Easter Traditions: Bunny Cake

I was fortunate enough that growing up, the holidays were synonymous with family and feasts. Every Easter we would pile into the car and head north to Pennsylvania to see my Grandparents. While I have so many happy memories about those times, the sweet tooth in me loves to hang on to the Bunny Cake my Nanny use to make. As a child, this cake looked enormous to me and I felt like Willy Wanka in a vanilla factory. The original recipe called for a white cake topped with vanilla frosting, coated in coconut flakes and decorated with jelly beans and licorice. (My mother sent the original recipe, pictured) Since I am celebrating the holiday in San Diego without my family, I decided to try to make the cake on my own to stir up some happy thoughts. Given that my better half is a chocoholic, I decided to tweak the recipe to be chocolate rather than vanilla (or else I would be eating the entire Bunny). As many know, I am not the best baker, hence I don't own any of the tools. So a trip to Target, and I am set: baking pans, racks and ingredients. Since I wanted to ensure it was edible, I decided to use Ghiradelli dark chocolate brownie mix with chocolate chips, dark creamy chocolate icing, chocolate chips and jelly beans (I had debated using sprinkles as the fur, but my grocer didn't carry sprinkles). I got to baking, assembled per the directions, and out came a GIANT chocolate bunny. This cake is enormous still! It's the perfect reason to invite some friends over to help us devour it. Cheers to new memories with a chocolate bunny- I think my Nanny would be proud!