I was on my way out of town for a ski weekend when I received this text from a friend:
Hey amy looking to place a cake order. Wondering if you can make a cake like this.
Then she sent this picture. It was a sleeping unicorn. The picture clearly had you using a horn mold, as well as realistic gold – presumably edible – paint. The ears were glittery AND white so I wasn’t so sure if the ears were even edible? Not like anyone is going to actually eat the gumpaste adornments, but it is nice if they could be eaten.
I spent some time searching for horn molds only to discover they ran from $8-15 plus shipping. Did I really need a mold to make a unicorn horn? I thought not. I asked my friend if it was okay if I free-formed the horn and took some liberties and she agreed. It was a plan! I’d be making a unicorn cake for her friend’s baby shower.
Make the unicorn horn and ears
What gold paint to use?
On Amazon they even have a picture of the unicorn cake in the images with this paint.
I searched around for different options for painting. I am really bummed that my airbrush seems to be fully broken. I have tried to fix it with no success. In the meantime I’ve tried using spray cans of edible paint and they are “gold-ish” at best. Luster dust is nice, but it can be challenging to get full coverage, even when mixing it with alcohol. This horn needed to be a pretty solid gold.
I found what looked to be a pretty good option. They sell it both on Global Sugar Art and Amazon. It costs more on Amazon but with the “free” shipping it is a wash. I ended up buying it from GSA because I needed a few other things and they had a free shipping deal if you spent over $75. The reviews on both sites were generally good so I thought I’d give it a try.
I painted the horn, ears and eyes after giving them a few days to dry. The paint spread well and dried nicely. A day after painting the fronts, I went back and painted the back of everything. I think the color is a bit on the yellowy side, not quite the brilliant gold I was looking for, but far better than anything I’ve tried before. I also bought silver, hoping to have a reason to use it at some point soon!
The cake
The cake is an 8″ vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream. It would be a great base for the adornments!
And the finished cake!
To complete the unicorn cake, I added a bottom border and the eyelashes. I think this cake is really elegant and fun. I’m excited for my friend to see it for the baby shower!
