Bunny Bum Cakes

 Wow, I can't believe that Easter is almost upon us and that this Sunday it is already Palm Sunday.  It seems early this year . . .  but then again, time just seems to be flying by at the speed of light don't you think?    Easter was always one of my favourite holidays when I was growing up.  It meant a new hat, a new dress and we could take our winter tights off and start wearing  knee socks!  OH, and let's not forget the chocolate!    Easter Eggs, Baby Chicks and Easter Bunnies . . .  and if they involved chocolate so much the better!

 

 Are these not the cutest cupcakes ever?  I love them.   They are from the baking experts Dr. Oetker! In the lead up to Easter, Dr. Oetker wants to get people excited about baking with chocolate. To do this, they are creating a super fun, 6ft chocolate Bunny Bum that will appear in two locations in the UK!
 In honour of this, they sent me a recipe for these cute Bunny Bum Cupcakes and some ingredients so that I could re-create these delightful little cakes for myself, and if I could add a bit of a twist to them and make them my own  . . .  so much the better!





And that is what I have done.   I can be a bit lazy sometimes and I had some truffles leftover from Christmas and so I thought that if I could use them in these cupcakes in some way that would be great.  I decided to use them for the bunny bums . . .



I also had some of these Dr. Oetker Chocolate Hearts in my baking cupboard and so I decided to use them for the bunny feet!



I piped little white chocolate dots onto them to look like bunny paw pads . .

 

I used the white chocolate chips as per the recipe for the bunny tails . . .  aren't they sweet?



I also had some orange chocolate curls that I thought looked like carrots and so I tried to make it look like the bunnies were digging down into a carrot patch . . .  the green cupcake liners also added to that illusion with the chocolate cupcake part looking like dirt.

 

Altogether I think they turned out really, really cute and will go down a real treat this Easter!

*Bunny Bum Cakes*

Makes 12
Printable Recipe 

These delightful little cupcakes will bring squeals of joy and smiles to the kiddies come Easter.  They are cute,  very easy to make and quite impressive.  From the people at Dr. Oetker.

For the Cakes:
12 Dr. Oetker Muffin Cases

125g of baking margarine, softened ( 1/2 cup)

125g of caster sugar (2/3 cup)

2 large free range eggs

125g plain flour (1 cup, minus 2 TBS)

1 sachet Dr. Oetker Fine Dark Cocoa Powder (25g or 3 1/2 TBS)

2 tsp Dr. Oetker Baking powder

For the Decoration:

200g Dr. Oetker Milk Fine Cook's Chocolate (7 ounces)

15g Dr. Oetker White Chocolate Chips (about 2 TBS)

130g Dr. Oetker Liquid Glucose (6 TBS)

125g unsalted butter, softned (1/2 cup)

225g icing sugar (1 3/4 cup)

1/2 tsp Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Extract

1 tube Dr. Oetker Lime Green Gel Food Colour

1. Preheat the oven to 180˚C (160˚C fan assisted oven, 350˚F, gas mark 4). Put the Muffin Cases in 12 muffin tins. Put the margarine in a mixing bowl, add the caster sugar and eggs. Sift the flour, Cocoa and Baking Powder on top and using an electric whisk on a low speed, gently blend the ingredients together. Increase the mixer speed and whisk for a few more seconds until well mixed. 

2. Divide the mixture equally between the cases and smooth over the tops. Bake for about 25 minutes until risen and just firm to the touch. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

3. To decorate, break up the Milk Chocolate into pieces and place in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water, and leave to melt. Remove from the water and stir in 125g (4 ½ oz) Liquid Glucose to form a thick paste. Scrape on to a piece of baking parchment and leave to cool - the mixture will become firm and pliable when cold.  Avoid prolonged chilling as the paste will become too hard to mould. 

4. Set aside 12 White Chocolate Chips. Put the rest of the Chips in a small heatproof bowl and melt as above. Mix in 5 g (1 tsp) Liquid Glucose. Leave to cool as above. 

