It's a Kitty? It's a Puppy? It's a Bunny Cake!

The "Bunny" Cake was for my friend's baby shower. I knew exactly what I wanted to make--a grassy knoll with a bunny sitting atop the knoll with butterflies around it. Almost like a scene out of a storybook. The big question was how in the world was I going to make a bunny? I could not carve a bunny--for sure the head would fall off! I needed a specially made 3D cake pan to do this cake. I went on a shopping trip to the local craft stores and cake supply shop. I could not find a bunny anywhere because it was October! I did find this cute little lamb pan. I looked at it and decided that I could use the basic shape and carve a bunny out of it. Next, I went on the internet to look at bunnies. I decided that a lop ear bunny was closest to the shape of the pan.

This was going to be a large party, so I baked a two-layer half sheet for the base. I began abstractly rounding the edges and carving the cake into a rolling hill. I thoroughly enjoyed carving the grassy knoll. I dirty iced it and covered it with green fondant. It was a beautiful shape! This was one of my favorite base layers.

For the bunny, I baked the lamb pan. Then I began carving. A lamb is longer than a bunny, so I cut a good quarter of the body off and rounded it into the rear of the bunny. The bunny's face was different as well, so I began carving away at the face. I cut off the ears, accentuated the cheeks, softened the nose, and changed the shape of the head. Then, I dirty iced the bunny and covered it in a light brown fondant. I shaped a round tail, paws, legs, and ears from the fondant. I added a bow around the bunny's neck made from fondant. The eyes, nose, and mouth were made out of fondant. A few Chinese noodles for whiskers, and the bunny was done.

Finally, I mixed up decorator icing for the details. I piped with the grass tip, green grass on the sides of the knoll. I added a variety of flower arrangements on the sides. I piped the baby's name, weight, and date of birth on the top. And to finish, I placed silk butterflies and plastic baby shower picks on the cake.

To me, the cake looked beautiful. However, to the guests, it looked beautiful, but people could not figure out what kind of animal it was! One person said it was a cat because of the whiskers. Another said it was a dog because of the ears. Oh dear... Only a few people got it right and said it was a bunny! Well, lesson learned....Never try to make a lamb into a bunny!

(For privacy, I have used software to smear the full name, birthdate, and weight.)