Aug 19, 2012

The Rainbow Unicorn Cake semi-tute

Big Little Miss M requested a 5th birthday with everything unicorn and rainbow... so off to Google, pinterest and all about to find some inspiration to make a Homemade Rainbow Unicorn Cake. The final product was a blend of about 5 or so different cakes I'd seen photo's of with touches of my own desire.

The base slab cake that the unicorn sits on is made up of a seven layered rainbow cake.

I made the rainbow, tie die fondant by making up 2 long skinny sausages of fondant in each color and then randomly twisting two colors together and then twisting all the twists into a big thick rope.

I then spiraled them into a snail like shape and then rolled it out thereby creating the lovely multicolored effect. Keep rolling to a minimum as you don't want to end up with a mucky khaki blob of fondant.

To roll it out super thin and smooth I used one of my new favourite kitchen thingys... simply called "The mat" which basically is two large clear food grade sheets of plastic that the fondant is rolled between. It also makes getting the fondant onto the cake super easy... I ordered my mat here in Oz from Cakes by Karen... watch the video on the link when you get a moment - I promise you it REALLY is as easy as it looks!!!

The horn was made using a white and rainbow colored fondant sausages twisted and tapered to a horn shape around a wooden skewer and sprinkled with edible gold glitter with the very tip dipped in glitter for a solid sparkle tip.

The rainbow fondant curlicues were made by rolling multiple color strips of the fondant side by side very thin and slicing strips to curl around a chopstick, sliding them off and setting them aside to harden ahead of time.

The unicorn is made using the Wilton Little Lamb Cake pan. I trimmed off the ears and shaped the head a little whilst also molding legs and the nose using a biscuit cake pop mix.

Now I warn you, it's not pretty at this stage... in fact it's quite fugly. I honestly began to wonder at this point if my girls cake was going to be the most ugly, wrong looking unicorn cake in the history of unicorn cakes!!!

The nose was molded around a small toothpick to make attaching easier. The whole unicorn shape was then crumb coated and butter creamed.

I used white homemade marshmallow fondant to cover the unicorn - this was a little tricky to try to not have too many seams or joins. Believe me I sat and simply stared at my rolled out fondant on the mat and the cake above for quite some time just trying to get my head around how I could get the fondant on and over all the shapes. In the end I just went for it... I know, I know, your probably thinking... reckless, regular wild one here... oh, how domesticated my life is - if only you knew people, if only you knew (we all have background stories don't we that feel like another lifetime ago... maybe I was reckless once but now... fondant brashness is it - for now anyways).

I ultimately used two pieces and had the seam/join below the chin and behind the head where the mane covered most of the join. I rubbed some gorgeous translucent edible glitter over the entire body - but in truth I think the two photos above are about the only two where you can see the glitter sheen/sparkle.

I rolled out some pink fondant to cover the unicorns hooves and the eyes and lashes were cut from colored fondant and then attached with fondant glue.

Grrr... that black smudge above the eyelash irritates the bahjeezus outta me!

I then piped small amounts of butter cream to attach the tail and mane curls. The horn was simply attached with the skewer it was wrapped around and the ears made from fondant were attached into indents with a little fondant glue.

The cake was a huge hit with the children and adults alike and I was very happy with the results... but most importantly - my beautiful birthday girl LOVED it!

It might look tricky or daunting to take on but seriously if you don't try you'll never know... you just might surprise yourself!

If you want the recipe I use for either the buttercream or marshmallow fondant CLICK HERE to go to the post I did some time ago – the recipes are within the post!

And as always I love knowing the SOMEONE is reading along or enjoying my ever so sporadic blogging… feel free to pop a comment my way, say hi, ask me to clarify – as it’s late here and what makes sense to me may, in the light of day be a muddle!

43 comments:

  1. Absolutely remarkable! I don't think I could make it in a month of Sundays..a fabulous job!

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    1. Thanks Carol! I love decorating cakes and I feel like each time I do one I get just a little better or at least just a little more time efficient and less stressed during the process! I only do it for my girls and family and its all for the look on their faces and the memory creations (my Mum always baked and decorated our birthday cakes as kids and I kind of hope my girls will do the same for theirs one day).

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  2. This is awesome - amazing job!! Love all the rainbow features Would love for you to link it to my Craftastic Monday link party:)

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    1. Thank you so much Cheryl. My girl is (and admittedly I am too) somewhat rainbow crazy... Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment too! I've popped over to your fabulous blog and have joined up with your party! Lots of super inspiring projects going on there! ♥

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  3. oh my gosh, that is so ridiculously amazing, i can't take it! that swirly horn, the colors inside! fabulous!

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    1. Thanks so much... it was rainbow everything for the day and it really was such fun!

