Unicorn Smash Cake
Is there ANYTHING cuter than smash cakes? Recipe and decorating tips to make your own adorable and beautiful Unicorn Smash Cake!
Servings: 1 6-inch smash cake
Calories: 688kcal
Equipment
- 1 8 inch cardboard cake circle (a 6-inch cake circle will work; I've just found moving cakes easier on a larger circle)
- small offset spatula (to spread frosting)
- cake scraper or pastry cutter (to smooth frosting)
- Cake turntable (optional, but makes decorating much faster and easier!)
- Cake leveler (or serrated knife & ruler)
- 2 large piping bags + star tips (linked is a set that contains the bags & tips I used)
- 2 small piping bags + tips (linked is a set that contains the bags & tips I used along with the Wilton 1M tip)
Ingredients
Cake layers
- 1 box Vanilla cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines French Vanilla)
- ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick, melted and cooled)
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature or use 1 cup milk mixed with with 2 tsp lemon juice
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 4 ounces butter (softened)
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- 1-2 drops Purple gel food coloring (save & add later)
- 1-2 drops soft pink gel food coloring (save & add later)
- 1-2 drops yellow gel food coloring (save & add later)
- 1-2 drops teal gel food coloring (save & add later)
Decorations
- 1 Unicorn decorating set (you can use a packaged set or make your own with fondant, lustre dust, and a bit of black icing! A several great tutorials (like this one) are available on YouTube!)
- Gold pearlized sprinkles optional
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare two 6 inch round pans with baker's floured cooking spray, or grease and line with parchment rounds.
- Combine melted butter, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl and mix until combined. Add in cake mix and stir until moistened (about 30 seconds), then beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.
- Using a kitchen scale, divide batter evenly between the two 6” pans – I had about 450g in each pan. (Using the kitchen scale guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.)
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, (or until a skewer comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans. 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!)
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt if needed and beat until well combined.
Assembly
- Once your cakes are cool, level them - this can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler. 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. Add your second cake layer on top – I like to flip the top layer upside down to make smoothing the top edge easier.
- 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 tiers to keep crumbs out of your final layer. Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 10 minutes in the fridge), add your final layer of frosting and smooth (I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for my final frosting layers).
Decorating
- To pipe on the unicorn ‘mane,’ split the remainder of your frosting into four parts, and color them purple, pink, yellow, and teal. (I used Americolor food gel to get the bright colors that I wanted, but liquid food coloring would work as well, especially if you’d like a more pastel shade to your colors.)
- Transfer colored frosting to each of four piping bags fitted with piping nozzles – I used a variety of mostly star-shaped tips, but you can use whatever shape you would like! 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 fairly wide mane of frosting decorations, but you can make it as wide or narrow as you like.
- Once you’ve piped on the colored frosting to make the unicorn mane, add the unicorn horn / ears. (You can also add some pearlized sprinkles to the frosting for a bit of extra sparkle.) Add the unicorn eyes to the front of the cake.
- Step back, admire your cake, and find someone to give you a high-five! (Shoot me a DM on Instagram if you can’t find anyone right away!)
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 688kcal | Carbohydrates: 95g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 33g