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Unicorn Birthday Cake

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Ingredients
  

  • Chocolate cake (your preferred recipe or a box mix)
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 5 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted (additional as needed)
  • 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 4 tablespoons milk (additional as needed)
  • Food coloring (I used pink, purple, and blue)
  • raspberry jam
  • Unicorn cake topper (mine is from Amazon)
  • Sprinkles

Instructions
 

  • CAKE: Prepare your chocolate cake recipe and make three 6 inch rounds.
  • FROSTING: Cream butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Beat in milk and vanilla extract. Set aside 1/3 of the frosting for the colors.
  • ASSEMBLY: Stack the cake layers and apply raspberry jam in between the layers. Apply the white frosting crumb coat (a thin frosting across the cake that will seal in any loose crumbs) to the cake and chill for 30 min.
    When you're ready to decorate, apply a thicker layer of white frosting with a large offset spatula.
  • Divide the reserved frosting into 3-4 portions and add desired colors by adding small amounts of food coloring with a toothpick. To create variance in colors, I first started with light colors and added more drops to make the brighter colors. I used 1M, 4B, and 2D piping tips in disposable piping bags to create the unicorn mane. Add sprinkles and add the unicorn cake topper pieces when ready to serve. Enjoy!

Notes

FROSTING TIPS:
Sift confectioners sugar and make sure the butter is at room temperature- this is necessary for a smooth frosting.
Use a paddle attachment (not the whisk) to reduce air bubbles in the frosting.
Not all butter color is the same - I found Challenge butter to be the whitest.
I keep a cup of hot water to dip my knife/scraper for smoothing the frosting.