Have you ever looked at a cake that made you laugh out loud?

This is what I love about cake decorating. You can create memories and experiences through a cake. This Unicorn Cake is perfect for any celebration, birthday or just because it’s Friday!

Today we’re making my version of the trendy Fat Unicorn Cake you can find on Instagram. I first saw this hilarious cake from Choco Frutas by Lissy, I literally laughed out loud!

I just knew I had to make my own version of this cake to bring a little laughter and a lot of joy to my friends. Since this cake brought me so much happiness, I just knew I must put together this easy cake tutorial. So you too can create this Unicorn Cake in your home.

Tools & Recipes You May Need:

• Offset Spatula
• X-Acto Knife or small sharp knife
• Small Paintbrush
• Molding Tools
• Silicone Mat (optional)
• Turntable Cake Stand
• Cake Cardboard Circles or Cake Plate
• Star Piping Tip
• Pastry (Piping) Bag
• White Fondant (Homemade or Store Brand)
• Gold Luster Dust
• Gel Food Color (black, pink, purple, blue) optional
• Piping Gel (optional)
• 6” Styrofoam Cake Dummy (optional)
• Vanilla Cake (optional)
• Vanilla Buttercream (optional)

Let’s Start Decorating!

We are starting with the star of the show the unicorn. You can start making the Unicron a few days before decorating the cake. Typically I recommend making the cake toppers in advance to give you plenty of time to create and dry them. If you’re in a time crunch, mix in some tylose powder to make the fondant dry faster in a shorter amount of time. Start with three balls of white fondant, one – 2 ½” round piece for the unicorn body, one – 1 ½” round piece for the unicorn head, and one – 1” round piece for the pair of unicorn arms. (If the fondant is too sticky you can use cornstarch, or if the fondant is too dry you can use vegetable shortening).

First form the body of the unicorn, while your shaping the body cover the other small piece in plastic wrap to keep from drying out. Begin shaping the body into a long oval shape, taper the end of the fondant piece you’re looking for it to be thicker at the top and thinner towards the end. I decided to give the unicorn a belly since it’s supposed to be eating a cake.

The thinner side of the body will become the legs, so carefully cut and form the legs. I use an X-Acto knife, but you can use any small sharp knife to make the legs. Once you cut the legs carefully shape the legs into their curvy shape. Then use the pointed molding tool to mark the hoofs one each leg. Then make two small holes with a toothpick or skewer, one for the belly button and one for the head, so it has support going through it and the body.

Next, create the unicorn head, begin to shape the 1 ½” round piece of fondant into the head by gently pressing on the round ball, so one side is thicker than the other. The thicker side will become the mouth and cheeks while the thinner tapered side will be the eyes and forehead. I use my thumbs to mold and press to make the space for the eyes. I then make a small slit for the mouth and use the molding tool to pull down and form the open mouth.  Use one of the pointed molding tools to create two nostrils that look like raindrops. If you need help with getting the right shape look up horse pictures for reference.

Now we move onto the unicorn arms. Split the 1” round piece of fondant in half and make them into 2 ½” long ropes. Carefully cut a ¼” off of both ropes for the hoofs. Mold the arms into their curvy shape. Roll and attach the hoofs to the arms with water. Bend at the elbows for a more natural look. I used a 6” round styrofoam cake dummy to measure and hold up the unicorn so it could dry in this position.

Next, it’s time to create the unicorn horn. With two small pieces of white fondant shape into two thin ropes. One end will be thinner, twist the fondant pieces together. Measure the horn up to the head of the unicorn to get the right preposition. It’ll be about a 1”-1 ¼” long. Cut the horn and skewer it onto a small piece of wire or a toothpick to go into the top of the head later.

It’s Time to Make a Face

While all the unicorn pieces are drying, use a small piece of pink fondant to line the inside of the unicorn’s mouth. Then create a little tongue that’ll hang out of the open mouth. Remembering our unicorn is enjoying cake so her tongue must be out. We need to make her eyes next so shape a small piece of black fondant for the unicorns eyelashes and eyebrows. This instantly gives the unicorn a cute express and brings it to life!

Set the unicorn aside resting up against the styrofoam piece to continue to dry and harden. The unicorn can sit out of the sun in a cool place until your ready to use it.

Bake & Decorate Your Cake

This can be entirely up to you on how you want to decorate your cake. Today I’ll show you how to make the pink rosettes on the side of the cake.  I made a 6” cake of my foolproof vanilla cake recipe. One batch of the vanilla cake recipe was more than enough to make 3 layers of cake. When frosting the cake use a large 10″ or 12” cardboard round. This gives you extra room so the board so the unicorn can lay on it.

Once the cake is stacked, filled and frosted with a crumb coat, you can pipe the rosettes. Note: if you need help with this step, I’ve created a tutorial on this whole process that you can find here.

To make the rosettes use an open star tip like this one in a piping bag filled with pink vanilla buttercream. Next make the piping bag do all the work, with a slight swirl of your wrist and squeeze of the piping bag you have a pretty rosette. Start with the bottom of the cake and work in a circle while moving up. Continue to decorate until you have covered the whole top of the cake. This part is fun, carefully carve into the side of the cake where the unicorn would eat from.

It’s All About The Details

Carefully move the decorated cake off-center, so you have plenty of room for the unicorn to hang out. Next, attach the unicorn body to the cake board with a little bit of water or piping gel, so it doesn’t move around. Also, connect the arms to the body and place the head onto the toothpick or skewer that goes into the body.    

It’s time to add the unicorn’s hair, today I used a combination of pastel colors like pink, purple, blue and a little white that’ll we paint gold later. But feel free to change up the colors to fit your own style. Shape each color into long thin ropes and cut into different size pieces for the tail and hair. You can randomly place the pieces of fondant as I did for a fun look. Then add strands of white fondant throughout the unicorn tail and hair.

Next, carefully paint the edible gold (a mixture of gold luster dust and clear alcohol) onto the horn, hoofs and white strands of the tail and hair. You might want to add a few layers of the gold if the first pass doesn’t cover. This is the perfect sparkle to make the unicorn magical.

Add some cake crumbs to the unicorn’s mouth for the final touch which really sells the unicorn.

There you have it a fat, happy unicorn in a coma cake. Now it’s your turn to make others happy with your awesome cake decorating skills.

Happy Decorating!

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