Photo Gallery: Quick and easy Easter cakes

1. To create a traditional Easter egg cake, place the eggshaped cake on a silver tray or cake board. Use a quick icer tip to ice the cake with white buttercream, and smooth with a spatula.

2. To create extremely smooth icing, allow the cake to sit for a few minutes until it develops a thin crust. Then, place a paper towel (Viva brand seems to work the best as it leaves no lint) over the cake and run a spatula over the paper towel to smooth all the lines and bumps in the icing. This paper towel method produces a smooth, fondant-like surface.

3. Sheet strips of several fondant colors, such as red, pink and blue, to create the stripes for the Easter egg. For variety, create a different decorative element out of each color. For a zigzag stripe, press a straight frill cutter onto the red fondant strip.

4. On the pink fondant strip, use a textured rolling pin to create a grosgrain ribbon. Cut the fondant into thin strips.

5. The easiest method of all is to freehand stripes out of the fondant. Cut them in various widths to add a whimsical look without adding additional labor.

6. Apply the stripes to the egg cake, alternating the colors. Trim the edges of the stripes. The fondant stripes should stick to the buttercream, but you may need to use a small amount of water to keep them from moving. To add more color, place various shapes and sizes of premade sugar dots, either from a supplier or made from royal icing, between the stripes.

7. Finish the design by using a large grass tip to pipe tufts of green icing around the Easter egg.

8. For a larger, golden egg cake, place the egg cake on top of a sheet cake. You can use either a 5-in. by 7-in. oval cake to create less waste, or you can use a quarter sheet cake. Following the shape of the egg cake, trim away the excess sheet cake using a serrated knife.

9. Ice the cake with white icing using the paper towel method. To create the metallic gold color, you will need to airbrush the cake in three different steps. First, airbrush the cake with a thin coat of ivory. Then, airbrush a layer of yellow. Finally, airbrush the cake with gold. You do not need to wait for the colors to dry between coats.

10. Another step to save time is to purchase sugar pearls from suppliers. Pour a small amount of small pearls around the entire base of the cake. Add a few larger pearls, and then finish the design by sprinkling in a few gold dragees. The finished golden Easter egg is a beautiful addition to any Easter celebration, including more formal dinners and brunches.

11. For the bunny cake, make the ears a day ahead of time. Use two different sizes of leaf cutters to cut ears from fondant or gumpaste. Use the larger cutter for two white outer ears and the smaller cutter for two pink inner ears. Place floral wire on top of the white ear. Press the pink ear on top of the white, sandwiching the floral wire in between. Allow to dry. You can dry these ears in a floral former to curve them or bend one of the ears for a cute twist.

12. To create the bunny shape, place the egg cake on a silver tray or cake board. Cut a 5-in. round cake in half and trim into a ball; position at the narrow end of the egg cake for the bunny’s head. You also can use modeling chocolate or rice cereal treats to create the head.

13. Use the paper towel method to ice the cake in white buttercream. Use a large round tip, such as tip No. 1A, to pipe the curved back legs and straight front legs of the bunny.

14. Use a small palette knife and a paper towel to smooth the legs.

15. Create toes at the ends of the legs by covering the icing with a paper towel and pressing an indentation into the icing with a gumpaste knife. Use an airbrush to highlight the edges and seams with pink. This easy technique adds depth and dimension.

16. Use a large grass tip to finish the edge around the rabbit and give the effect of a bunny hiding in the grass. With the large open round tip, pipe a white coil of icing to create the bunny’s tail.