Long ago, in a galaxy far away (i.e. pre-COVID Fall 2019) we had an auction at work to raise money for the foundation where I work. I contributed two things: a custom 8″ celebration cake and two dozen custom cupcakes. My co-worker who had the winning bid for the cupcakes was so excited to order them for her daughter’s 3rd birthday in April. I remember us talking about it in March, right before I left for Palm Springs.

Fast forward a year, and it was finally time to make all her daughter’s unicorn dreams come true with these Unicorn Cupcakes. This was a fun project for me to work on over the course of about a week. I’m all about keeping busy in the kitchen these days. Here’s how I did it:

• Cupcakes: Baked one dozen chocolate cupcakes + one dozen golden vanilla cupcakes (with the addition of sprinkles) using the party cake builder recipes from Smitten Kitchen Everyday
• Unicorn Horns: I got two little packages of white fondant from Bulk Barn and looked up a few tutorials on Pinterest to get some tips for these. Basically you just rolls little 1/2″ balls into tubes with slightly tapered ends, and twist them around each other to form the horn. Stick a toothpick in the bottom and you’re done! they’re fine to sit at room temperature and harden up a bit before painting, which I did with gold luster dust mixed with vodka. I did this about a week before cupcake pick-up.

• Unicorn Ears: This couldn’t have been easier. I rolled out the fondant pretty thin, then used the base of a piping tip to cut out circles. I pinched each circle at the ends to make an oval kind of shape that would work as ears once inserted halfway into the icing. I painted the inside of the ears with the same gold luster dust.

• Frosting: I mixed up a batch (and a half, which was too much) of My Favourite Buttercream, divided it into three bowls, and tinted it pink, yellow and turquoise. I was going for more of a pastel vibe, and it turned out brighter than I wanted, because I always forget that gel colours intensify with time. To get the swirl effect, I used an offset spatula to spread the icing in three long columns on a piece of plastic wrap. I rolled up the icing into a log, twisted the plastic wrap at the ends, and then snipped off one end and inserted it into a piping bag with a large star tip. I piped the frosting onto the cupcakes, inserted the ears and I was all set.
• Delivery: I stored the cupcakes in my Cupcake Briefcases, and put the horns in an egg carton so my co-worker could insert them separately at home.

My co-worker sent me a bunch of pictures of her daughter with the cupcakes, and the smile and joy on her face on her face almost made me cry! Loved how they turned out!