This cute unicorn cake is made with no artificial food coloring or flavors and is a 2-tier, 6-inch, homemade vanilla cake, with buttercream frosting, and flower piping for a unicorn mane.
Cute Unicorn Cake
This unicorn cake is a must-make for a first birthday smash cake, a birthday cake to celebrate your little ones, and more. A two-layered cake that is decorated to look like a unicorn.
What I love about this is the decorating of the cake is pretty easy, so even if you are not a great cake decorator you should be able to do this easily enough.
Make sure to check out my unicorn popcorn or even my unicorn ice cream as other themed unicorn treats you might enjoy.
This Unicorn Cake Recipe Is…
- No artificial food coloring or flavors
- Made with a homemade cake recipe
- Buttercream frosting
- Two Layer Cake
- Uses Amazon Kit for Unicorn
- Great for birthday parties and more
Can I Use a Boxed Cake Instead of a Homemade?
Yes, if you want to skip using a homemade cake, go right ahead. You can use a boxed cake mix flavor of your choice.
To make it taste more like a bakery, swap the oil for butter, water for milk, and add in an additional egg.
Then bake the cake the same as directed on the back of the box.
How to Store Cake
Make sure that you store the cake in an airtight container. You can buy cake containers to prevent messing up the decorating of the cake. You can then store the cake at room temperature or in the fridge.
I like buttercream to keep in the fridge to prevent it from going bad.
You may also freeze the cake if you want. Just place it in a freezer-friendly container and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw on the counter or in the fridge overnight before eating.
What Size of Cake Pan Did I Use for This Cake?
I used 6-inch round cake pans for this cake. Now you could get away with using a 7-inch if you need to.
I do recommend greasing your pan and then placing parchment paper on the bottom of the pan.
That way it comes out easily and you don’t run the risk of the cake breaking when you try to get out of the pan.
Can I use regular food coloring?
If you do not want to use pea flowers and beetroot that is okay. This is just what I used but you can use any liquid or gel food coloring instead if you prefer. Just color to your desired colors. Start with a little and add a bit more if needed to enhance or deepen the color.
Why do you have to allow your cake to cool before frosting?
If you don’t allow your cake to cool first, it is going to melt the frosting into the cake. Then your frosting will be messed up. Make sure your cake is fully cooled before you go to frost the cake.
How to remove clumps from powdered sugar?
If your powdered sugar has quite a few lumps simply get a sieve and run the powdered sugar through it. This is going to help give you an ultra-creamy frosting.
Where if you leave the clumps it can become a bit messy, and you might find all the lumps don’t break down when mixed up.
Easy Unicorn Cake
Prep time 1 hour
Cook time 20 minutes
Yields 1 cake (2 layers, 6 inches)
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Ingredients:
Cake:
- Granulated sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Large eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Sour cream
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Milk
Frosting:
- Salted butter, softened to room temperature
- Confectioners sugar
- Heavy whipping cream
- Vanilla extract
- Pink frosting color: beetroot powder, or more if you desire (see link below)
- Blue frosting color: butterfly pea powder, or more if you desire (see link below)
- Purple frosting color: butterfly pea powder and beetroot powder, or more if you desire
- For exact amounts, please see the printable recipe card below.
Decoration:
- Unicorn horn cake topper and eyelashes found on amazon
More Magical Recipes
- Unicorn Ice Cream Recipe - It’s National Ice Cream Day and today we are celebrating with a Unicorn Ice Cream recipe. It can also be called Mermaid Ice Cream and used for a mermaid party.
- Unicorn Popcorn Recipe - Today we have a fun recipe that can also be used for Easter because of the colors. The Unicorn Popcorn recipe is one that kids and adults both love.
- Little Mermaid Oreo Cookies - The Little Mermaid Oreo Cookies recipe is almost too pretty to eat. I love the tiny seashells and starfish. Perfect for a magical Disney mermaid celebration.
- Little Mermaid Cupcakes Recipe - Colorful mermaid cupcakes to make for your next magical celebration. These Ariel cupcakes are adorable, and they are so easy to make!
How to Make a Unicorn Cake
Preheat the oven to 350° F.
In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil. Whisk together until fully incorporated.
Add the sour cream and milk and combine.
In another mixing bowl, combine and mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients Into the wet ingredients until a smooth batter remains.
Spray the two 6” cake pans with oil and pour the evenly divided amount of batter in each.
Place the pans on a baking sheet for convenience and cook at 350°f for 20 minutes. Test the center of the cakes with a toothpick to be sure they’re fully cooked.
Once cooked, remove and set aside to completely cool before removing cakes from the an.
How to Make the Frosting
While the cakes are cooling, add the butter, 3 cups of confectioners sugar, and half of the cream and vanilla. Mix until creamy, gradually adding and alternating the remaining sugar, cream, and vanilla.
Once the ingredients are mixed, increase the speed to high and whip the frosting for 5 minutes.
Divide the frosting in half. Set aside 1 half. Divide the other half into thirds. You will use each third to make the pink frosting, blue frosting, and purple frosting.
To mix the pink color, add beetroot powder 1 teaspoon at a time until the desired color.
Next, mix the blue color, and add butterfly pea powder 1 teaspoon at a time until the desired color.
To mix the purple color, add 1 teaspoon beetroot, and 1and teaspoon butterfly pea, and until the desired color.
Divide the remaining ½ of the white buttercream by removing ⅓ and setting aside for mess-ups.
