Unicorn cakes have been trending for a while now, with most being a single tier made to look like the head of a unicorn.  But what if you want something bigger and fancier? Like a 3 tier unicorn cake with pearls… and WINGS!  Well you’re in luck, I just happen to have made the tutorial you need – watch and learn how to ice and decorate your very own magical rainbow unicorn cake from start to finish in buttercream, complete with watercolour wafer paper wings 🙂

What’s more, this is one of my simpler tutorials provided you know how to ice a cake – the hardest thing about it is cutting into the cake at the end!

You can see the video tutorial here:

Read on for equipment list and instructions:

Equipment & Materials:

3 cakes, 4″ round, 6″ round double height & 8″ round, coated in my buttercream, and another batch of buttercream to decorate with.   Click here if you don’t know how to build a cake or need a cake recipe, and if you need a buttercream smoothing tutorial or my go-to buttercream recipe.

• A little fondant or modelling paste
• Edible dragees or crisp pearls
• Piping bag fitted with Wilton 2D
• Edible Wafer Paper
• Candy Melts, White
• Rainbow Dust Colour Flo Turquoise
• Rainbow Dust Colour Flo Purple
• Rainbow Dust Colour Flo Rose
• Rainbow Dust Metallic Light Gold Edible Food Paint
• Rainbow Dust Pen Silver

In addition you’ll need a few bamboo skewers, a scraper, brushes, turntable and other basic tools – see my list of recommended products below.

Products I Recommend

Instructions:

1. Coat all 3 of your cakes smoothly in buttercream, then chill until firm.  Watch this tutorial if you need to.
2. Dowel and stack the cakes. Use the tutorial below if you don’t know how to do that.
3. Colour the remaining buttercream as shown, and fill a piping bag fitted with a 2D piping tip with all 3 colours of buttercream.
4. Roll out some fondant and shape the ears and eyes as shown.  Roll out a tapered piece of fondant and wrap around a skewer to form the horn.  Paint using edible gold and allow to dry.
5. Cut out wing shapes in 3 sizes as shown, then layer them and use a little water to adhere (too much will make the wafer paper melt).  You can search for a template online if you wish, but I drew them freehand.
6. Colour the wings with a little pink food colouring diluted in a few drops of water with lemon extract or dipping solution added.  Be careful not to saturate the wings as this will make them tear, or warp and curl on drying.  If you prefer, you could airbrush the colour on or use petal dust.  Lay flat and allow the wings to dry fully, a light dusting of cornflour (cornstarch) may help soak up excess moisture.
7. Attach the eyes using a little buttercream painted on the underside.
8. Pipe swirls and stars to form the hair, as shown.  Pipe the tail on the bottom tier on the opposite side similarly.
9. Push the ears and horn on as shown, the buttercream should help them hold place.
10. Dip skewers into melted candy melts or white chocolate and stick them onto the front inner edge of the wings as shown.  Allow to dry a little then push the skewer into the lower tier to position the wings behind the body.
11. Decorate with crisp pearls or dragees of choice, then try not to get too attached before you need to serve 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, stay tuned for more on my YouTube channel next week!

*This post contains some affiliate links, which means I get a small commission if you use them at no extra cost to you (it’s already built into the normal price).  Please do click on the products shown, even if just to have a look.  Thank you for supporting my tutorials!