We need to talk about Easter cakes.
I totally failed at making that Instagram-worthy bunny cake everyone was posting.
Mine looked more like a terrifying rabbit-monster hybrid that sent my middle schooler into a laughing fit.
The eyes were uneven, the ears flopped over like wet noodles, and the pink nose somehow migrated to the side of its face.
But after spending way too many late nights scrolling Pinterest and testing ideas on my patient family, I’ve finally figured out some Easter cake designs that won’t end with you sobbing into a glass of wine at midnight.
Some use store-bought shortcuts (because who has time for scratch?) while others are worth the extra effort.
1. Classic Bunny Face Cake
Grab any round cake…even store-bought works here.
The trick is using a white frosted base and coconut for that fluffy fur effect.
I found these perfect pink jelly beans at Target for the nose, and regular M&Ms work great for the eyes.
The ears? Just cut them from construction paper and wrap in aluminum foil.
Trust me, it’s way easier than trying to make standing ears from fondant, and they won’t flop over halfway through Easter lunch.
My kids love helping arrange the coconut, even if half ends up in their mouths.
2. Bunny Butt Cake
Start with two bowls…one regular mixing bowl for the body and a smaller one for the tail.
Use boxed white cake mix but add vanilla bean paste.
It makes it taste homemade.
Once cooled, the bigger cake becomes the body, and the small round one becomes that adorable fluffy tail.
A quick swirl of white frosting, some pink fondant for the feet (or just use pink frosting if you hate fondant like I do), and you’re done.
My middle schooler says it’s “embarrassing” but still ate two pieces.
3. Easter Egg Layer Cake
Divide your cake batter into 3 or 4 bowls and add different pastel food coloring to each.
The trick is using gel colors, not the cheap liquid ones.
Layer them up with white frosting between each one.
Here’s my hack: freeze the layers for 20 minutes before stacking.
Total game changer.
The outside gets a white buttercream coat, then just stick Easter candies all over it.
I used those mini chocolate eggs from Trader Joe’s and my youngest went crazy for it.
Super simple but looks like you spent hours.
4. Speckled Robin’s Egg Cake
Start with a light blue frosted cake…any shade works but I like using the color of those Tiffany’s boxes.
Mix cocoa powder with a tiny bit of vanilla extract until it’s like paint.
Then dip a clean paintbrush in it and flick it all over the cake.
My kitchen counter looked like a crime scene afterward but the cake turned out amazing.
Put wax paper under the cake stand first unless you wanna spend an hour scrubbing chocolate spots off your counter like I did.
5. Easter Basket Cake
Here’s a fun one that’s all about the illusion.
Use a regular round cake and create a basket weave pattern with your frosting…but don’t stress if it’s not perfect.
Nobody’s gonna notice once you load it up with candy.
The handle’s just a thick paper strip covered in frosting.
Fill the top with green-tinted coconut for grass and pile on those chocolate eggs and jelly beans.
Last year I threw some Peeps on there too and called it done.
6. Carrot Patch Cake
This one’s seriously adorable and super forgiving.
Cover your cake in chocolate frosting, then crush up some Oreos for the dirt.
Grab those orange candy-coated carrots from the store (found mine at Walmart in the Easter aisle).
Stick them in the “dirt” and add some green sprinkle stems.
My oldest actually thought they were real carrots at first…which was pretty hilarious.
Works great as a sheet cake or round cake.
- Cross Cake
Sometimes simple is better, you know?
Start with a white-frosted cake and use different piping tips to create a cross design.
I’ve found that buttercream roses around the base look amazing but store-bought sugar flowers work just as well.
The best part? You can’t really mess this one up.
When my youngest helped me make it last year, the cross wasn’t perfectly straight but it looked totally intentional.
8. Flower Garden Cake
You don’t need fancy flower-making skills for this one.
Just grab some different sized piping tips and make simple dots and swirls in spring colors.
Layer them together to look like flowers…they don’t need to be perfect.
I used purple, pink, and yellow, but any pastel colors work.
Between the flowers, pipe some green leaves.
My middle schooler said it looked “aesthetic” which I guess is good?
9. Easter Chick Cake
Yellow buttercream is your best friend here.
Cover a round cake, then use orange M&Ms or jelly beans for the beak and feet.
Black decorator gel for the eyes…way easier than trying to pipe them.
Make little feather tufts by just pulling the frosting up with your spatula.
Not gonna lie, mine usually looks more like Big Bird’s cousin, but kids absolutely love it.
10. Pull-Apart Cupcake Cross
This is genius for potlucks.
Arrange cupcakes in a cross shape on your serving board before frosting them.
Frost them all together like one cake…it’s so much easier than doing each one separately.
Do a test layout first though.
Last time I had to do some weird cupcake surgery in the church parking lot because they started sliding around in the car.
11. Mini Egg Mountain Cake
Stack three layers of chocolate cake with extra thick frosting between each one.
Cover the whole thing in chocolate buttercream.
Then just start pressing those Cadbury Mini Eggs all over it.
The more random, the better.
Put some bigger candies at the bottom, smaller ones toward the top.
Mine never looks exactly like the Pinterest version but that’s kinda the point.
