It’s the weekend and that means it’s ok to have cupcakes for breakfast. Right? These are no ordinary cupcakes though. They are extra special Rainbow Unicorn Cupcakes from the fabulous BKD London. They have glitter and everything.
The recipe is taken from their new book ‘BAKED:Amazing Bakes to Create with your Child’ which is chocca block full of fabulous fun ideas for baking with kids. You all know I love a good cake so will definitely be getting Molly and Alice in the kitchen with me. It may get messy but no kids baking session would be complete without flour covered noses and sticky fingers. Today we are sharing the decoration tips to turn your favourite cupcakes in to mythical unicorns. Ideal for when you want something a bit special or you could always speed things up with just one choice of icing colour. Obviously I’ll be opting for full on rainbow colours and glitter sparkles. May as well go all out. Enjoy!
RAINBOW UNICORN CUPCAKES
This magical cupcake creature is a mini-baker favourite. The perfect addition to any rainbow-themed party.
For The Cupcake Bases
12 vanilla or lemon cupcakes in silver cupcake cases (Use your favourite recipe or see the book for details)
For The Buttercream Frosting
1 batch buttercream (Use your favourite recipe or see the book for details)
Food colouring gels in rainbow colours
To Decorate
140g white sugarpaste
6 large white marshmallows
Black edible ink pen or black food colouring gel
Edible candy eyes
Edible glitter (optional)
TOOLS
• non-stick mat
• silicone rolling pin
• petal cookie cutter
• blunt knife
• plastic piping bag
• scissors
• piping nozzle (2D star tip)
• paintbrush size 6, for rainbow food colouring
• measuring cup
• paintbrush size 00 or black edible ink pen, for nostrils
Start with the sugarcraft work for the unicorns before baking the cupcakes or making the frosting. This will allow some time for hardening. If you can leave overnight, even better!
Sugarcraft
Dust the non-stick mat with a little icing sugar or cornflour. Using the silicone rolling pin, roll out the white sugarpaste to approximately 4mm in thickness. Cut 24 petal shapes for the unicorns’ ears. Pinch the wider ends together.
Use the remaining white sugarpaste to make 12 unicorn horns. Roll a small piece of white sugarpaste in the palms of your hands to make cone shapes. Make them around 4–4.5cm long and ensure the bases are wide enough for them to stand up on the non-stick mat. Repeat the process 12 times. Take the blunt side of a knife and gently press it around the horn from tip to bottom to make a spiral indent. Leave the sugarpaste shapes to dry and harden.
Make The Rainbow Frosting
Make a batch of your chosen frosting. Prepare your piping bag with a 2D star tip nozzle.
Line up the food gels in rainbow order: ROYGBIV. Dip the paintbrush into the red pot first, then paint a line down the inside of the piping bag from top to bottom. Paint twice, along the same line. Do the same for each of the other colours, leaving a gap of about 2cm between each one, around the whole of the piping bag. TIP: Don’t worry if you accidentally get a little food colouring on the wrong part of the piping bag. It won’t show when you pipe the cupcakes.
Once you have finished painting the piping bag, fill it with the frosting. Using a measuring cup, scoop up the frosting and drop it into the bag. Shake the bag, holding the top with two hands so as not to disturb the food colouring too much. Keep adding the frosting and shaking until your bag is full.
Gently press the bag to ensure no air is trapped and that the frosting is right at the bottom. Twist the top of the bag and pipe the frosting through the nozzle until you start to see the rainbow effect. Set your piping bag aside.
Create The Unicorn Cupcakes
If necessary, slice off the top of the cupcakes so they are nice and flat.
Cut the large marshmallows in half and draw on two nostrils with a black edible ink pen, or use a thin paintbrush and black food colouring gel.
Take the rainbow frosting and pipe on to each cake.
Add the marshmallow noses at the bottom centre of each cupcake.
Next, place two edible candy eyes just above each nose. Remember to leave enough room for the unicorn’s ears.
Add the ears, ensuring you stick them firmly into the frosting. Position them so they are slightly upright – they stay in place better that way.
Finally, add the unicorns’ horns. Again, push these in really firmly so they don’t topple over. If you wish, you can also sprinkle your unicorns with edible glitter for that extra little magical sparkle!
Lottie loves teaching her girls to be cake baking and crafting supremos. It may be messy but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Follow Lottie on instagram @buttercreamanddreams
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