Introduction: Unicorn Cupcakes

By

Hi everyone!

Today I am going to be sharing how I made these unicorn cupcakes! I discovered my love for baking from a very young age so I am very excited to share with you the tips and tricks that I have learned along the way to elevate a simple boxed cake mix!

Lets begin!

Step 1: Ingredients

Cupcakes:

  • 1 vanilla cake mix box
  • 1 ½ stick melted butter (unsalted)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Fondant:

  • 2 cups marshmallows
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Buttercream Frosting:

  • 1 stick butter (room temperature)
  • 1 ½ cups powdered sugar (sifted)
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
  • 1 pinch salt

Decorating:

  • Food coloring (i use gel)
  • Sprinkles

Utensils:

  • Kitchen aid (or hand mixer)
  • Oven
  • Piping bag
  • Star tip
  • Measuring cups
  • Cupcake liners
  • Cupcake tin

*Makes 24 cupcakes

Step 2: Beat Eggs

The first step is to beat your eggs! I learned this trick in a masterclass and it makes your cupcakes more spongy and moist on the inside…

To do this I added 3 eggs into a mixer and beat it at medium speed (4 in the kitchen aid) for 2 minutes or until bubbles form.

Step 3: Add Butter

After beating the eggs, I added the stick of butter. The cake mix calls for oil but I like to use butter because it gives the cupcakes a richer taste! Since I'm substituting the oil for butter I melt the butter completely. I do this by microwaving it for 25-30 seconds!

Step 4: Slowly Add Cake Mix

After adding the butter into the mix, I added half of the cake mix into the mixer. Make sure to add the cake mix gradually while the mixer is at a slow speed (2 in the kitchen aid). After adding half of the cake mix then you can increase the speed to medium and slowly add the vanilla extract (4 in the kitchen aid).

Step 5: Add Milk + Remaining Cake Mix

After adding half of the cake mix, I poured in 1 cup of whole milk into the mixture. Then I mixed it all in medium speed (4 in the kitchen aid) and slowly added the remaining cake mix into the mixture.

*note

The regular cake mix calls for water but over the years I have learned that milk makes the cupcakes more moist on the inside! But if you want you can use water instead.

Step 6: Bake the Cupcakes!

Once your mix is all combined it is ready for baking! I grabbed my cupcake tin, lined it with some cupcake liners and poured the mixture into each cupcake. *For each cupcake I poured in 1 tbsp of the mixture! Then you can place your cupcakes in the oven!

*I baked mine at 180 c/ 356 f for 15-20 minutes- to assure that your cupcakes are ready you can gently insert a toothpick into the middle to see if it's still raw or ready!

Step 7: Creating the Fondant

While my cupcakes were baking, I decided to create the fondant.

Steps:

  • Step 1: The first step is to melt your marshmallows. To do this I created a water bath with 2 pans. However you can also place your marshmallows in the microwave until melted
  • Step 2: Once melted, I added the marshmallows and powdered sugar into my mixer. *make sure that your mixer has the paddle attachment.
  • Step 3: After the fondant begins to come together I dropped it into a surface that had been sprinkled with powdered sugar (so that it did not stick to the surface)

Step 8: Knead Fondant + Add Food Coloring

After step 7, you can knead the fondant with your clean, washed hands and then add food coloring. I left a small amount white for the ears and then divided the remaining fondant into two portions to create blue fondant and pink fondant (for the horn).

Step 9: Create Unicorn Horns + Ears

Unicorn horns:

  • Step 1: roll the fondant into a sausage shape (You are going to have 2, 1 pink and 1 blue)
  • Step 2: twist both sausages together to create the horn.
  • Step 3: make sure that the top of the horn is thin and it gets thicker as it goes down to the bottom of the horn.
  • Step 4: insert toothpicks in the middle of the horns.

Ears:

  • The ears are really simple. I created 2 small circles out of the white fondant and then created 2 even smaller circles out of the pink fondant. Then I placed the pink circles on top of the white circles.

Step 10: Making the Frosting

*To make the frosting I switched into the paddle attachment

How to make buttercream frosting:

  • Step 1: beat your butter on medium speed until smooth.
  • Step 2: Add in the powdered sugar. At first you are going to mix on low speed (2 in kitchen aid) and then gradually increase into medium speed. Mix for about 2-3 minutes until the frosting starts coming together.
  • Step 3: I added in the heavy cream (I only used 2 tbsp but you can add more if needed, it depends on how melted your butter is)
  • Step 4: finally add your vanilla extract and salt. Mix frosting on a medium to high speed for about 1-2 minutes until everything is well combined.

*the consistency of the frosting should be like the picture above.

Step 11: Pipe the Frosting

To pipe the frosting, I added it into a piping back with a star tip attachment. Make sure to add a little frosting at a time so that it does not squeeze out from the top (fill your bag about half way). After that, you can pipe the frosting using any type of piping technique you wish to use!

*Make sure that the cupcakes are completely cooled before piping the frosting, otherwise they will melt. I waited for 3 hours before piping the frosting!

Step 12: Decorate Cupcakes

After piping the frosting the last step is to decorate the cupcakes! I gently sprinkled some sprinkles and then added the horn and ears that I previously made from fondant.

Step 13: Enjoy Your Creation!

After decorating your cupcakes you can finally enjoy your creation! I hope that you recreate the cupcakes and enjoy them as much as I did!!!