Are you looking for a sweet Unicorn project?  Then you need to try this one a unicorn cupcake cake.  A unicorn cupcake cake that pulls apart with a single serving of cupcake.  This cupcake cake is perfect for the unicorn lover in your life and for those with a sweet tooth.  I am new to the unicorn and cupcake pull apart trend and I love it.

If you have been following the blog you know that I started a cupcake baking project for my niece who lives in Germany.  The way it works is I bake and decorate cupcakes here and post it on the blog and she recreates them in Germany.  This past week, I called to determine what cupcake projects she wanted to see on the blog.  As we are going through a list of ideas, the unicorn cupcakes came up.  So I said in my sweet auntie voice “there are unicorn cupcakes already on the blog did you see them.”  So she sweetly pointed me to the unicorn pull apart cupcake.  Well then, I stand corrected. Gotta love kids right.

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Planning for the Unicorn Cupcake Cake

After my conversation with my niece, I searched for unicorn coloring book page to create a template for the cupcakes.  I drove myself crazy for about two days trying to get the circles the right size to fit my cupcake liners.  Finally, I decided to bake the cupcakes instead and see how they fit on the board, then create the template. I must admit, I got so caught up in arranging and rearranging the cupcakes, that I didn’t get a chance to make the template.  But, I loved how it came out.

Materials Needed:

• 1 recipe of Red velvet cupcakes (about 12) see recipe below
• 14-inch cake base
• Buttercream (white, violet, black, pink, teal) I love these buttercream pouches from Wilton.
• Cookie scoop
• Cupcake liners
• Small offset spatula
• Pink edible luster dust
• Gold edible luster dust
• Teal edible food color (optional)
• Black edible paint
• White fondant (you can make your own Marshmallow Fondant see recipe here)

Recipe for the Unicorn Cupcake

For the unicorn cupcake, I used my delicious red velvet recipe.  Actually, I have three different versions of the red velvet recipe that I use, but this one is the best for cupcakes.  I baked two of my favorite recipes and decided I prefered this recipe better for the cupcakes.  You will need about 12 depending on how you organize them.  The secret sauce to a good red velvet recipe is apple cider vinegar.  The apple cider vinegar is much sweeter than white vinegar.  However, if you don’t have any apple cider vinegar, you can use white vinegar instead.

Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe

Delicious and moist red velvet cupcake

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 22 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Servings 16 cupcakes

Ingredients

  

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Ingredients for Cupcake:

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups cake flour
• 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 4 tbsp red food coloring
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

Buttercream

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

 

Directions to Make Cupcake:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, put cupcake liners in a muffin tin and set aside.
• Mix the cake flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder together and set aside.
  
• Cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy.
  
• Add the eggs one at a time and beat after each addition scraping down the sides of the bowl.
  
• Then add the vanilla.
  
• Add the red food coloring and mix until combined
  
  
• Mix the apple cider vinegar with the buttermilk.
• Add the dry ingredients a little at a time, then the buttermilk apple cider mixture, finishing with the flour. Mix until the batter is smooth. This will be a thick batter.
  
• Using a cookie scoop, add batter to cupcake liner to about 1/2 way (2 scoops).
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean about 12-15 minutes.

To Make Buttercream

• Beat butter until pale in color
  
• Add powdered sugar and mix until combined
  
• Then add vanilla and heavy cream a little at a time.  You want a medium consistency icing.
  
• Color a small amount teal.
  

Notes

Notes: I used 3 scoops for these cupcakes because I wanted a flat top more like a muffin top. Don't have cake flour, take one cup all-purpose flour and remove 2 tbsp. Add 2 tbsp of cornstarch and sift together to combine.

Keyword red velvet cupcake

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

So how do you make the unicorn cupcake cake?

• Bake cupcakes according to the recipe above.
• Print a unicorn picture from the internet. Organize the cupcakes with three cupcakes at the beginning and by twos for four rows and one for the end of the unicorn mane.
• Using a cookie scoop add buttercream to each cupcake and smooth out with a small spatula. For a smoother frosting use a viva paper towel or a warm spatula.  It doesn’t look like much right now but it will come together soon.
• Using the Wilton buttercream pouch and the star tip add the hair.  We want to give the unicorn alot of hair. Pipe in a different directions. I added more pink than purple. 
• Because I couldn’t leave well enough alone, Iused the spatula and created more defined curls.
• Mark a half circle with the spatula, pipe the eyelash with the black buttercream pouch with regular tip.
• Add pink edible luster dust eye shadow.
• To create the nose, at the first cupcake mark, pipe a short circle followed with two circles underneath with black buttercream.

Making the ears and the horn

• Roll a piece of white fondant and use a leaf cutter and to cut out the inside of the ear.
• Then using a hibiscus cutter cut another piece of white fondant.
• Add some shortening to the larger piece of fondant and add the smaller piece of fondant and trim down to match the size of the unicorn. I kept trimming a little at a time until I was satisfied.
• Paint the inside of the ears with edible gold luster dust.
• To make the horn I rolled a piece of fondant into a small log and twisted together.  I added two toothpicks to the top and twisted it to hide the toothpick at the top.
• Add the horn and the ear to the cupcake cake. Paint the unicorn horn every other section of the horn.  Using a small paint brush add gold and black dots to the horn and under the eye. Rest the unicorn horn on something until it dries.
• Add some teal buttercream in for additional unicorn colors.

That’s it your very own pull apart unicorn cupcake cake.  Grab a cupcake and enjoy.  Have you tried making pull apart cupcakes? What is your experience with them? Let me know how yours came out.  Until next time don’t forget to pin for later.