If you are having company for Easter dinner or even if you aren’t, chances are that you are preparing some kind of dessert for Sunday dinner. If you are making dessert anyway, why not have some fun with it? Make a bunny cake or a basket cake. It isn’t nearly as hard as you might think.

You don’t need a lot of special equipment to create these two beautiful cakes. You don’t even need to make the cake from scratch. Professional cake decorators say that modem cake mix is such good quality that they use it themselves instead of making it from scratch. The only thing you may not have is a basket weave decorating tip and disposable bags. You can pick up both for less than $5 at Wal-Mart or Michael’s. Both cakes use regular cake mix and regular cake pans.

Remember to let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Once the cake has begun to cool, place the cake in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes. This will make it easier to decorate.

Also remember that you may need to level your cake. To do this, simply use a large serrated knife (like a bread knife) and cut away enough to make the cake level. Always level by cutting off the top and always put the frosting on the bottom of the cake.

Cake No. 1 is a bunny cake. The kids, large and small, will love this cake. Even though the recipe calls for a yellow cake mix, you can use any flavor that you prefer. Remember to chill the cake before cutting and frosting it.

The basket cake is also easy. You don’t have to do any unusual cuts for that cake. The recipe uses a basket weave tip and uses short vertical and horizontal strokes. Another option is to make a vertical strip from top to bottom and then make horizontal strips. One goes over the vertical strip the next stops on each side. Continue all the way down. Turn the cake a few inches and make another vertical strip and repeat the horizontal strips. Continue this way all the way around the cake. You can also cut out a circle in the top of the cake (before frosting) to make a depression for the coconut grass and candy eggs.

Either cake that you choose to make, your family will enjoy the novelty of it and you will discover that unique cakes are not as difficult as we think they are.

Easter Bunny Cake>