When I was growing up, my mom and I made a chocolate coconut Easter cake every year that looked like the Easter bunny’s face. One 8 inch round cake acted as the head, and one 8 inch round cake was cut to form two ears and a bowtie. The fur was vanilla frosting and shredded sweetened coconut, and traditionally he had Raisinettes for eyes!
These little bunny tail cakes were inspired in part by that childhood tradition, and partially by Empire Cake’s version of the Hostess Sno Ball cake.
If you have the chance to eat a coconut chocolate Sno Ball cake from Empire Cake, don’t sleep on it! It is truly dreamy.
What’s In A Bunny Tail?
One day as I was daydreaming about one of Empire Cake’s Sno Balls, I realized their resemblance to a bunny’s tail could make for a very cute Easter dessert.
I immediately began researching Hostess Sno Ball copycat recipes to get an idea of how I could form that traditional rounded look, and what types of recipe I’d need to develop.
Well, I won’t lie. This project intimidated me a little bit. Molds, marshmallows, cakes, fillings?? How could I make this doable?
As I talked myself down from a small wave of concern, I settled on the use of a muffin tin for a mold, to forego filling, to use the simplest chocolate cake recipe possible, and reminded myself that making marshmallow seems tricky, but really isn’t. ::deep breath::
I made this recipe as straightforward and uncomplicated as I could, and I hope that it serves you well!
When it actually came down to making these cakes IRL, I really enjoyed the process, and it was quite unfussy.
YUM. OMG, this CAKE!! It’s freakin delicious. I used a biscuit cutter to cut pieces out of the sheet cake that fit perfectly into the muffin tin cups.
Voila! Cake cut outs squished into the piped marshmallow.
This is the cake right after it was un-molded from the tin!
I was concerned that the shape of the muffin tin wouldn’t be spherical enough to look like a tail, but I love how these cakes came out! Using greased plastic wrap works like a dream– the marshmallow will not stick at all.
Set marshmallow cakes are rolled in toasted coconut for the finishing touch!
The chocolate cake recipe, which I borrowed from Modern Honey, is so so simple, and SO fluffy, moist, and delicious! But, if you want a little shortcut, just holler at Betty Crocker, ya know??
As always, feel free to make this recipe your own!
Use a different flavor of cake, maybe leave the coconut untoasted, color the coconut or the marshmallow with food dye, make one giant bunny tail with a mixing bowl, add filling to the cakes, have a ball!
Riffing on recipes is the best way to take on new things and really learn the ins and outs of cooking and baking. Never be afraid to get creative and take risks!
Chocolate Coconut Easter Bunny Tail Cakes Recipe
Bunny Tail Cakes
Ingredients
Equipment:
- Plastic cling wrap
- Standard 12 cup muffin tin
- 13 x 9 cake pan or roasting pan
- Piping bag or zip top gallon bag
- 2 inch diameter biscuit cutter or circular cookie cutter, (small enough to fit inside the muffin tin cups)
For the Cake:
- 1 + 3/4 cup flour
- 1 + 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup cocoa
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt,
- 1/2 cup oil
- 2 eggs,
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 + 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup hot water
- coconut oil for greasing the cake pan or roasting pan
For the Marshmallow:
- 1/3 cup cold water
- 1 tbsp plain gelatin powder
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups sweetened or unsweetened coconut flakes, pulsed in a food processor (I find that smaller pieces of coconut are easier to adhere to marshmallow. But if you want to skip this step I think it will be fine!), your preference
- 4 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In a separate large bowl, beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, and vanilla for 1 minute. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Pour in the hot water and mix. The batter will be liquidy.
- Grease your 13 x 9 pan generously with coconut oil, and pour in the batter. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until a knife or tester poked through the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool completely. (If you’re in a hurry, pop the cake in the freezer. It will cool in about 10-15 minutes) When cooled, run a spatula gently along the edge of the pan and turn upside down onto a clean surface to remove the cake. Using your circular cutter, cut out 12 cakes from the sheet. (There will be leftover cake-- yay! If you have two 12 cup muffin tins, you are welcome to double the marshmallow and make 24 tails.)
- While the cake cools, reduce oven heat to 325F. Spread the coconut flakes out evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 5-10 minutes, stirring 2-3 times throughout cooking.
- Grease the muffin tin with coconut oil. Cut 2 pieces of plastic wrap 1 and a half times the length of the muffin tin. Center the first sheet over 2 rows of the muffin tin. Starting from the inner cups, use your fingers to fit the plastic wrap snuggly into each cup. Be sure that the wrap covers the entire inside of the cup. Center the second piece over the third row and repeat. Then, grease each cup generously with coconut oil. (This will make it absolutely certain that the marshmallow will pop out of the mold with ease. The oil will also help the coconut to stick to the surface of the marshmallow!)
- In a small saucepan, combine the gelatin and the cold water. Stir a few times so that all of the gelatin powder is moistened, and let sit 5 minutes. Turn on the heat to medium-low, add the sugar, and stir to combine. Continue to cook without boiling, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is no longer cloudy.
- When clear, transfer the gelatin mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add the corn syrup and whip on high speed until thickened, fluffy, white, and tripled in volume. (This will take quite a while!)
- Working quickly before the marshmallow cools, transfer the marshmallow to a piping bag with a 1 inch opening (no tip) and fill the muffin cups nearly to the top. Immediately press one of the circular cut cakes into each cup so that the sides of the cakes are coated. Allow to rest for 1 hour.
- One by one, use the plastic wrap to pull each cake out of the tin. Roll the outer marshmallow layer in toasted coconut, and serve! Cakes can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Fluffy marshmallow, moist chocolate cake, and crisp toasty coconut.
