DIY Unicorn Cake Tutorial

My daughter had a Magical Unicorn Party for her fifth birthday. You can't have a unicorn party without a unicorn cake so I decided to attempt one of the most failed cakes and I think I nailed it!

Yes I wanted the cake to be taller but I didn't have any 6" cake pans and I would of preferred the icing to be a little thicker looking but you can only do so much with store bought icing... I need to find a good homemade icing recipe... besides my nit picking, I think the cake turned out really good. The pictures seriously don't do it justice.

My daughter loved her cake and had a blast at her Magical Unicorn Party and that is all that matters! Doesn't she look so happy?!?!

Now for the fun part. I'm not an expert cake maker, not even close, just a self taught mom who likes to save money by doing it myself. Check out my other cakes HERE!

You can easily make this cake any size you want and in any color scheme. I matched the colors of the unicorn's mane to the colors of the unicorn on my daughter's shirt.

Supplies:

• 2 - 4 Cakes
• White Frosting
• Neon Food Dye
• Black Decorating Gel or Black Food Dye
• White Chocolate
• Tooth Picks and/or Wood Skew
• Pink & Gold Sugar Sprinkles
• Frosting Bags, Ziploc Bags, or Freezer bag
• Variety of Frosting Tips

How To:

1. Bake your cakes. I used three 8" cakes. I made two strawberry and the third one was chocolate. I used the leftover chocolate batter to make cupcake ice-cream cones. *see below

You can make a cake from scratch or use box cakes like I did. If you have another pan you can easily make a fourth layer to make your unicorn cake taller. If you have 6" cake pans I would suggest using four thin layers or 2 thick layers depending on your pan.

If you are making a smash cake I would probably use one thick 6" cake pan. 

2. Layer your cakes with frosting in-between each layer.

3. Frost the outside of your cake with white frosting. This does not have to be perfect since you will be covering most of it with more frosting. 

4. Divide the white frosting into bowls and add the neon food coloring until it is a color you like. I used pink, blue and yellow. 

You can buy frosting already in the colors you want but I knew I wouldn't need a full jar of each color so decided to use food coloring. 

5. Prepare your frosting bags with the colors and tips of your choosing. You can use Ziploc bags or freezer bags and cut a small hole in the corner and add your tip if you want.

I used Wilton size 32, 21, 18 and 21 as a filler. I used these sizes because I already had them. I need to invest in some extra large frosting tips. If you have those, I suggest using those.

6. Start decorating the mane by adding swirls, flowers and dots randomly on your cake. Keep in mind that the entire back of the cake will be covered and the mane so make sure to leave the front and a small place on top white. 

7. Switch out colors and frosting tips and continue to add swirls, flowers and dots randomly on your cake until it is full and to your liking. 

I ended up adding more to the top and the sides because I wanted to be able to see the colors from the front. This is what the cake looked like from the back:

And from the front:

8. Make the Ears and the Horn. You can do this several ways. You can use paper, fondant, buy the plastic unicorn decorations, molding chocolate, or use chocolate. 

I melted some white chocolate chips I already had and poured it into a prepared frosting bag with a #3 tip. 

I lined a plate with wax paper, lay a small wooded skew down and made the shape of a unicorn horn with the chocolate. I quickly covered the horn with gold sugar sprinkles.

Set in the fridge to harden. 

I did the same thing for the ears but used tooth picks instead. I added some pink sugar sprinkles to the middle of the ears.

Make sure to leave the skew/tooth pick sticking out the bottom so you can stick it in the cake.

You can also write your child's name with the chocolate. I did but it didn't look right anywhere on the cake so I didn't end up using it. If you do use the chelate to write your child's name make sure all the letters connect and be carful when handling it. 

I left the chocolate ears and horn in the fridge over night.

Right before the party I finished decorating the cake by carefully sticking the ears and the horn in the top of the cake. I then used a small thing of black decorating gel I bought at Walmart to add the eyes.

I displayed the cake next to the ice-cream cone cupcakes with a sign that said "Be a Unicorn in a field of Horses" until it was time for the birthday girl to blow out the candle.

The cake was easier to make than I was expecting it to be. Although it doesn't look like one of those professional unicorn cakes decorated with fondant and icing, I think it turned out pretty cute and everyone loved it! 

I used the cake pans and frosting tips I already had and made it work! If I had 6" cake pans and thicker frosting tips it may of looked a little closer to the Pinterest cakes but I can't complain. 

As I said before the pictures don't do it justice, it was a very cute cake in person! My daughter loved it and I think it turned out pretty good for my first attempt at making a unicorn cake. I hope this tutorial helps you decorate a unicorn cake for your little one. I'd love to know how it turned out in the comments below or feel free to tag me on Facebook  |  Pinterest  |  Instagram @beeingmommy!

Keep scrolling for more pictures of the cake!

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