Welcome to HowToCookThat, I’m Ann Reardon
and this week we’re making a beautiful 3D Unicorn cake! If you’re after an easier Unicorn, I made
this cake last month and I’ll link to that below, but for those of you who want something
a bit more challenging or a bit more WOW then I designed this one for you based on a cute
cartoon unicorn drawing that I found. This week’s notification squad shout-out goes
to Rosie-may Smith. For your chance at a shout-out SUBSCRIBE and
press the BELL to turn on notifications and write ‘done’ in the comments so that I’ll
know that you’ve done so 🙂 To make a top-heavy cake like this it has
to have strong support so you will need a wooden cake board and a stainless steel threaded
rod. Secure that to your board using two hex nuts,
one underneath and one on top of the board. Next we are going to make the unicorn’s horn
and for that you’ll need a cake pop stick and we’ll leave some of it plain so it can
stick into the cake. Roll out a snake of black making it skinnier
at one end. Then twist that, rolling it around the cake
pop stick. Once it is on check it against the template
to make sure it is the right height and shape. And you can get my 3D unicorn cake template
off the howtocookthat.net website and I’ll link to that below for you. You want the front of the horn to come down
a little bit at the front and be squashed a bit flat at the back of the base so it will
sit flush against the cake once we put that on. Now take some gold luster dust and brush it
over the horn, using the luster dust dry like this means that if you have any left over
you can just sweep it up using your paintbrush and put it back into your container so none
of it is wasted. Now for the eyeballs, roll a ball of black
and then cut it in half – so you get two pieces that are exactly the same size. Roll each of them into a ball and double check
the size using the template. For the ears cut around the outside of the
template on some white fondant. Then gently press a cake pop stick into each
ear and push the fondant around the edges so it is secure. Cut the inside part of the ear out of pink
fondant and add that into place using a little bit of water to make it stick. The last detail we want to make ahead is the
two front legs. You can make all of these fondant parts up
to a month ahead, just leave them out to dry on non-stick paper and once they are dry just
store them in an airtight container until you are ready to use them. Roll a cone shape of white and shape it using
your template as a guide, we won’t make the hoof part yet just the two white legs for
the front. So you should have your 2 legs, ears, horn
and eyes all drying on non-stick paper. Bake my rich chocolate cake in three trays
and again all the recipe details and the amount of fondant you need and everything is all
on the recipe post on HowToCookThat.net. Once they are cooled level them and cut around
the cake shapes given on the template. These are all numbered for the body and the
head layers so that you know exactly where they go. Make up a fresh batch of buttercream, and
I’ve added vanilla bean to mine. I have a recipe page on the website with all
different buttercream flavours so that you can choose the flavour that you want to use. For the little body, add some simple syrup,
pipe on some frosting and top with layer 2. Repeat that process for layer 3 and 4. Then pick up the whole body and add it onto
the centre of the rod sliding it down to the base. Put the body template in front and cut down
each side to match the shape of the template. Do the same at the front and the back – you
can do that using the template or just freehand it based on the shape that you can see there. Cover the body in buttercream and smooth it
out, flattening the top. Add a nut and three cake pop sticks into the
cake and this is needed to support the unicorns head. Without this support, the little body would
collapse under the weight of the head. We are going to add a little cake board here
under the first layer and then a thicker, stronger cake board above that to support
the weight of the wider part of the head. Add your little cake board and put a little
bit of frosting on it and then add head layer 1. Add a nut just above the cake and cover the
cake in buttercream. Then add the thicker wooden cake board on
top of that. To hold that securely in place, so it is like
a cake-stand, you need to add another nut on top of that on the other side of the board
and then just tighten that right up. Yes, it is a bit like building! You can’t make cakes that defy gravity like
this, that are really top-heavy, without a strong support structure. Cake is soft and it would just squash and
fall over, which is not what we want. Add your cake, simple syrup and frosting then
place the next layer on top and continue to layer it up all the way to the top of the
head. Place the template in front of the head and
trim around the template so you get that rounded unicorn head shape. Do the same on the front and corners so that
it is rounded all the way around. Use your buttercream to colour that, it’s
a bit like your colouring it in, all the way around, putting it everywhere. And then spread that out using a spatula. Take a piece of acetate or any bendy piece
of plastic, you could use a piece cut out of the lid of an ice cream container if you
don’t have acetate and just run that up around the unicorn head to make it smooth. take your time with this because lumps in
the buttercream will show through the fondant, so you want to make it nice and smooth all
over. Decide which side is the front and drape the
fondant over the head smoothing that side first. Just lift and lower the fondant to get rid
of any folds and use the palm of your hands to gently smooth it out. Don’t press too hard because you don’t want
lines from your fingers, you just want to gently smooth it, lift and lower it, until
you get it nice and looking really good there. At the top where it is bunched up here, just
pinch it together tightly and then cut off the excess with scissors. We are going to have hair on top of the head
here so I’m not too concerned if you have any join marks there, and the same at the
back. Trim off the excess around the body and then
smooth the buttercream over the join. Take a rectangular piece of fondant and wrapt
it around the body and smooth that into place. Use a knife to trim off the excess and tuck
it under so that it is rounded at the bottom there. Cut the mouth shape using the template and
add it to the front of the head, using a little bit of water to make it stick. Roll a ball of grey and just rub that gently
over the mouth areas to smooth out any little bumps. Place the template over the top and mark where
the 2 nostrils go. And then push a ball tool up into the cake
to make the nostrils. If you don’t have a ball tool you could just
use the rounded end of a pen base as long as you wash it really well first. Mark where your eyeballs should be and make
an indent ready for the eyeball and pop it into place. Then add a dot of white to the top of each
eye to one side. Roll a thick snake of grey slightly wider
than the leg and cut off two pieces. Roll one end thinner so that it matches the
leg and then add it into place using a little bit of water. Put some water on the front of the body and
add the two front legs. Making the hoof now rather than before just
makes it easier to get the foot sitting flat on the cake board because you can adjust it
slightly with the leg as it’s still a little soft. Make two more legs and add them just wrapping
them around the base of the body on each side. Using your template as a guide add the ears
into place where they go … one on that side and one there. It’s looking cute already! Mark where the unicorn’s horn should be and
push it down into the head. Roll some strips of coloured fondant getting
skinnier at one end and add them along the template for the hair. You can use whatever colours you like for
your unicorn. Just lie them next to each other and then
wrap the first colour neatly over the top of the other three. Add that down one side of the face. And where the hair just hangs down there use
a little bit of water to make it stick to the face and arrange it how you want it to
sit. Add the hair to the other side and again just
be a unicorn hairdresser and arrange those pieces so it looks a bit windswept rather
than just hanging straight down. Make another piece for the tail and for this
piece I want you just to twist it so those colours just twist together gently and then
add that into place at the back of the cake. Now roll some more snakes of colour and add
it down the back of the head to cover any joins in your fondant and make it look like
a mane hanging down there back there. Now to finish it off, cover the board in melted
white chocolate one section at a time and add sprinkles and little stars over the top
of that. I can’t cut this cake for you because I am
giving it away to a little girl for her party – happy birthday Lily and happy birthday to
anyone else who is having their birthday this week. Subscribe to HowtoCookThat for more crazy
sweet creations and I’ll see you on Friday. Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwlu–_rgGY
