Barcaldine baker serves up rabbit burgers on chocolate buns for Easter treat

Baker Aaron Skinn has put rabbit on his menu to supplement his cafe and bakery’s gourmet burger range over the holiday season in a light-hearted take on traditional Easter treats.

"Nothing says Easter food more than bunnies and chocolate," Aaron said.

"We super-sized one of our chocolate hot cross buns, got some rabbit meat from our local Barcaldine Butchery and set about crafting a burger around that idea.

"Some people might call us hopping mad to create a rabbit burger.”

Such a “hare-brained” idea should come as no surprise from the man who dreamt up a beetroot sourdough with pineapple pieces that won a Queensland baking award a couple of years ago.

“Just throwing things together” is how Aaron describes his penchant for the unusual, commenting that the customers who have tried the Easter Bunny Burger found it “surprisingly delicious”.

“We wouldn’t serve it up if it wasn’t, but there was some trepidation about the taste from consumers.”

As well as being expensive to make, they gave the local butchery a bit more than it bargained for, when it had to debone each carcase, sourced from a Toowoomba supplier.

“I could choose between caged and wild rabbits, and I chose the latter because I wanted more of that gamey flavour,” Aaron said.

Served with bbq sauce, grilled mushrooms and salad, the Easter Bunny Burger will most likely be on sale for another week.

If you miss out, you can come back for the Labour Day long weekend, when Aaron plans to add goat pies to his menu, in honour of the goat races that have become an established part of Barcaldine’s May Day celebrations.

No kidding.