Who gave up desserts for Lent this year? I’m glad you can’t see through your computer screen because I may or may not have both hands raised.
Who gave in to their Lenten promise because they had adorable mini vanilla pound cakes in the shape of the Easter bunny on their counter? See previous statement.
But how could I say no to these cute little cakes?! I couldn’t – clearly. And let me tell you, I’m not sorry about it. Not sorry one bit.
What are your plans for Easter? Pat and I are spending a long weekend in DC visiting his cousin Kelly! I am beyond excited. I’ve never been to DC before and cannot wait to see all the monuments, visit all the museums, eat all the food, and do a little shopping too!
Because we won’t be home to celebrate, I decided to make these mini pound cakes in advance so we could enjoy them all week! I first came across this idea on Pinterest, when I saw a post for mini Easter egg cakes.
And you guys, this recipe could not be simpler.
You start by making your pound cake. I used Joy the Baker’s Lemon Poppyseed Pound Cake recipe as my base and removed a few ingredients (lemon zest, poppyseed, blueberries) and added 1 vanilla bean pod (seeds scraped) because I looooove vanilla. But you don’t need to make your own pound cake if you don’t want to! You can very easily pick one up at your local grocery store.
See? Could not be simpler. And all you have to do is slice the cake in half (heightwise) and use a cookie cutter to cut out your Easter bunny shape. Here comes the best part… buy a tub of frosting (yes, buy it!!), heat it up, and pour it over the top of your cakes like a glaze. The first time I did this, I didn’t have the frosting thin enough and it ended up a little too clumpy on my cakes.
Ha! Clumpy cakes. Lumpy cakes. ie. not what you want for your cakes.
You want it to be very thin so it can easily pour over the top and run down the sides of your bunnies.
See how pretty and smooth they look? Now all they need is a little dressing up! I opted for simple pink ears, but was debating covering the entire thing in sprinkles, because #sprinklegoals.
You’re going to love these Mini Vanilla Pound Cake Easter Bunnies because they’re:
- Miniature
- Adorable (see #1)
- Super vanilla-y
- Dense
- Personal!
I hope you make this Easter bunny recipe, and if you do and post on social media, use the hashtag #imhungrybynature for a chance to be featured! Please follow along!
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Mini Vanilla Pound Cake Easter Bunnies
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 70 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 mins
- Yield: 8 cakes 1x
- Category: Dessert
Description
These adorable and personal vanilla pound cakes are the sweetest way to bring the Easter bunny to your table this Sunday.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
- 1 tub store bought frosting (not whipped)
Instructions
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-x-5-inch loaf pan. Put the pan on an insulated backing sheet, or on two regular baking sheets stacked on on top of the other.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Beat the butter and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater and reduce the mixer speed to medium. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 to 2 minutes after each addition. As you’re working, scrape down the bowl and beater often. Mix in the vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour slowly, mixing only until incorporated. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and use an offset spatula to smooth the top.
- Put the cake in the oven to bake, and check on it after about 45 minutes. It it’s browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Bake the cake for about 70 to 75 minutes. The cake is properly baked when a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean.
- Remove cake from the oven, transfer the pan to a rack and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Run a blunt knife between the cake and the sides of the pan and turn the cake out, then turn it right side up on the rack and cool to room temperature.
- Once cooled, slice the cake in half heightwise. Using your cookie cutter, cut out individual bunny cakes and place on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet. I was able to get 4 cakes out of each layer.
- Place your frosting in a spouted microwave safe container. Heat on high in increments of 10 seconds, stirring each time, until the frosting is pourable.
- Pour the frosting over the cakes, making sure to cover all sides. If you run out of frosting, don’t worry. Simply scrape frosting off cookie sheet, reheat, and pour again.
- Decorate as desired! The frosting will take some time to set, so you can easily add sprinkles during this process or wait until it dries before adding pink frosting for the ears!
Hoppy Easter! (Terrible, I know, but I had to…)
These are adorable! Because they are so small I can definitely have two, right? Or three? Maybe more?
Definitely more… I’m embarrassed to tell you how many I’ve had!
oooh these little bunnies are sooo cuttee! I have literally been staring at this picture for the past 10minutes with a big smile haha
Oh thank you so much Sarah! I don’t know why, but anything mini and cute is always yummier 🙂