Bunny Butt Cake- Lemon Coconut cake

This year for Easter I was asked to make a cake since some extra family was going to be in town for the weekend. My Mother-in-law suggested a coconut cake and then my Sister-in-law pointed this cake out to me and I thought it was so cute that I just had to try it!

Lemon Coconut Bunny Butt Cake (bunny butt cake made with lemon coconut layer cake recipe)
**this recipe makes enough batter for the cake plus one dozen cupcakes**

Lemon Cake

• vegetable shortening
• 4 small lemons
• 3 C. cake flour
• 1T. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 C. sugar
• 1 C. unsalted butter, softened
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 C. whole milk
• 1-1/2 C. sweetened coconut flakes

Lemon Buttercream

• 2 small lemons
• 1 package (1 pound) powdered sugar
• 1 C. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 C. vegetable shortening 
• red food coloring 

Decorations

•  Jolly Rancher Fruit Chews (pink and green)
• orange colored fruit roll-up
• chocolate cookies or graham crackers, crushed 
• green food coloring
• pink and white construction paper
• cling wrap

Heat oven to 325°F. Grease 1/2 of the Wilton Sports Ball Pan (or ovenproof bowl) with shortening; coat with flour. Line with paper liners or grease three muffin cups in a regular-size muffin pan. (Or all of the muffin cups if you will use the extra batter to make cupcakes, like I did.)

From lemons, grate ¼ cup packed peel and squeeze juice, about 1/3 cup.
In medium bowl, with whisk, stir flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In large bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat granulated sugar and butter 4 minutes or until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce speed to medium-low. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lemon juice and peel and beat 1 minute. Mixture will appear curdled. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl.

Pour cake batter into 1/2 of the Wilton sports ball pan, filling two-thirds full. Pour remaining batter into muffin pans filling each cavity 2/3 full until batter is gone. 

Bake cupcakes 17 to 21 minutes, bowl 47 to 53 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove cakes from muffin cups and bowl; place rounded sides up on cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Mix everything except the red food coloring together to make the lemon buttercream frosting. Add a few drops of red food coloring until it has reached a light pink color.  
Place bowl cake on tray cut side down; spread 1/3 cup frosting over cake. Use frosting to adhere cupcakes to bowl cake for feet and bunny tail. Use toothpicks if necessary. cut a cupcake in half and place on tops of the other two cupcakes to make heels of feet. Spread thin layer of frosting over side and top of cake to seal in crumbs. Freeze cake 30 to 45 minutes to set frosting. 

5 Spread remaining frosting over cake. Sprinkle with 2 cups of the coconut; press gently to adhere. Shake 1 cup coconut and 3 drops green food color in tightly covered jar until evenly tinted. Surround bunny with tinted coconut. Use rolling pin to press strawberry candies into 2 large rectangles. Cut 2 large ovals and 6 small circles out of candy. Press onto bottoms of bunny feet, using frosting if needed.

Roll up fruit roll-ups to make carrot shapes. Cut green sour candies in strips and press into large end of each carrot to make greens on carrot. Lay the carrots around the cake. Sprinkle chocolate cookie crumbs around carrots and feet of the bunny so it looks like dirt. Cut ears from construction paper; wrap ends that will be inserted into cake with plastic food wrap. Insert into cake.

This cake was pretty time consuming to make, but totally worth the end result! I think it turned out super cute. I loved making it and really loved serving it!

I almost forgot! The extra batter made.... CUPCAKES!

The original recipe for the layer cake called for lemon curd in the middle so I filled the lemon cupcakes with the lemon curd instead. I then used the extra green coconut I had to make birds nests on top and filled them with jelly bean "eggs"! They were a wonderful addition to Easter dessert!