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  4. Oh my goodness! I wish I had seen this last year when I was doing my daughter's 5th Unicorn birthday! Not that I could make a cake look like that on my best day... But your whole party is very inspiring. Thanks so much for sharing!

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    1. Thanks Alison! I love the sharing and learning aspect of the blogosphere and just how friendly everyone is - I've learnt and been inspired by many and am happy that I can do the same from time to time :)

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  5. this is the COOLEST cake i have ever seen home made!

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    1. Thanks Lily Bean! I only worry that my girls expectations get bigger and grander each year and I may have set the bar a little high too early on :)))

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  6. Oh MY GOODNESS! What an amazing cake!! I'm going to give you a big shout out on facebook - people need to see this!!
    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous weekend!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks Jill! Love your linky and will definitely be needing to do some more tutes to link up soon!

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  7. Wow! This is seriously A-mazing and I am featuring it today at my Pink Hippo Party @ http://pinkapotamus.blogspot.com
    xoxo
    Amie @ Pinkapotamus

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  8. I LOVE this cake!!! What size cake pan did you use for the layered cake? I can't seem to find a shallow pan wide enough or shallow enough. Thanks again on this semi-tute!!

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    1. Hi Hope and thanks! I actually used a roasting pan as it was the perfect size. It worked really well with the thin layers too!

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  9. AMAZING! you did a GREAT job with the cake! I'm featuring your cake as my top feature today from Topsy Turvy Third Tuesdays! Thanks for linking up and sharing!

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    1. Hi Ashlee! Thanks so much for the feature and the lovely compliments! I LOVE your white trash trailer cake - the details are AMAZING!!!

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  10. WOW! That is AMAZING!! You make it look so easy but I bet it took a lot of hard work! I'm blown away!

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  11. This so soo awesome!! Would love to make this. My daughter turning 5 wants a unicorn cake..looks so hard though. Dont have much cake making experience and have never touched fondunt..wish me luck!! Fabulous job!!!

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  12. omggg that's so amazing! What's not to love?!! I'm in my mid 20's and would absolutely LOVE a party like this :)

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  13. This is a super awesome cake and party theme! I've gotten a lot of useful info and inspiration for my own requested unicorn cake! I do have a question though. When you say that you used biscuit cake pop mix to fashion the nose and legs, what exactly do you mean? What type of cake pop recipe/method did you use (cake mix with icing, biscuits with icing?; also I'm American so I'm not sure if what you call biscuits we call cookies or if you mean biscuit mix that makes bread/pancakes) I'm concerned about the nose being too heavy to attach successfully and was even considering using rice treats to sculpt it, but I'm unsure. Any help would be much appreciated since yours was obviously a fantastic success! Thanks for the inspiration!!

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    1. Hi Catie!
      So glad that you liked the party theme and cake - even more so that you're inspired by it!
      Here in Australia our biscuits are what I think you would call cookies (definitely not pancake or scone/bread mix)... I used "Tim Tams" but you could use oreo's or similar instead. I used a white choc biscuit (cookie) but it shouldn't show through the fondant even if you use a dark/chocolate type cookie. I used a packet of finely crumbed Tim Tams and about 60gms of firm icing mixture (you could use cream cheese but it can be a little too soft to keep shape) Rice crispy mix is also perfect for shaping the trickier bits. I'm thinking cookie dough could also work reasonably well! So long as you don't make the nose too long and use some support (like a skewer or food grade wire) it should hold up nicely - especially as the fondant will help hold it all in place too.
      Good luck with the party and cake - and have FUN with it... the kiddo's love cake no matter how it looks really! I'd love to know how you go with it!
      :)

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    2. Hi darl this is truly amazing any chance your in Brisbane and would make this for my daughters birthday lol

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  14. LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS!!! I am going to do this for my daughters' 6 year old bday in a few weeks. I got the lamb pan. I do have a few Wilton cake pans that are large, and rectangle. Would those be ok to use to make the layers of the cake? I only have 1 of each size, so I will have to keep making the separate layers and baking. I think I will try the Rice Krispie mix you mention, I know on a show here in the US, 'The Cake Boss", he uses Rice Krispies quite often to mold pieces in his elaborate cakes, then carves them down if needed. I am a bit intimidated by the fondant I have to admit. How much will I need ? For the Unicorn, and then for the cake underneath?

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  15. You did a Fabulous job! I'm so inspired. I've recently began to dabble in baking. I made some cupcakes (I know, "whoopee", lol) but I'm still flying high off my success with them and am considering trying to make a version of your cake for my littlest one's birthday. My question: How far in advance can I make this and it still be fresh and stay together? Would I have to place it in some sort of covered container? or in the fridge??

