Easter Bunny Surprise Cake
by Jarrod | Mar 14, 2022
Prep Time1 hrCook Time1 hr 15 minsTotal Time2 hrs 15 mins
350 g (12.5 oz) unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups (600 g) caster sugar / superfine sugar
1 tbsp (20 mL) vanilla essence OR 2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla extract
6 large eggs
3 cups (460 g) plain flour / all-purpose flour
3 tsp (12 g) baking powder
1/2 tsp (3 g) salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) milk
1/4 cup (25 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
For the Cake Batter:
1Preheat 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.
2In 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.
3Sift over the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until well incorporated. Do not over mix.
4Add milk, a little bit at a time, stirring until well combined. Try not to push too much air out of the batter.
For the Chocolate Bunnies:
5Transfer two cups of batter to another bowl. Sift over the cocoa powder. Stir until well combined.
6Spread 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.
7Allow 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.
8Transfer the bunny-shaped cake pieces to a separate tray or plate lined with baking paper. Freeze for 20 minutes.
Assembling the Cake:
9Spread 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.
10Carefully distribute the remaining cake batter around the bunny-shaped log. The bunnies should be completely covered by a layer of cake batter.
11Bake 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.
12Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the loaf tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
[cooked-sharing]
Ingredients
350 g (12.5 oz) unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups (600 g) caster sugar / superfine sugar
1 tbsp (20 mL) vanilla essence OR 2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla extract
6 large eggs
3 cups (460 g) plain flour / all-purpose flour
3 tsp (12 g) baking powder
1/2 tsp (3 g) salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) milk
1/4 cup (25 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
Directions
For the Cake Batter:
1Preheat 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.
2In 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.
3Sift over the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until well incorporated. Do not over mix.
4Add milk, a little bit at a time, stirring until well combined. Try not to push too much air out of the batter.
For the Chocolate Bunnies:
5Transfer two cups of batter to another bowl. Sift over the cocoa powder. Stir until well combined.
6Spread 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.
7Allow 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.
8Transfer the bunny-shaped cake pieces to a separate tray or plate lined with baking paper. Freeze for 20 minutes.
Assembling the Cake:
9Spread 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.
10Carefully distribute the remaining cake batter around the bunny-shaped log. The bunnies should be completely covered by a layer of cake batter.
11Bake 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.
12Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the loaf tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Easter Bunny Surprise Cake
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