Marbled Easter Cake with Rabbit Peeps and Easter M&M’s

Even though we’ve already made a bunch of Easter treats this year, I decided that this cake could NOT wait until next year.  It is too cute to risk forgetting about in the file of “ideas” that I keep carefully organized . . . in my head . . . which is like a black hole- ideas are swallowed up, never to be seen again.  Perhaps I should work on that. 

When I first was practicing this cake, I could only find pink bunnies locally, so the side of the was cute, but it wasn’t as fun as it turned out to be with the multi-coloured bunny Peeps.  With that said, if you can only find one colour of bunnies, just go with it.  Brightly coloured marshmallows are happy no matter what colour they are!

Marbling a cake creates a beautiful effect inside the cake.  In this case, the effect inside is bright, cheery and perfect for an Easter celebration, or a spring party!  The neat thing about marbling is that if you change up the colours, you can customize the theme of the cake for any holiday celebration or party that you might be having. 

I think this cake would be a fabulous thing to make with kids if you have any . . . borrow some if you don’t!  That’s what I like to do.  They could be involved in the marbling process and of course the decorating with M&M’s and Peeps!

Happy Easter!

How to Make a Marbled Easter Cake

Ingredients:

• Vanilla cake batter
• Vanilla buttercream
• Bunny Peeps (shaped marshmallows)
• White Chocolate M&M’s

Procedure:

1. Prepare cake batter.  Divide cake batter into 4 equal portions, and colour one portion blue, one pink and one yellow (*see specific colours in the notes below).  Leave one portion white.  
2. Grease two 8″ round cake pans.  Starting with one cake pan, place dollops of all of the coloured batter randomly in the cake pan.  Use about half of the total cake batter (use the leftover for the second 8″ pan). 
3. With a knife, run the blade through the dollops which will cause them to blend together.  Gently tap the cake pan on your counter to eliminate any air bubbles that may have formed. 
4. Repeat for the second cake pan.  
5. Bake cakes in preheated oven at 350F for 35-40 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before trying to ice the cake.
6. Level each cake layer once the cakes are cooled.  On a cake board, place one layer of cake, and coat it in a layer of buttercream.  Place second layer on top.  Cover the entire cake with a thin layer of buttercream as the crumb coat.  Place into a freezer for 20 minutes, or until the buttercream has hardened.  Apply a second coat of buttercream.  
7. Place the bunny marshmallows around the side of the cake.  Choose one colour of M&M’s and arrange them around the outside of the top of the cake.  Change colours and continue to work inwards, into the centre of the cake.
8. Slice and serve the cake immediately, or place in the fridge until it is ready to be eaten.

NOTES:

I purchased the multi coloured bunny Peeps on a recent trip to the United States.  I found them at a grocery store, and at Target.  I was able to find pink bunnies in Canada, but none of the other colours. 

I purchased the M&M’s from Target, and noticed they were in both Canada and US Targets. 

For the cake batter colouring, I used gel pastes in the colours Deep Pink, Sky Blue and Yellow from Americolor.  You can purchase Americolor products from Amazon, ebay etc.  In Canada, I get them shipped to me from Golda’s Kitchen.