Once cakes are fully cooled, using a cake or bread knife slice off the risen center of the cakes making them flat-topped.
Place the bottom layer on a flat surface. Add a dollop of white frosting and evenly spread leaving a ½” thickness.
Flip the other cake upside down and on top of the frosted cake.
Putting It All Together
Completely frost the two layers of cake with a thin layer of white buttercream frosting. Smooth frosting as desired but maintain the edges of the cakes.
Now apply more buttercream frosting to thicken the layer and form the base of your cake.
Insert the cake topper in the center of the cake. Place the eyelashes in the front of the cake center to the cake topper. I used tweezers for this.
To pipe the unicorn mane, add the three colored frostings to piping bags and use decorative piping tips. For the pink, and purple, I used the drop flower piping tip that comes in the set. For the blue, I used the small round tip.
Start with pink. Pipe and use a large rounding motion, and front to create a large, round flower.
Next with the purple. I piped using slow motion squeezing a little of the frosting out of the piping bag onto the cake until it was a small flower. Use the purple to fill in where the pink didn’t.
Last for the blue, use the round tip. Use a similar process as the purple to create a dot. Use the blue to fill in spots where the pink and purple aren’t.
Continue to pipe floral dots flowing from the back of the topper down and swooping to one side as a lane would lay. Randomize the placement of the colors.
Serve this cake at your next magical party!
Unicorn Cake Recipe With No Artificial Colors
This cute unicorn cake is made with no artificial food coloring or flavors and is a 2-tier, 6-inch, homemade vanilla cake, with buttercream frosting, and flower piping for a unicorn mane.
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅔ cup milk
Frosting:
- 1 cup salted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pink frosting color: 2 teaspoons beetroot powder, or more if you desire (see link below)
- Blue frosting color: 2 teaspoons butterfly pea powder, or more if you desire (see link below)
- Purple frosting color: 1 teaspoon each butterfly pea powder and beetroot powder, or more if you desire.
Decoration:
- Unicorn horn cake topper and eyelashes found on amazon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil. Whisk together until fully incorporated.
- Add the sour cream and milk and combine.
- In another mixing bowl, combine and mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients Into the wet ingredients until a smooth batter remains.
- Spray the two 6” cake pans with oil and pour the evenly divided amount of batter in each.
- Place the pans on a baking sheet for convenience and cook at 350°f for 20 minutes. Test the center of the cakes with a toothpick to be sure they’re fully cooked.
- Once cooked, remove and set aside to completely cool before removing the cakes from the pans.
- While the cakes are cooling, add the butter, 3 cups of confectioners sugar, and half of the cream and vanilla. Mix until creamy, gradually adding and alternating the remaining sugar, cream, and vanilla.
- Once the ingredients are mixed, increase the speed to high and whip the frosting for 5 minutes.
- Divide the frosting in half. Set aside 1 half. Divide the other half into thirds. You will use each third to make the pink frosting, blue frosting, and purple frosting.
- To mix the pink color, add beetroot powder 1 teaspoon at a time until the desired color.
- To mix the blue color, add butterfly pea powder 1 teaspoon at a time until the desired color.
- To mix the purple color, add 1 teaspoon beetroot, and 1and teaspoon butterfly pea, and until the desired color.
- Divide the remaining ½ of the white buttercream by removing ⅓ and setting aside for mess-ups.
- Once cakes are fully cooled, using a cake or bread knife slice off the risen center of the cakes making them flat-topped.
- Place the bottom layer on a flat surface. Add a dollop of white frosting and evenly spread leaving a ½” thickness.
- Flip the other cake upside down and on top of the frosted cake.
- Completely frost the two layers of cake with a thin layer of white buttercream frosting. Smooths frost as desired but maintain the edges of the cakes.
- Now apply more buttercream frosting to thicken the layer and form the base of your cake.
- Insert the cake topper in the center of the cake. Place the eyelashes in the front of the cake center to the cake topper. I used tweezers for this.
- To pipe the unicorn mane, add the three colored frostings to piping bags and use decorative piping tips. For the pink, and purple, I used the drop flower piping tip that comes in the set. For the blue, I used the small round tip.
- Start with pink. Pipe and use a large rounding motion, and front to create a large, round flower.
- Next with the purple. I piped using slow motion squeezing a little of the frosting out of the piping bag onto the cake until it was a small flower. Use the purple to fill in where the pink didn’t.
- Last for the blue, use the round tip. Use a similar process as the purple to create a dot. Use the blue to fill in spots where the pink and purple aren’t.
- Continue to pipe floral dots flowing from the back of the topper down and swooping to one side as a lane would lay. Randomize the placement of the colors.
- Serve this cake at your next magical party!
Notes
Can I Use a Boxed Cake Instead of a Homemade?
Yes, if you want to skip using a homemade cake, go right ahead. You can use a boxed cake mix flavor of your choice.
To make it taste more like a bakery, swap the oil for butter, water for milk, and add in an additional egg.
Then bake the cake the same as directed on the back of the box.
How to Store Cake
Make sure that you store the cake in an airtight container. You can buy cake containers to prevent messing up the decorating of the cake. You can then store the cake at room temperature or in the fridge.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 1073Total Fat 51gSaturated Fat 25gTrans Fat 2gUnsaturated Fat 23gCholesterol 165mgSodium 660mgCarbohydrates 150gFiber 1gSugar 125gProtein 7g
Nutrition may vary depending on the products used.
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