Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

This Easter Cake recipe can be made for Easter, a birthday party cake, as a cake to celebrate the spring season, or if you just like the flavors and the Easter candy involved! This cake is a Banana Bread Cake that has a vegan and gluten-free option. (makes one, 2-tier, 6-inch cake)

Easter Cake Recipe
- Other names for this cake include
- Ingredients
Vegan Coconut Cream Frosting Option

Easter Cake Recipe

Hi Everyone, this Easter Cake recipe can be made for Easter, a birthday party cake, as a cake to celebrate the spring season, or if you just like the flavors and the Easter candy involved!

Easter candy is available all year round to buy online, so you can make this cake any time of the year!

This cake is a Banana Bread Cake that has a vegan and gluten-free option.

I also include a healthier vegan option for the frosting if you don’t want the traditional buttercream frosting.

Other names for this cake include

Easter Bunny Cake
Springtime Bunny Cake
Easter Egg Cake
Birthday Bunny Cake
Springtime Cake
Spring Cake

Ingredients

Banana Bread Cake Batter

2 cups Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour, or the same amount all-purpose flour or cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, preferably Saigon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, large, I used farm fresh eggs
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup wildflower honey
3 mashed medium ripe bananas
1 cup of granulated white sugar **see notes below
1/2 cup canola oil ***see notes below
1/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional (I didn’t use them in the photos in this post)

Vegan Coconut Cream Frosting Option

If you want to use a healthier, vegan option, try our vegan coconut cream option for frosting this cake (the recipe is linked below) – when I use this frosting, I frost the cake in a “naked style” with frosting in between and on top but very thin on the side because this frosting is more liquidy (see the below photo for reference)

Vegan Coconut Whipped Cream and Frosting

Buttercream Frosting Option (traditional) – this is the option that I used in the photos in this post with the exception of the one above

3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream
a few drops of light purple/lilac or pink gel food coloring

Easter Candy

4-in milk chocolate bunny
Cadbury mini eggs

Recipe Notes

Vegan Egg Recipe on our blog: How to Make a Flaxseed Egg
*Or you can substitute 2 large eggs, if not vegan, you can still add the flax dry, if you want
**You can substitute regular sugar for 1 cup of coconut sugar, I have also subbed sugar with 3/4 maple syrup plus 1/4 honey and I had excellent results with this
***You can substitute the same amount melted and cooled coconut oil

Kitchen Tools

I linked (affiliate, #CommissionsEarned) all the kitchen tools in the recipe card at the end of the post.

mixing bowls
2-cup wet measure
measuring spoons and cups
silicone baking spatula
offset spatula
cake decorating tools
revolving cake decorating stand
whisk
5-speed handheld electric mixer
stand mixer
cardboard cake for a 6-inch cake or larger

Web Story

Recipe Attribution

This recipe is inspired by another recipe on the blog,

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If you make this recipe, and like it, please give it a rating in the recipe card below and let us know in the comments at the end of the post.

If you have any questions let me know, my cake and dessert recipes are sometimes more involved than most of the easy kind of simple recipes that I usually post – let me know if you get stuck on anything!

Thank you for reading and following along!

(This post was originally photographed on 4/30/2021 and published on 10/31/2021)

Easter Cake Recipe

Name: Easter Cake Recipe
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 1 h 2 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4-in milk chocolate bunny; Cadbury mini eggs; 3 cups confectioners’ sugar; 1 cup unsalted butter; 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract; 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream; a few drops of light purple/lilac or pink gel food coloring; 2 cups Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour, or the same amount all-purpose flour or cake flour; 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, preferably aluminum-free; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, preferably Saigon cinnamon; 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg; 2 large eggs; 3/4 cup 100% pure maple syrup; 1/4 cup wildflower honey; 3 mashed medium-size ripe bananas; 1 cup of granulated white sugar **see notes below; 1/2 cup canola oil ***see notes below; 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional (I didn’t use them in the photos in this post)

Yield: 12 servings

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 22 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 2 minutes

This Easter Cake recipe can be made for Easter, a birthday party cake, as a cake to celebrate the spring season, or if you just like the flavors and the Easter candy involved!

Ingredients

Banana Bread Cake Batter

Buttercream Frosting Option (traditional, for the vegan option see recipe notes)

3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream
a few drops of light purple/lilac or pink gel food coloring

Easter Candy

Instructions

To Make the Cake Batter

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease both 6" cake pans, set aside. Add 2 rounds of parchment to the bottom of the cake pans to help it come out of the pan better. Grease over the parchment paper.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg).
You can mash the bananas by hand using a large fork or potato masher. I prefer to use a blender (or food processor would work too) to get the bananas puréed. This should only take a few moments on the purée or liquefy setting of your blender.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, puréed banana, sugar, and oil. Add the eggs to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Fold in the optional walnuts. It's okay if it's a little lumpy. Spread the batter into the cake pans, divided evenly.
Bake for 22 minutes to 27 minutes. You can check if it's done by inserting a knife or toothpick into the center and it should come out clean if it's done. When it's done, let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. You can use a bread knife to cut the rounded tops off the cake layers so that the layers are level. Make sure the layers are completely cool before cutting or frosting.

To Make the Buttercream Frosting

In your stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, add the unsalted butter and confectioner's sugar, whisk on medium until combined (about 3 minutes), add the vanilla and gel food coloring until the desired hue is reached (about 1 minute), set aside until ready to use. Cover and refrigerate, if making ahead.

For Applying the Frosting

Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting in a thin, even layer on top of the first layer, and then add the 2nd cake layer. Add more frosting to the top and sides, use a dough scraper or cake spatula (it really helps to have a cake stand for this to get very smooth results). If using the buttercream frosting, chill for a half hour or until the frosting firms up before spreading the remaining frosting. To finish, spread the frosting in an even layer until completely covered. Decorate with the chocolate candy. Chill the cake for at least a half-hour to firm up the frosting. Enjoy!

Notes

Vegan Egg Recipe on our blog: How to Make a Flaxseed Egg
*Or you can substitute 2 large eggs, if not vegan, you can still add the flax dry, if you want
**You can substitute regular sugar for 1 cup of coconut sugar, I have also subbed sugar with 3/4 maple syrup plus 1/4 honey and I had excellent results with this
***You can substitute the same amount melted and cooled coconut oil

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. #CommissionsEarned #ad

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 688Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 90mgSodium: 165mgCarbohydrates: 104gFiber: 2gSugar: 66gProtein: 7g

Please note that the Calculated Nutrition is an estimate at best. If you make this recipe and love it, remember to stop back and give it a 5-star rating – it helps others find the recipe!

(This post was originally posted on 10/31/2021 and updated and republished on 4/9/2022)

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Sara Maniez

Owner at Life's Little Sweets

Sara is an architectural designer turned work-at-home Mom. She lives in New Jersey by way of New England and New York, with her husband and 3 kids under 8. She loves design, being creative, and spending time with family and friends. She loves checking out local businesses and eats and being apart of the local farm to table community.

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Easter Cake Recipe

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