Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F (fan/convection) or 170°C / 340°F (standard). Grease and line a 24 x 13 cm (9.5 x 5 inch) loaf tin and a 27.5 x 17.5 cm (11 x 7 inch) slice tin with baking paper. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer (or using a hand mixer), beat together butter, sugar and vanilla essence until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well in between. The mixture should be very pale and fluffy.
Sift over the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until well incorporated. Do not over mix.
Add milk, a little bit at a time, stirring until well combined. Try not to push too much air out of the batter.
Transfer two cups of batter to another bowl. Sift over the cocoa powder. Stir until well combined.
Spread the chocolate cake batter evenly over the base of the slice tin. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 20 minutes. Using a bunny-shaped cookie cutter (or any Easter themed cutter), carefully cut out as many pieces of chocolate cake as possible. NOTE: your cookie cutter should be no taller than 6 cm (2 1/3 inch) or it will pop out the top of the cake.
Transfer the bunny-shaped cake pieces to a separate tray or plate lined with baking paper. Freeze for 20 minutes.
Spread a thin layer of vanilla cake batter into the bottom of the loaf tin. Starting from one end of the loaf tin, place the frozen bunny-shaped cake pieces side by side so they form a bunny-shaped log in the centre of the loaf tin. Make sure they are firmly pressed against each other to prevent vanilla batter from seeping in between.
Carefully distribute the remaining cake batter around the bunny-shaped log. The bunnies should be completely covered by a layer of cake batter.
Bake for 1 hr 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean (or with a just few moist clinging crumbs). If the top of the cake begins to brown too much during cooking, cover with aluminium foil.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the loaf tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F (fan/convection) or 170°C / 340°F (standard). Grease and line a 24 x 13 cm (9.5 x 5 inch) loaf tin and a 27.5 x 17.5 cm (11 x 7 inch) slice tin with baking paper. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer (or using a hand mixer), beat together butter, sugar and vanilla essence until pale and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well in between. The mixture should be very pale and fluffy.
Sift over the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until well incorporated. Do not over mix.
Add milk, a little bit at a time, stirring until well combined. Try not to push too much air out of the batter.
Transfer two cups of batter to another bowl. Sift over the cocoa powder. Stir until well combined.
Spread the chocolate cake batter evenly over the base of the slice tin. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 20 minutes. Using a bunny-shaped cookie cutter (or any Easter themed cutter), carefully cut out as many pieces of chocolate cake as possible. NOTE: your cookie cutter should be no taller than 6 cm (2 1/3 inch) or it will pop out the top of the cake.
Transfer the bunny-shaped cake pieces to a separate tray or plate lined with baking paper. Freeze for 20 minutes.
Spread a thin layer of vanilla cake batter into the bottom of the loaf tin. Starting from one end of the loaf tin, place the frozen bunny-shaped cake pieces side by side so they form a bunny-shaped log in the centre of the loaf tin. Make sure they are firmly pressed against each other to prevent vanilla batter from seeping in between.
Carefully distribute the remaining cake batter around the bunny-shaped log. The bunnies should be completely covered by a layer of cake batter.
Bake for 1 hr 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean (or with a just few moist clinging crumbs). If the top of the cake begins to brown too much during cooking, cover with aluminium foil.
Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the loaf tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.