5. Meanwhile, put the butter in a bowl and beat until smooth and glossy. Gradually sift and beat in all the icing sugar until creamy and soft and add Vanilla Extract. Mix in the whole tube of Green Gel Food Colour. Thickly spread the icing on top of each cup cake, right to the edge. 

6. Divide the Milk Chocolate paste into 13 equal pieces, and form 12 portions into balls. Place a ball on top of each iced cake. Use the remaining portion of paste to make 12 pairs of bunny feet and leave aside on baking parchment. 

7. Divide the White Chocolate paste into 12 equal portions. Use to make 12 pairs of foot pads and press gently onto the feet. Score bunny toes with a small knife, then gently press onto the sides of the bunny bodies. Top each bunny body with one of the reserved White Chocolate Chips as a tail. Your cupcakes are now ready to serve and enjoy! 

Note: if the moulding paste becomes too hard to work with, you can pop it in the microwave for 5-10 seconds to soften it up again. 

 

The Dr Oetker  Giant 6 foot Bunny Bum appeared in London on Wednesday but for those of you who want to catch the next one and a chance to try their Bunny Bum cupcakes, the Giant Edible Bunny Bum will be in Manchester on the 18th March, check out the pics!  It took over 110 hours to create using more than 3,000 bars of Dr. Oetker Fine Cook's Chocolate!

 

GIANT CHOCOLATE BUNNY APPEARS IN LONDON

Passers-by astounded as they encountered a giant chocolate Bunny burrowing into London’s Potters Fields

LONDON, 16th MARCH 2016 - Commissioned by Dr. Oetker and crafted by baking expert Juliet Sear, the entirely edible seven foot tall Bunny Bum took over 110 hours to create using more than 3,000 bars of Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks’ Chocolate.

In anticipation of Easter and to the delight of London’s chocoholics, Dr. Oetker’s sweet bunny brought a smile to commuters’ faces today in Potters Fields Park. Passers-by were astounded as they saw the Easter Bunny’s Bum burrowing into the grass, admiring its perfectly round tail and eight foot ears.



 Built with her crafty hands and with a hop in her step, Juliet constructed the bunny installation during a 10 day period with over 450kg of Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks’ Milk Chocolate. Melting the chocolate to make it flexible and mouldable, Juliet made the giant creation piece by piece, allowing parts to dry overnight to connect and harden. The final touches on the eight foot ears and adorable paws were then prepared with Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks’ White chocolate.

Baking Expert Juliet Sear said: “During Easter, everyone automatically thinks of chocolate eggs. When Dr. Oetker came to me wanting to champion the Easter bunny, I was excited to create something a little different. When you undertake such an ambitious project, quality ingredients are key to succeed. After some expected challenges with the first-time creation, my team and I had lots of fun and were all so proud to have completed it. Move over chocolate egg, there’s somebunny new in town!”

Jan McKee, Executive Head of Marketing at Dr. Oetker said: “We really wanted to inspire baking fans to think beyond the traditional shop-bought chocolate egg and make something more imaginative and fun. We hope our chocolate Bunny Bum will inspire budding bakers and chocolate makers to experiment with our Fine Cooks’ chocolate and create a different Easter gift this season!”



Dr. Oetker is encouraging consumers who saw the giant Bunny Bum to share images of it on the brand’s Twitter page @DrOetkerBakes using #BunnyBum to be in the chance of winning one of three luxury Easter hampers.  Chocolate lovers who didn’t make it to Potters Fields can replicate the edible Bunny Bum in miniature form, with the help of the Bunny Bum cupcake recipe available on Dr. Oetker’s websitewww.oetker.co.uk/easter .  



 Now  THATS one big bunny!  What fun!



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Dr Oetker Quality Baking Ingredients are available in major supermarkets and speciality shops all over the UK.