12. Naked Easter Cake
Finally, a cake that’s supposed to look messy!
Just barely frost between the layers and scrape the sides super thin so the cake shows through.
Add some fresh flowers (make sure they’re safe for cakes) or use those edible ones from the fancy grocery store.
The trick is making it look effortless…which is perfect because that’s exactly what it is.
13. Easter Surprise Inside Cake
Okay this one takes some planning but it’s so worth it.
Make a colored cross or egg shape inside a white cake.
Yeah, it’s kinda tricky and mine definitely wasn’t perfect, but the kids’ faces when you cut into it?
Priceless.
And honestly, even if the shape is a bit wonky, everyone’s still super impressed.
Just don’t tell them it took three attempts to get it right.
14. Resurrection Garden Cake
This one’s meaningful and actually pretty simple.
Make a hill on one side of a sheet cake using crushed Oreos.
Create a tomb out of gray fondant or just use stacked cookies.
Add a small cross on top of the hill (I use pretzel sticks) and some green-tinted coconut for grass.
Spring flowers made from frosting or candies finish it off perfectly.
15. Easter Number Cake
These trendy number cakes actually aren’t that hard.
Make two layers of cake in a “2” and “3” shape (or whatever year it is).
Stack them with cream and cover in pretty pastel candies, macarons, and tiny Easter eggs.
Fair warning…getting the numbers even can be tricky.
Last year mine looked more like abstract art but everyone loved it anyway.
16. Rainbow Layer Surprise Cake
This one’s a showstopper when you cut into it.
Make six thin layers, each a different rainbow color.
The trick? Use clear vanilla extract so the colors stay bright.
Stack them with white buttercream, then cover the whole thing in white frosting.
Decorate with pastel Easter sprinkles on the outside.
My youngest screamed “it’s like a unicorn cake!” when we cut into it at last year’s Easter brunch.
Everyone thinks you spent forever on it but it’s basically just food coloring doing all the work.
17. Jelly Bean Mosaic Cake
I saw this on Pinterest at 2am and thought “no way”…but it’s actually not that bad.
Frost a cake in white buttercream, then create a simple Easter egg or cross pattern using different colored jelly beans.
The trick is laying them out first on the counter to figure out your pattern.
My oldest and I turned it into a weirdly relaxing afternoon activity…even if we did eat half the supplies.
Just make sure you press them in good or they’ll roll right off.
18. Easter Morning Cinnamon Roll Cake
Y’all…this is perfect for busy Easter mornings.
Get two cans of cinnamon rolls (the big ones from Trader Joe’s are amazing) and arrange them in a bunny shape on your baking sheet.
One roll becomes the tail, some get cut in half for ears.
Bake them all together and it creates this super cute pull-apart bunny.
Use the icing that comes with them but add a drop of pink food coloring.
My kids think it’s the coolest thing ever.
19. Easter Cookie Layer Cake
Remember those classic Easter cookies from the grocery store with the thick frosting?
This cake is inspired by those but way better.
Layer store-bought vanilla cake rounds with pink and yellow buttercream.
Cover the outside in white frosting and press those soft Easter sugar cookies all around the sides.
Top it with some extra cookies and sprinkles.
Tastes like childhood memories but make it fancy.
20. No-Bake Easter Cheesecake
Sometimes the oven is already full of ham and you just can’t.
This is your backup plan.
Mix up a no-bake cheesecake (the box mix from Jell-O actually works great) and divide it into three bowls.
Color each one pastel pink, yellow, and blue.
Layer them in a springform pan and freeze.
Top with whipped cream and arrange Peeps around the edge.
My middle schooler rolled her eyes at the Peeps but then asked for seconds.
21. Chocolate Easter Egg Hunt Cake
This one’s like a treasure hunt in cake form.
Bake a chocolate cake in a bundt pan.
Once it’s cooled, use a sharp knife to cut a channel in the bottom.
Fill it with mini chocolate eggs and M&Ms, then cover the channel with frosting.
When you cut into it, all the candy spills out.
The first time I made this, it was all fun and games until we lost half the candy under the dining table…but now we put a plate underneath!
22. Easter Egg Cookie Cake
This might be the easiest one yet.
Press sugar cookie dough into a round pan in an egg shape.
Bake it, cool it, then divide the top into sections with white frosting.
Fill each section with a different pastel colored frosting and top with matching sprinkles.
I made this with my youngest when we were totally over traditional Easter cakes, and now it’s her favorite.
Plus it takes like 30 minutes total.
23. Confetti Bunny Cake
Last one might be my current favorite.
Mix rainbow sprinkles into white cake batter…but don’t use the long sprinkles, they bleed too much.
Cut two round cakes to make a bunny head and bow tie shape.
Cover it all in white frosting and coconut.
Add pink marshmallows for the ears and nose.
Every slice looks like a party, and it’s pretty much impossible to mess up.
Even that one time when I accidentally used way too many sprinkles…it still looked festive!
Listen, at the end of the day, if your cake looks a little wonky, just remember that my bunny cake from last year literally made my youngest ask if it was supposed to be scary.
Your cake doesn’t need to look perfect…it just needs to taste good and make your family happy.
Sometimes the not-so-perfect ones make the best memories.