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  16. I am in total awe. Simply amazing work! Your daughter looks so amazed & happy! Great job. :)

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  17. Hi, your cake is fantastic and so amazingly pretty! Would you be able to share how you attach the head to the body? I usually use chocolate mud cake for my fondant cakes and am wondering if the head can also be made of cake?
    But I'm not sure how the support structure is.
    Hope you can shed some light on it! Thanks!

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  18. Wowza! You did an incredible job!

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  19. I absolutely love this and I am going to attempt it myself! One of my best friends is obsessed with unicorns (ha and she is turning 24 :p). I am throwing her a surprise unicorn party at the end of the month. Wish me luck :)

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  20. This is seriously one of the most amazing things I've seen. Ever. My jaw dropped when I saw this. Leave it to pinterest to make me want to up my game. ha ha! I actually have that little lamb pan hiding in my cabinets and am thinking I'm going to attempt this. Hopefully it won't be one of those pins that turn out disastrous once I actually do it. :-) You are amazing and thank you for sharing your talent with us!

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  21. I just love this cake! Going to attempt it for my daughter's 4th birthday. Question- what was your approach for getting the Unicorn on top of the layered cake? I assume you gingerly lifted it up with two spatulas underneath maybe? Was the layered cake ice cold? Did you do all the details on the unicorn while it was sitting on the bottom cake?
    Also- so I cut one huge piece of fondant and just lay it over the lamb shape and then start pushing it all in with my hands? And then push on that second piece? Do you have a recipe for your biscuit pop mix? Sorry so many questions! Thanks for sharing this!!

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    1. @Ima - not sure if you've already done this yet, but my wife used a thin flexible cutting board to scoop the entire unicorn off of the board she used to build it and then carefully slid it off the cutting board onto the top of our daughter's base cake (finished picture down a couple comments...)

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  22. All I can say is WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .............. I am going to attempt to practice this one SOMETIME this YEAR lol

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  23. i so want to make this but i am not that talented. my daughter really wants it now too. that is absolutely gorgeous

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  24. Your children are sooooo lucky to have you! I try to make beautiful cakes for my girls but there is no comparison to yours! A true work of art!

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    1. Hi The Spangler! I live in Sydney and am a complete novice however I am taking your advice and giving it a go! I have purchased the mat and lamb cake tin. Now looking at ordering fondant and colourings. I am considering Fondarific in Wedding White and Americolor gels as I found them via your link to the mat. Any opinions? I've read both good and bad things about the fondant but have no experience with anything to make a real judgement. Any help would be soooo appreciated (especially since this is turning out to cost a fortune!!). I also wondered how you shaped the eye sockets and nostrils, if I could cut a chunk of sponge and stick on the face with toothpicks, and what tools I may need to purchase? Any pearls of wisdom would be amazing! Thank you!

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  25. Hi The Spangler! I live in Sydney and am a complete novice however I am taking your advice and giving it a go! I have purchased the mat and lamb cake tin. Now looking at ordering fondant and colourings. I am considering Fondarific in Wedding White and Americolor gels as I found them via your link to the mat. Any opinions? I've read both good and bad things about the fondant but have no experience with anything to make a real judgement. Any help would be soooo appreciated (especially since this is turning out to cost a fortune!!). I also wondered how you shaped the eye sockets and nostrils, if I could cut a chunk of sponge and stick on the face with toothpicks, and what tools I may need to purchase? Any pearls of wisdom would be amazing! Thank you!

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  26. This cake is Gorgeous!!!! I love all things colorful, tie-dyed, and equine and this ones hits them all. My only question is if the fondant icing actually tastes good? I mean I know these cakes are edible, but are they Enjoyable to eat? The creative person in me wants to try fondant baking but I hate to make something so lovely and then not enjoy eating it.

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  27. Absolutely ADORABLE!!!!! How much would you charge for doing this phenominal cake?

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  28. This is the first time I have seen this Cake and Your Daughter would be 9 now but OMG This Cake is Amazing!! I want to try this for My Baby Girl too (She will be 21 in December lol ) You are a Legend Making this and then having to Cut it Up My Heart went out to you :'( (Don't Fib you had to go to the bathroom to have a Cry I know I would have) I am now going to follow your Blog and as your an Aussie Your a Bloody Living Legend!!! Cheers Kylie

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  29. I'm going to give it a shot! I'll be making it vegan since big sister is vegan... Hope I don't end up on Nailed It!

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  30. I made it!!! everyone loved it and i cant believe I did it... I think the part of your blog that convinced me to try was your statement that you "just went for it"

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  31. Love this cakes! Nice post. I like your views
    I think it can be helpful. Find best
    Unicorn smash cake
    Smash cakes

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