A Spring Cake for Nowruz or Easter

This beautiful Spring Cake is really easy to make. By using edible grass, your cake will look like a a platter fresh sprouts. Top with chocolate bunnies and candy chocolate eggs for a festive Easter egg cake or leave it plain to celebrate the first day of spring, Nowruz.

When March rolls around, I get giddy. For me, it means that winter is almost over and Spring is around the corner. Although we aren’t buried in snow here in San Diego, I am not a fan of cold weather.

Spring is my favorite season: not too hot, not too cold, flowers are blooming and there are more fruits and vegetables to choose from. March 20th not only marks the first day of Spring, but also the first day of the Persian New Year, nowruz.

Pretty soon, I will be spring cleaning the house and preparing the haft sin. One item that is featured on this tablescape are sprouts.

Why this recipe is so awesome

Every year my family gets together to celebrate the first day of the Persian New Year. Although there are a variety of Persian desserts you can serve at the holiday meal, like baklava and sholeh zard (saffron rice pudding), I like to branch out and bake other kinds of desserts.

A few years ago, I found some edible grass at Target and decided to play around with it. I made this Spring cake which resembles the sabzeh we grow for nowruz. I took it over to my in-laws and they were fascinated with how real it looked.

I was pretty proud of how it turned out, so I quickly placed it on my haft sin and took a picture. Then we whisked it away to our family dinner, so I didn’t get that many pictures to share.

I knew I had to make it again, with better pictures, so here it is. What a fun cake to celebrate spring. You can decorate it for nowruz, spring or Easter. The edible grass is available in stores in March and April and comes in green, pink and green.

The green supposedly tastes like green apple. I don’t know about that, but it is sweet and it is edible. This cake doesn’t require fancy piping skills. In fact, it requires zero piping skills.

The first cake I made was frosted with white buttercream, but I could see the white coming thru the candy grass so this time I decided to dye the frosting green to match the grass.

Although you don’t need piping skills, you do need patience. Placing all those strips of candy grass took me about 3 hours. So recruit your kiddos to help you out and watch a nice long movie while you decorate this cake!

See my Easy Easter Cake Web Story for a quick visual guide to making this recipe.

Ingredients you need

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• 2-layer vanilla cake: I usually include my cake recipes in the same post as the decorating, but seriously this cake can be made from either box mix or homemade. I used my olive oil vanilla cake as the base. You can also use my vegan birthday cake as the base. This spring cake works best with an 8-inch or 9-inch cake base, as the sprouts you see in the store are not super tall.
• Butter: I use a basic buttercream to frost this cake. You don’t want it super stiff as we are not piping it onto the cake. It should be soft enough to work as a glue to hold the edible grass covering it. For a vegan alternative, use vegan butter, vegetable shortening, or a combination of the two.
• Powdered sugar: Also known as confectioner’s sugar.
• Vanilla extract: You don’t need to worry about using clear vanilla as this frosting will be dyed.
• Heavy cream: This helps soften the buttercream and smooths it out. For vegan alternative, use a plant based milk like unsweetened almond milk or oat milk.
• Food coloring: McCormick has this set of neon color food dyes and the green is pretty bright. But you need to match the green with your edible grass, so additional blue and yellow food coloring is needed. I prefer using Wilton’s Gel Colors in my baking because very little goes a long way.
• Edible grass: This stuff is typically found in Target or Party City around March and April. You can also find it online. One package is not enough and two is too much, but go ahead and buy two to make sure your cake is completely covered.
• Other options for decorating: If you want an Easter egg cake, you can top your cake with chocolate bunnies and candy chocolate eggs. I show all the options for an Easter egg cake below.

Tools to Use

• Measuring Cups + Spoons
• Hand Mixer
• Silicone Spatula

SHOP NOW

Step-by-step directions

1. Bake your cakes, whether from a box mix or from scratch. Remove the cakes from their pans and cool them completely on a wire rack.

2. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whip the butter until fluffy and smooth. Add vanilla and whip in powdered sugar, one cup at a time. Mix in heavy cream to smooth out the buttercream frosting.

Add green food dye until it matches the color of your edible grass. You can also use blue and yellow food coloring, using a little more yellow to get this bright green.

3. Cut the domes from each cake layer to flatten them out. Place on a cake stand and frost entire cake and between layers generously with the green frosting. Don’t skimp or else the edible grass won’t stick to the cake. You can use an icing spatula or an acrylic cake scraper to smooth it out.

4. Using culinary scissors cut the edible grass into pieces long enough to cover the sides of the cake and about 1-inch above the cake.

5. Start pressing each strand of edible grass along the sides of the cake. Press smaller 1-inch pieces along the top of the cake. Grab your iPad and binge watch your favorite show because this can take about 3 hours to decorate an 8-inch cake.

6. Wrap a ribbon around the cake and refrigerate until ready to serve. You can also use fondant if you want the ribbon to be edible.

Recipes tips and FAQs

As I mentioned earlier, you can also use this candy grass to make a beautiful Easter egg cake. I couldn’t decide which chocolate bunny to put on top of the cake, so I tried them all.

There are now white chocolate bunnies, too. The one I used had funfetti sprinkles in it, which went well with the colorful scheme of the cake.

For the tall bunnies to remain stable on the cake, press toothpicks or short bamboo skewers behind them to prop them up. Add some edible flowers like organic roses or chamomile, and your gorgeous spring cake will wow your family table.

So, which one is your favorite?

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Yield: 1 8-inch 2-layer cake

Spring Cake for Nowruz and Easter

Print

This beautiful Spring Cake is really easy to make. By using edible grass, your cake will look like a a platter fresh sprouts. Top with chocolate bunnies and candy chocolate eggs for a festive Easter egg cake or leave it plain to celebrate the first day of spring, Nowruz.

Prep Time 3 hours 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Additional Time 3 hours

Total Time 6 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2-layer vanilla cake (made from box mix or from scratch)
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 TBS heavy cream
• Green food coloring
• 2 packages of Edible grass

Instructions

1. Bake your cakes, whether from a box mix or from scratch, in 8 or 9-inch cake pans. I use my olive oil vanilla cake recipe for many of my cakes (see links below).
2. Remove the cakes from their pans and cool them completely on a wire rack.
3. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whip the butter until fluffy and smooth.
4. Add vanilla and whip in powdered sugar, one cup at a time.
5. Mix in heavy cream, up to 2 TBS, to smooth out the buttercream frosting.
6. Add green food dye until it matches the color of your edible grass. You can also use blue and yellow food coloring, using a little more yellow to get this bright green.
7. Cut the domes from each cake layer to flatten them out. Place on a cake stand and frost entire cake and between layers generously with the green frosting. Don't skimp or else the edible grass won't stick to the cake.
8. Cut the edible grass into pieces long enough to cover the sides of the cake and about 1-inch above the cake.
9. Start pressing each strand of edible grass along the sides of the cake. Press smaller 1-inch pieces along the top of the cake. Grab your ipad and binge watch your favorite show because this can take about 3 hours for an 8-inch cake.
10. Wrap a ribbon around the cake and refrigerate until ready to serve. You can also use fondant if you want an edible ribbon.

Notes

I usually include my cake recipes in the same post as the decorating, but seriously this cake can be made from either box mix or homemade. I use my olive oil vanilla cake as the base. You can also use my vegan birthday cake as the base. This works best with an 8 or 9-inch cake base, as the sprouts you see in the store are not super tall.

For an Easter egg cake, top grass with chocolate bunnies and candy chocolate eggs.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

10

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 526Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 184mgCarbohydrates: 84gFiber: 0gSugar: 81gProtein: 1g

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