Easter is one of those holidays I literally never understood. I never grew up in a household that celebrated it beyond Easter Egg hunts and getting sick from eating chocolate rabbits and jellybeans, so whenever people talk about how it is this whole commitment that they had to spend with their families, I did not really get what they meant by that. The perks of being raised in a Buddhist household, I guess? Regardless of religions that we were raised on/still believe in, I do adore the aesthetic of Easter. Rabbits are one of my favorite animals because they are so cute, fluffy, and generally harmless(I’m looking at you, gigantic human-sized nightmare fuel rabbits). And eggs are one of my favorite ingredients. So I figured, why not make a bunny-themed dessert, using eggs as a focal point? In the case of this recipe, I wanted to go with a mimosa cake. Mimosa cake is an Italian recipe, consisting of a soft, fluffy spongecake, layers of cream, and the entire cake is enrobed in cubes of the cake so that the whole thing looks like a mimosa flower(or honestly in this case, a giant cotton ball). It is one of my favorite cakes to make because it is a ton of fun to cut up cakes into little, itty-bitty cubes, and the final product always looks so inviting to cut into. For the flavor, I wanted to keep it really, really simple. So vanilla was my best friend here, and I wanted to make a white spongecake, since I wanted the fluffy mimosa cake to sort of resemble a rabbit, and then to be even sillier, I wanted to put a rabbit mousse cake on top of the whole thing. Except in this case, I had a lot of mousse, and so I put two on top of it. Which thankfully they weren’t really rabbits, or else I would have more than two of them in a minute, and as cute as rabbits are, I am not trying to channel my Taiwanese tomato farmer ancestors in any way currently. Though, seeing a ton of rabbits frolicking about my home sounds like a cute(minus the cleaning up after them) idea. Literally just like this cake.

For the flavors, like I mentioned before, there was a heavy emphasis on using vanilla. I also went with a cool Chinese ingredient, being salted duck egg yolk, to play into the egg theme of Easter! In retrospect, I 100% should have used White Rabbit candies in this cake, just to drive the Chinese theme home as another play off of the salted duck egg. But maybe that will be a recipe for next year’s Easter. For this recipe, we have the white spongecake; it is very similar to a chiffon cake, but instead of using egg yolks at all in this recipe, we are using whipped buttermilk(made by whisking heavy cream and white vinegar) to add that fat, culture, and flavor to the batter. The cake itself is light as a cloud, and white as a cloud. One of the fillings to the cake is the salted egg custard, made primarily with the egg yolks we did not use for the spongecake, coupled with a salted duck egg yolk for that extra umami punch and flavor. I love salted duck egg custard because it is such a perfect sweet and savory component, similar to a salted caramel. I made a vanilla namelaka, or essentially a whipped ganache, using white chocolate, just to build up the bunnies on top of my cake, as well as to layer up said cake as well. The entire thing is also finished with a white chocolate snow, made from melted white chocolate and tapioca maltodextrin, just as a less-sweet version of powdered sugar, and finished with two little nasturtium leaves(because they were growing in my garden since it’s spring now!), just to add a nice peppery bite and a pleasant green color to contrast everything from a visual aspect.

Makes one 5.5-inch cake, or 8 servings:
For the white spongecake:
3 egg whites
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
1.5oz heavy cream
1 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

In a bowl, whip egg whites, sugar, vanilla, and salt to stiff peaks. In another bowl, whip together the heavy cream and vinegar to stiff peaks as well. Sift over the whipped cream your flour and baking powder. Then fold through that the whipped egg whites to form your batter. Pour the batter into a lined quarter sheet pan and spread into a flat, even layer. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Allow the cake to fully cool before cutting out a 5-inch round and a 4-inch round. With the rest of the cake, cut it into 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch squares.

For the salted egg custard:
1 cup whole milk
3 egg yolks
1 salted egg yolk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla bean paste

In a pot, heat up the whole milk. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, salted egg yolk, sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla bean paste. Temper the egg mixture with half of your warm milk. Then pour the egg mixture back into the pot of milk and whisk everything on medium-high heat until the mixture begins to thicken and cling to the sides of your whisk. Pass everything through a sieve to remove any lumps. Portion about 2 tbsp of the custard to pour into silicone 1/2-inch half sphere molds(4 half spheres to make 2 full spheres) and freeze those solid. With the rest, keep wrapped and refrigerated for assembly of the cake.

For the vanilla namelaka:
4oz white chocolate
8oz heavy cream, in two parts
a pinch of salt
2 tsps gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water
1g vanilla bean paste

In a pot on medium heat, melt down the white chocolate with one part of the cream, a pinch of salt, and the gelatin powder and vanilla bean paste, stirring constantly to prevent the bottom of the pot from burning. Allow the mixture to cool down in the refrigerator for 1 hour, and then mix in the remaining heavy cream using a rubber spatula. Transfer to a piping bag.

For the white chocolate snow:
.5oz white chocolate, melted
1/4 cup tapioca maltodextrin
a pinch of salt

Mix ingredients together until a fine powder forms. Store in an airtight until time to use.

For assembly:
2 nasturtium leaves

Pipe the namelaka into 2 silicone bunny molds, pressing into each the spheres of pastry cream and leveling off the flat sides. Freeze the namelaka bunnies solid, about 2 hours, before attempting to unmold.

For assembling the cake, start by piping a border of the namelaka around the 5-inch round. Then spread the rest of the pastry cream inside of that border. Place on top of that the next round of cake, and spread the rest of the namelaka around the cake. Press into the namelaka the cubes of cake, then transfer it to the freezer to firm up. Once the cake is firm, transfer to a desired serving platter. Dust the top of the cake with the white chocolate snow, and then dust the bunnies with the snow. Place the bunnies on top of the cake and garnish each bunny with a nasturtium to finish.