A fun and easy to make bunny cake made with Smarties, KitKats and simple cake mix! Great for birthdays, Easter or just because!
For my daughters birthday, her simple request was a bunny cake. She loves all things bunny.
As we were brainstorming ideas, she remembered an episode of a Netflix show we watch called Nailed it!, and wanted a bunny version of a cake they had made. Here’s the episode that inspired her bunny cake.
We refined the idea further by doing a quick Google search for “bunny candy cake” and she LOVED the bunny bum cake that she saw pictures of.
It looked pretty simple to put together, but I admit, I was nervous! I was really hoping that I would Nail it and not Fail it!
I wanted to show my daughter that her mama could conquer a Nailed it cake. Pressure was on and challenge accepted!
Before we begin, if you’re interested in more bunny /Easter crafts be sure to checkout how to make the easiest NO SEW sock bunnies, they’re super cute.
Also, if you want some more EASY birthday cake ideas, check out our homemade Monster Truck cake, and Simple Minion birthday cake.
Now back to the bunny cake, let’s hoppity hop to it!
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Items Needed
- 2 boxes of cake mix (I used Betty Crocker rainbow cake mix)
- 1 jar of icing (I used Betty Crocker vanilla icing)
- 1 round 10″ cake pan. If you shop online here is one.
- Smarties or Easter M & M’s.
- KitKat chocolate wafer bars
- White Fondant, got mine from Michaels. Here is one with some good reviews online.
- Pink gel icing tube (for the bunny’s paw prints)
Optional:
- Shredded coconut (for the grass)
- Green food coloring (for the grass)
- Nice ribbon
To make life easier, I bought some Betty Crocker rainbow cake mix – and I think it saved me. I swear you can’t mess up pre-made cake mix.
I had a couple of “Oops!” moments (or as my daughter called them “Nailed It!” moments) while baking the cake and it STILL turned out fluffy, moist and delicious!
One of my “Nailed It!” moment was when I decided to pour the ENTIRE batter into one round 10″ cake pan.
I should have split it up into 2 batches OR picked a larger pan. Because of this mishap it took almost 3 times as long to bake in the oven.
I was worried the cake would be dry. Even with the extended baking time, it turned out great! Telling you, there is baking magic in those cake mixes!
TIP: My sister-in-law was staying over that weekend and she’s a baker. Her baked goods always taste great. She gave me a tip to let the cake cool IN THE PAN for 10 minutes exaclty and THEN remove from pan to cool the remainder on a baking rack.
This also might be the reason why it turned out great even if I over baked it.
Baking 2 cakes
After my first cake was done and completely cooled, I realized that it wasn’t tall enough. The KitKat chocolate wafers needed to be standing up vertically around the cake, and as it was it was just over half the length of a KitKat.
The cake was too short!
It needed to be close to the height of a piece of KitKat, so the they can stick in place better, and make it more visually appealing. I needed to bake another cake!
This time I learned from my first mistake and only added HALF the batter into my 10″ cake pan, for my second cake.
We made some cupcakes with the leftover batter.
The first cake along with the half cake just baked, were just the perfect height when layered together!
We used vanilla icing between them so they stayed in place nicely while decorating AND it gives the cake a better taste (learned that tip from Nailed it!)
Icing Time…
The cakes were then iced. This part doesn’t have to be perfect, and you don’t have to use too much icing- the entire cake will be covered with the KitKat and the Smarties anyways, with no icing actually showing!
Once iced, the birthday girl stuck on the KitKats around the cake.
We then tied a nice of ribbon around the KitKats, both as decoration AND to make sure the KitKats stayed in place. The Smarties were poured on top of the cake in an even layer, just enough so no cake shows through.
Fondant Bunny Bum
The bunny bum portion was done in a white fondant.
I’ve never worked with Fondant so it was a learning experience. It was similar to working with Playdoh, so I just pretended I was making some Playdoh figurines and had some fun!
I made the bunny bum portion into the shape of a slightly flattened out sphere.
The feet were shaped into two oblong ovals, same with the ears.
The cotton looking bunny tail started out as a round sphere. I took a cutlery knife and gently poked it all around to create the “fluffliness” look.
Finally, my daughter used pink gel icing to draw on the pink paws on the bottom of the feet.
We finished off the cake with some “green grass”- which was made with a few drops of green food coloring into a bag of shredded coconut and just shake to coat!
Voila! A bunny cake with a hoppy ending! The best part? My daughter LOVED it and was so proud that we Nailed it!
Gail
Sunday 3rd of April 2022
I'm just wondering if you can make this cake one day in advance? Then also wondering if you would store in frig overnight or not?
Jasmine Khinda
Tuesday 5th of April 2022
Hi Gail, Yes, you can absolutely make your cake one day in advance. In terms of storage, looks like the fridge isn't the best place. After reading this article, looks like if you want to decorate your cake within 1-3 days then room temperature is the best thing for the cake. Here is the article, if you want more info: https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-to-store-cake-4770078#:~:text=The%20frosting%20might%20be%20slightly,it%2C%20the%20freezer%20is%20ideal.
Cheers and enjoy baking the cake! Jasmine
Denise
Monday 28th of March 2022
I’m wanting to make this for Easter and was gonna buy the already made fondant- how many ounce package do I buy. I’ve never used it before.
Jasmine Khinda
Tuesday 5th of April 2022
Hi Denise, This is the fondant package I used. https://canada.michaels.com/en/wilton-decorator-preferred-fondant-primary-colors/10356717.html. There are other colors in it too, all you need is the white and the pink (you could also just get white and mix a little red food coloring with the white to make the pink). If you can buy the 100g white fondant separately, then that would be a cheaper option. Hope that helps, enjoy making the cake, and let you know if you have any other questions.
Cheers, Jasmine
Fern Sue Neubert
Saturday 9th of October 2021
Loved your Bunny Cake! So cute, love the bunny with his head in the cake and bottom & ears showing. I like to do cakes like this for family gatherings, especially for my great-grandchildren. They will especially love the candies on the Bunny! Thank you for sharing!
Jasmine Khinda
Friday 15th of October 2021
Thank you Fern! The bunny cake is cute indeed but making it and then getting to eat it (both kids and adults) is such a fun treat. I am sure your great grandchildren will love it! Enjoy creating it Fern
Cheers, Jasmine