How to make a 3D laying down Rainbow Unicorn Cake

In this post I describe how I made the unicorn cake and share photos of the cake as it’s made.

I had the chance to make a carved unicorn cake so I started thinking if I could do it and how is it possible! I had not made a cake like it before and neither had I used RKT for modelling.

After a google search I found a beautiful example of a unicorn cake by Elaines Sweet Life and I wished I could make one even a little as good.

So I planned what size cake I would need for 20 servings and how to shape it.

I covered the cake board with marble effect fondant.

I decided to make the head and neck from RKT with a straw dowel inside containing a wire for support. The dowel would be long enough to go into the cake below with a thin cake board for more support.

RKT head and neck was made with a mix of rice kripies, marshmallows, chocolate and butter. Once shaped and cooled I covered it in melted dark chocolate.

I made a template based on using 2 6inch cakes as a base.

I baked two deep 6 inch round chocolate sponge cakes. I cut a small amount from the sides and fitted them together with the buttercream. I split the cakes and filled with buttercream.

Next I fitted the head onto the cake and added an extra dowel below the neck to hold the weight of the RKT.

I covered the whole cake in buttercream.

Next I covered in fondant. This took a lot of smoothing at the front where the fondant joined. I used flexible cake smoothers. I now transferred the cake onto my covered cake board.

I shaped the head and used tools to create the nose and mouth.

Then I shaped fondant legs and placed them on the cake. I made the horn a few days before by wrapping a sausage of modelling paste around a cocktail stick. I pushed this into the head. The ears are cut using a rose petal cutter with the point up. Pinch the lower part together and cut off the excess. This gives them a natural horsey ear shape. I fixed them with eible glue.

I painted the horn and hooves with edible gold.

The mane took a fair amount of time to create. I coloured fondant in several pastel rainbow colours and used an extruder. I used roughly the same length pieces of modelling paste and started at the body end and worked up. Flicking up some of the ends to give movement.

The tail was made in a similar way but long pieces gently twisted and joined at one end.

Finally, I made the eyes with a ball of modelling paste, painted with blue food colouring and a black pupil and white reflection added.

I finished off with the name and age of the birthday girl and a ribbon on the board.

I hope this post might inspire you to have a go at creating a unicorn cake! Thanks for reading