If you’re the baker in your family, you might be thinking about what to make this year for Easter.
Spring is here and that means it’s time for cute and festive cakes to grace the tables of Easter lunches and family dinners. Whether you’re whipping up a sweet treat for your family or a group of Easter guests, we’ve got plenty of options from easy and adorable cakes the kids can help decorate to impressive stunners that’ll wow the whole family.
Spring also means there are tons of fresh and delicious produce at our fingertips when it comes to flavour, not to mention all the gorgeous spring blooms for garnishes and decoration. From carrot to coconut to strawberry, these recipes cover classic Easter cakes, new and fresh ideas for the Easter table, and fun and creative confections to make this holiday extra special.
More Easter inspiration:
Carrot Sheet Cake
My mind immediately goes to carrot cake when I think of Easter, and if you’ve got a crowd to feed at your Easter lunch, this sheet cake is a great option. It’s got all the classic flavours you’re looking for: warm spices, shredded carrots, and cream cheese frosting. The decorative carrots are easier to pipe than you might think. They’re just a little squiggle of orange frosting and two small dots for leaves. But you can always leave them off and just top with chopped and toasted pecans.
Get the recipe for Carrot Sheet Cake.
Three Layer Strawberry Cake
If you’re looking for a classic cake that’s sure to cause surprise and delight in anyone who looks upon it, look no further than this three-layer strawberry cake. This recipe was inspired by a famous strawberry cake from Edgar’s Bakery. With dreamy swoops of strawberry and cream cheese frosting, this might just be the only strawberry cake recipe you ever need.
Get the recipe for Three Layer Strawberry Cake.
Speckled Malted Coconut Cake
When it comes to show-stopping cakes, this is our go-to for Easter. Whether you serve this speckled confection with lunch or have it as the finale to your Easter dinner menu, it’ll wow any crowd and satisfy any sweet tooth. It’s made up of three moist layers of coconut cake, and then covered in buttercream in a lovely and spring-inspired shade of robin’s egg blue. The speckles are easier to create than you might think, but make sure to have some paper towels handy because it can be a little messy. Because this cake is one of our most popular cake recipes, we also made a cupcake version of the recipe.
Get the recipe for Speckled Malted Coconut Cake.
Lamb Cake
Vintage lamb cakes grace our social feeds and Easter dessert tables each year, but if you can’t get your hands on a vintage 3D lamb cake pan, don’t fret. You can still make an adorable lamb cake with regular, round cake pans. Swirls of frosting, a heart-shaped nose, and big marshmallows all come together to make this what will surely be the cutest cake on the Easter buffet.
Hummingbird Layer Cake
A popular springtime cake, Hummingbird Cakes are also a delicious option for Easter Sunday. The unique combo of banana, pecan, and pineapple in the cake originally comes from Jamaica. Covered in dreamy cream cheese frosting and garnished with toasted pecans, this cake is now a beloved staple around the world for a reason.
Get the recipe for Hummingbird Layer Cake.
Date-Carrot Cake
If you’re looking for a fun and unique twist on carrot cake for this year’s Easter celebration, we’ve got one for you. Dates might not be an obvious addition to a cake recipe, but here they add extra sweetness and help keep the crumb moist. To create the carrot “flowers” on top, you just need some carrots and a vegetable peeler to create long ribbons that are rolled up into flowers.
Get the recipe for Date-Carrot Cake.
Easter Bunny Cake
This adorable bunny cake is a great one to make with the kids and the whole family. All you need are two round cake layers. The ears are cut out of one layer and arranged next to the other. We used vanilla cake and frosting, but you could play around with the flavours if you’d like to make this cake a little more special. The decor is fairly straightforward and simple, even for kids or inexperienced bakers. All you need are some small round open piping tips (or just cut a small tip off the end of a piping bag) and pipe round dots for eyes and lines for whiskers. With frosted ears covered in pink coconut and the cutest little nose, this cake is almost too cute to eat.
Get the recipe for Easter Bunny Cake.
Coconut Cream Gingham Cake
If you’re looking for a little bit more of a baking project, this green-hued gingham cake is as delicious as it is pretty. And it’s perfect for Easter with a little pile of fresh flowers on top. The cake itself is flavoured with shredded coconut and a combination of coconut cream and milk. The gingham pattern might look a little intimidating, but all you really need is some patience and time to play artist with buttercream. This cake is the epitome of springtime, and it’s a fun way to treat your family this Easter.
Get the recipe for Coconut Cream Gingham Cake.
Country kitchen essentials
Cast Iron Round Casserole Dish
nkuku Juniper Drop Ceramic Stand - Cream & Juniper
Set of 2 Kitchen Storage Jars - White
Handmade Stoneware Berry Colander
Le Creuset Le Creuset Pepper Mill
Kanto Stoneware Handled Mug
Beth Branch is assistant editor at Country Living, where she is the resident baker on staff developing baking recipes for digital, food styling, and digital food content. She runs the CL Instagram and helps create content for Tiktok. She’s been with Country Living for two-and-a-half years and has 9 years of experience in the digital food space. She’s held editorial positions at Bake from Scratch, eMeals, and MyRecipes, editing recipes and developing digital and social content. She has run a personal baking blog since 2013 that lead to publishing a cookbook in 2018. She loves vintage and southern baking recipes, iced coffee, her cat Olive, and fantasy novels.
