Bunny Butt Carrot Cake Pancakes Food

CARROT CAKE PANCAKES WITH MAPLE-CREAM CHEESE DRIZZLE AND TOASTED PECANS

Steps:

• For the pancakes: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spices, baking soda and sea salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the carrots and orange zest, if using, and mix until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Fold in the ginger and pecans, if using, and mix until just combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 hours.
• Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Coat the skillet with cooking spray or brush with melted butter. Spoon 1/4 cup mounds of the batter onto the skillet, spreading with a spatula. Cook until the tops are covered with bubbles and the edges look cooked, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip the pancakes over and cook until the bottoms are lightly browned, about 1 minute. Repeat with the remaining batter. Keep the cooked pancakes warm in the oven on a baking sheet, if desired.
• For the maple-cream cheese drizzle: Combine the cream cheese, maple syrup and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment until combined, about 2 minutes.
• To serve: Stack the pancakes on a plate and drizzle with the maple-cream cheese drizzle. Sprinkle with chopped walnuts or pecans, if using.

COCONUT BUNNY BUTT CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch (1 1/2 quart) ovenproof metal bowl. Line 4 muffin cups with paper liners.
• For the cake: Whisk the eggs and egg whites in a large bowl. Whisk in the cream of coconut, pineapple, coconut extract and vanilla extract until combined. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in another large bowl. Beat in the butter, one piece at a time, with an electric mixer on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add half the egg mixture and beat on high until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the remaining egg mixture until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Fill the muffin cups each 2/3 full, then pour the remaining batter into the prepared bowl. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes for the cupcakes and 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes for the bowl. Remove the cakes to a wire rack and let cool in their pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out and let cool completely.
• For the buttercream: Beat the confectioners' sugar and butter together with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined, then beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in 1 tablespoon of the milk and the vanilla and coconut extracts until light and spreadable, 2 to 3 minutes more, adding up to 1 tablespoon more milk if the frosting is too stiff.
• With a serrated knife, trim the flat bottom of the bowl-shaped cake so it lies flat on a plate, rounded-side up, and frost with a layer of buttercream. Remove the wrappers from the cupcakes and anchor 2 of them with a pretzel stick each at the base of the cake to make the bunny's feet (leave about 1 1/2 inches between the feet). Cut the third cupcake in half from top to bottom. With pretzel sticks, attach the cupcake halves to the top of the feet, with the cut-side facing down and the rounded ends positioned to be the heels of the feet. Attach the last cupcake with a pretzel stick to the lower half of the top of the cake to make a tail. Frost the cupcakes with the remaining frosting. Wipe away any frosting that has smeared on the cake plate.
• Pat about 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut all over the cake. Put the remaining coconut in a large zip-top plastic bag. Mix the green food coloring with 2 teaspoons water and add to the bag. Toss and massage the coconut until it is uniformly green in color. Press the chocolate candies into the bottoms of the bunny feet with the larger candy at the top and the smaller ones underneath so they resemble the pads of the toes. Spread the green coconut all around the cake plate to make grass and decorate with candy eggs. Flatten the apricots with a rolling pin and roll into carrot shapes. Cut the leaves in half crosswise and use scissors to snip them to resemble carrot tops. Insert the carrot tops into the wider end of the apricot carrots and arrange them in the grass around the bunny.