Surprise! Your kid cracks a Kinder Egg, sees the toy inside, eats the egg, plays the toy a little, and you secretly throw another junk away.

This might not be your story. But it happens a lot in our house. Tiny things from goodie bags, toys from McDonalds, stationeries, stickers, scrape papers, marbles…and oh their favourite, ROCKS! You have no idea how many times I have to clear the gallons of rocks inside the pockets of my kids’ pants before putting them in the washing machine! Why do people have to spend so much on toys? Just get your kids rocks!

I do spoil my kids with those junks sometimes. Who doesn’t?! My favourite though is food. Some homemade sweet treats always make myself feel less guilty. Something surprising would be a bonus for special occasions.

This cake requires some time as you basically bake two cakes. I used my one-bowl chocolate cake recipe here for the bunny part. But I figure that it would look cuter with red velvet cake. Or just double up the vanilla cake recipe here, and tint one of the portions with the colour you want. When assembling, I find freezing the bunny cut-outs before adding the vanilla cake batter really helpful. The cut-outs hold their shape better, and no crumbs will go into the vanilla cake batter.

It’s such a fun cake to make. I literally wanted to cry when I sliced out the finished cake and saw the well-formed chocolate bunny inside. I guess it’s time to use this technique to go wild and crazy, and surprise my kids more!

Ingredients (one loaf):
Chocolate Cake
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
Vanilla Cake
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two loaf pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Crack in the egg, spoon in the sour cream, and pour in the oil and the vanilla. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined.
Pour in the boiling water, and slowly mix until smooth and liquidy.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely.
Cut cake into 1-inch thick slices. Use a bunny cookie cutter to cut cake slices into bunny shapes. Freeze them when preparing for the vanilla cake.
To prepare the vanilla cake, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
In another bowl, mix eggs and sugar until well combined. Gradually add oil and vanilla, mix until just blended.
Slowly add half the flour mixture; mix until just blended. Add the buttermilk, mix until just blended. Add remaining flour mixture, mix until batter is combined and smooth.
Remove the bunny cake cut outs from freezer. Stack them together to make a long bunny log. Line it in the bottom of the other cake pan. Pour the vanilla cake batter in the pan to cover the bunny cake cut outs.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely.