a separate large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed until combined.
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With mixer on low speed, add in the flour gradually until all of it is well incorporated. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl and gently stir.
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With spatula, fold in carrots until well blended, followed by raisins and nuts (if using). Divide cake batter into prepared cake pans.
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Bake for about 35 minutes (or 30 minutes for dark gray or black pans). Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of cakes. Toothpick should be mostly dry, with only a few crumbs on it.
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Place pans onto wire rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, slide butter knife along outside of pans to loosen and invert onto wire rack to cool to room temperature. Remove parchment paper circles.
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Make Cream Cheese Frosting as cake cools.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
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Place Cream cheese and butter in a large bowl or into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Decrease speed to low and add vanilla. Add salt and then powdered sugar (gradually). Once all sugar is incorporated, increase speed to medium and beat for 2-3 minutes until fluffy.
Stacking and Frosting the cake
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Once cakes are room temperature, trim any domed parts off cakes with a serrated knife. Place first layer cut side up onto cardboard round or cake plate. Spread about 1/3 cup frosting (for a 6″ cake) evenly on cake. Repeat with second layer. Place third layer onto frosting cut side down.
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Using a cake spatula or a butter knife, apply a thin coating (crumb coat) of frosting all around and on top of cake. Chill in refrigerator for about 20 minutes. Apply a second coat to cover crumb coat.
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Decorate as desired.
This cake recipe makes enough batter for a three layer 6″ cake or a two layer 8-9″ cake.
Frosting may be doubled. This frosting recipe makes enough to fill and coat cakes in the sizes above, but not enough for piped rosettes or other decorations.
Store covered at room temperature for 2-3 days.
For edible moss: Place graham crackers (or other plain cookies) in a large plastic zipper bag and crush with a rolling pin or mallet. If using gel food colors, dilute first with any clear extract or vodka (the alcohol will evaporate). I use vodka because quite a bit of liquid is needed. Liquid food colors can be used without diluting. Add to bag with cookie crumbs and mix in. Add more food coloring until desired color is achieved. Place onto a cookie sheet to dry out or into a 300 degree oven for 5-10 minutes.
Make Ahead tip: You may freeze the unfrosted cake layers wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in freezer bags for up to 2 months. You may also freeze the fully decorated, frosted cake in a cardboard cake box that has been wrapped well in plastic wrap and then wrapped in a layer or two of heavy duty aluminum foil. Thaw cake (without unwrapping the box) in the refrigerator overnight.
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