Unicorn Cake
The endlessly-popular neverending-trending cake - recipe, tips, tricks, and supplies to make a bright and adorable Unicorn Cake!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 782kcal
Equipment
- 1 long wood skewer (or cake dowel or straw, to hold the unicorn horn on top of the cake - or a premade unicorn decorating kit)
- 3 small piping bags + tips (linked is a set that contains all the tips I used)
- 1 large piping bag + star tip (linked is a set that contains both)
Ingredients
Unicorn Cake layers
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter or 2 sticks, room temperature
- 5 eggs
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk room temperature
- 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2-3 drops soft pink gel food coloring (save and add later)
- 2-3 drops yellow gel food coloring (save and add later)
- 2-3 drops Purple gel food coloring (save and add later)
Cream cheese buttercream frosting (1.5x recipe for decorating)
- 12 ounces cream cheese (1 1/2 packages, softened)
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter (3 sticks, softened)
- 8-9 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 Tablespoons milk
- 1 ½ Tablespoons clear vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2-4 drops each pink, yellow, teal, and purple gel food coloring (you'll also need a bit of black if you want to pipe on the unicorn eyes).
Decorations
- Sprinkle mix of your choice optional
- Unicorn horn, ears, and eyes (you can buy a packaged set for usually $5-7 (pictured), but you can also make your own with fondant, lustre dust, and a bit of black icing! A several great tutorials (like this one) are available on YouTube!)
Instructions
Unicorn Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch round pans with baker's floured spray (or grease and line with parchment rounds).
- Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined. Mix bits of room-temperature butter into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter are visible, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
- Pour in eggs and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk on a low speed. Add in vanilla and oil, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
- Divide batter evenly between three bowls (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part), and color one purple, one pink, and one yellow. Transfer the batter into your prepared cake pans.
- Bake for 34-37 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans – it helps to run an offset spatula or knife around the perimeter of the pan first. Cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired. (This is a great time to make your frosting!)
- Once the layers have fully cooled, they can be leveled and any caramelized bits can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife if desired. Be sure the layers are completely cooled or chilled before trimming so they don't crumble or break.
Cream cheese buttercream frosting (1.5x recipe for decorating)
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt and beat until well combined.
Assembly
- Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle. Spread the layer with frosting, and add some sprinkles on top if desired. Repeat the process with your remaining cake layers.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer.
- Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part. Once your cake is covered, place it into the fridge or freezer to set the frosting.
Now - onto the fun part! Decorating!
- If you want to make your own Unicorn horn, ears, and eyes, you can use fondant to do so – fondant can be purchased, but it’s also fairly easy to make your own!
- If decorating with fondant, soften it slightly in the microwave and then shape into a large unicorn horn and ears. Color a small amount of leftover frosting black, and use it to pipe on on eye lines and eyelashes.
- If you’re using a pre-made decorating set, you can place the horn and ears into the cake now so you can pipe around them. I added the eyes later, after I’d done a lot of the piping, so that I could center them on the space left on the side of the cake after I’d added the unicorn ‘mane’ on the top and sides of the cake.
- To pipe on the unicorn ‘mane,’ split a recipe of frosting into four parts, and color them purple, pink, yellow, and teal (or other colors if you’d rather). I used Americolor food gel to get the bright colors that I wanted, but liquid food coloring would work if you’d like a more pastel shade to your colors.
- Transfer your colored frosting to each of four piping bags fitted with piping nozzles – I used a variety of mostly star-shaped tips. I started with the larger piping bags and piped a large rosette onto the unicorn’s ‘forehead’, and worked my way backward from there. I love being able to see the mane when looking at the cake from the front, so my unicorn had a very wide mane of frosting decorations, but you can make it as wide or narrow as you choose.
- Once you’ve piped on the colored frosting to make the unicorn mane, you can add some sprinkles to the frosting for a bit of extra color/texture. Add the unicorn eyes to the front of the cake.
- Step back, give yourself a high-five, and admire your cake!
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 782kcal | Carbohydrates: 101g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 38g