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Easter Lamb Cake

The Editors
Yield
10 servings
Category
Cakes and Frostings
Course
Desserts
Occasions
Easter Sunday
Preparation Method
Bake
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The Easter lamb cake is a longtime tradition. It’s the stuff that special memories are made from! All you need is the lamb mold and a dense cake batter that will hold up well in the mold after baking. See our lamb cake recipe!

For a dense cake, you could use a pound cake mix or use a simple yellow cake mix, sour cream and pudding mix, which is what we did here since yellow cake mix is easier to find.

You can easily find lamb cake molds online. Nordic Ware is a good brand. Just Google around! Depending on your mold, this recipe will probably make leftovers, so have some cupcake pans or a couple small loaf pans ready. (It’s better to have too much batter than to end up with only half a lamb!) Make sure to grease and flour the mold really well so that the cake does not stick.

For presentation, set the lamb cake in Easter grass with jelly beans! You can also make your own edible Easter grass! Just mix 2 cups of the shredded coconut with 8 drops of green food coloring and a teaspoon of water. Spread the colored coconut out on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Allow to air dry several hours or overnight.

Cake

Ingredients
1 box yellow cake mix (15 oz)
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 instant vanilla pudding mix (3.4 oz)
can of cream cheese frosting
bag of flaked coconut
raisins for eyes, cherry for nose, or whatever's on hand!
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Thoroughly grease and flour inside of a 3D lamb cake pan.
  2. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients (yellow cake mix, eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, and vanilla pudding mix). With an electric mixer, combine on low speed and then beat on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes or until thickened. 
  3. Place 2 ¾ cups of the batter in the bottom mold—this is the side with the face of the lamb. Then cover the bottom part with the top part—the back of the lamb (this side has a vent hole). Place on a baking sheet and put in the oven.
  4. Bake until a toothpick inserted in vent hole comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Do not overcook! Take the top mold of and let the cake cool for another 15 minutes.
  5. Remove the cake from the mold and let it cool completely. (This may take some time.) Trim off any edges if needed.
  6. Use a cream cheese frosting to cover the lamb. Sprinkle the frosting with flaked coconut.
  7. Use raisins or dried prunes for eyes, a maraschino cherry for the nose, or whatever you have on hand! Add a ribbon to the neck.
About The Author

The Old Farmer's Almanac Editors

We love introducing fun new recipes as well as time-tested recipes, straight from the archives! Read More from The Old Farmer's Almanac Editors
 

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Comments

Billye (not verified)

1 year 8 months ago

The Easter Lamb cake brings back many happy memories. My Grandmother made it every year for Easter. From the first year she made it, we grandkids (10 of us) would fight over who got to eat the head. A few years later as the family grew, she would make it for Christmas as well. It represented the Lamb of God.
Grandmother iced the lamb with a cooked icing recipe. She reserved a bit back and colored it pink for the inside ears and nose then used raisins for the eyes.
I was elated that the cake pan was one of the things she left me after she died. I treasure it dearly for the memories it brings back. I still use it at Easter when I host Easter Dinner.
Tip from Grandmother - Use a bamboo skewer to run down the head through the neck and into the body to help hold the head in place. She placed a bow on the tip of the skewer to pull it out before cutting.
Tip for unused cake batter - Grandmother made her cake from scratch and made a batch and a half of batter. The batter that was not used for the lamb cake was put in a small pan and baked. She used an egg-shaped cookie cutter to make decorated Easter eggs for those of us who did not get the lamb head. At Christmas she cut them into squares and decorated them as presents. She used a chocolate mold to make bows for the presents.
I hope the Lamb cake brings new memories to all those who make it.