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    Home › Recipes › Unicorn Cornucopia Cake

    Unicorn Cornucopia Cake

    A Bounty Of Thanksgiving Sweets In A Whimsical Cornucopia!

    I was having a hard time picturing a cornucopia cake. I mean, they’re just so brown and traditional! So I decided to put a modern, magical twist on this Thanksgiving tradition, and made a rainbow unicorn horn, overflowing with a bounty of sweet treats. Sparkle on bakers, sparkle on!

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    • Ingredients
    • Tools
    • Instructions

    Baking the Cake:

    14 lb Yo’s Ultimate Vanilla Cake 

    Chefmaster Lemon Yellow Gel Food Colouring

    Americolor Electric Pink Soft Gel Food Colouring

    Chefmaster Violet Gel Food Colouring

    Americolor Electric Purple Soft Gel Food Colouring

    Wilton Sky Blue Icing Color

    Americolor Teal Soft Gel Food Colouring

    Icing The Cake:

    Simple Syrup

    Italian Meringue Buttercream

    Covering The Cake:

    6 lb White Fondant

    Icing Sugar

    Chefmaster Lemon Yellow Gel Food Colouring

    Americolor Electric Pink Soft Gel Food Colouring

    Chefmaster Violet Gel Food Colouring

    Americolor Electric Purple Soft Gel Food Colouring

    Wilton Sky Blue Icing Color

    Americolor Teal Soft Gel Food Colouring

    CMC

    Decorating the Cake:

    Gold Lustre Dust

    Clear Food Grade Alcohol

    Clear Piping Gel

    Rock Candy - yellow, pink, purple, blue

    White Candy Beads

    Blue Candy Beads

    Purple Candy Beads

    Brownies 

    Derek Friday’s Chocolate Chip Cookies 

    Chocolate Gems 

    Mini Cupcakes

    Sprinkles

    Gumballs

    Candies

    Marshmallows

    Chocolate Coins

    Item Name: Availability:
    Rubber Spatula
    9” Round Cake Pan, lined with parchment paper
    8” Round Cake Pan, lined with parchment paper
    7” Round Cake Pan, lined with parchment paper
    6” Round Cake Pan, lined with parchment paper
    5” Round Cake Pan, lined with parchment paper
    3 x 4” Round Cake Pan, lined with parchment paper
    Mini Cupcake Tray
    Silver Foil Cupcake Liners
    Serrated Knife
    Small Serrated Knife
    Small Icing Spatula Add to Cart -
    Small Offset Spatula Add to Cart -
    Offset Spatula Add to Cart -
    3” Circle Cutter Add to Cart - $24.99
    2 1/4” Circle Cutter Add to Cart - $24.99
    Fabric Measuring Tape
    Paint Brushes
    Paring Knife
    Clay Extruder Add to Cart -
    Simple Syrup Bottle Add to Cart -

    Prepare Your Bounty

    Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Brownies. Prepare Chocolate Gems. Think about any other family favourites you might want to include, and whip those up as well. Set aside.


    Cake Batter

    Whip up your 14 lb portion of Yo’s Ultimate Vanilla Cake, and dye and divide as follows:

    4.75 lb dyed yellow with Chefmaster Lemon Yellow -  3.5 lb into 9” round cake pan and 1 lb into 5” round cake pan

    3.75 lb dyed pink with Americolor Electric Pink - 3 lb into 8” round cake pan and 0.5lb into 4” pan round cake pan

    3.25 lb dyed purple with a blend of Chefmaster Violet and Americolor Electric Purple  - 2.5 lb into 7” round cake pan and 0.5 lb into 4” pan round cake pan

    2..25 lb dyed blue with a blend of Wilton Sky Blue and Americolor Teal  - 1.5 lb into 6 round cake pan and 0.5 lb into 4” pan round cake pan


    Divide Extra Batter Into Cupcakes

    You will have remaining coloured batter after dividing it among your prepared pans. Line your mini cupcake tray with mini cupcake liners, and pour your leftover vanilla batter into the liners. You’ll want the batter to go ½ up the liner.


    Bake Your Cakes & Cupcakes

    Now that all of your batter is divided, bake all portions at 350º as follows:

    9” round cake pan -   1 hour 10 minutes

    8” round cake pan -  1 hour 10 minutes

    7” round cake pan -  1 hour

    6”  round cake pan -  50 minutes

    5”  round cake pan - 40 minutes

    4”  round cake pans - 30 minutes

    Mini cupcakes - 10 minutes

    Once finished (you’ll know when they’re done if a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean), allow to cool completely in their pans on a wire rack. Do not remove from pans.


    Dye Fondant

    Dye your white fondant as follows, using the same colours as your batter. Once colour is fully incoporated, form fondant into a ball and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Store in a cool, dry place until time for use.

    Dye 2 lb fondant yellow

    Dye 1.5 lb dyed pink

    Dye 1 lb dyed purple

    Dye 1 lb dyed blue

    You’ll have approximately ½ lb that should remain white


    Prepare Simple Syrup & Buttercream

    While cakes are cooling, prepare your simple syrup and Italian meringue buttercream. Set aside until ready for use.


    Level Cakes

    Remove all cakes from their pans. Use a ruler and serrated knife to level them and remove caramelization from the bottom.


    Remove Caramelization From Sides

    To make your cakes as vibrant as possible, trim the caramelization from the sides of the cakes as well. I like to use a cake pan that is one inch smaller than the cake as a guide. You want all of your cakes to be one inch smaller than the last.


    Trim 4” Cakes

    To continue the trend of having all of your cakes be one inch consequently smaller, take your 4” purple cake and cut it down to a 3” round using a 3” circle cutter. Then take your 4” blue cake and cut it down to a 2” round using a 2 ¼” circle cutter.


    Round Cakes

    Use a small serrated knife to carve the top and bottom of each cake into a rounded, curved shape.


    Simple Syrup Cakes

    Lay out all of your cakes on your working surface, and give them all a simple syrup shower. Allow simple syrup to soak in.


    Crumb Coat & Chill

    Use your Italian meringue buttercream and small offset spatula to give your cakes a crumb coat. Move them to the fridge for a 20 minute chill.


    Ice & Chill

    Bring your cakes out, and give them another layer of Italian meringue buttercream. This time use a small piece of acetate (or a similar hard, flexible plastic) to ice them with the curve of the cake. Return them to the fridge for a final 20 minute chill.


    Roll Out Fondant

    You’ll be covering each cake in fondant in the matching colour. Roll out a slab of fondant long enough to go around the circumference of your yellow cake, and wide enough the it can cover both your 9” round yellow cake and your 5” round yellow cake.


    Cover Cakes With Fondant

    Wrap the fondant (with the straight edge facing down) around the cake, and cut the seam where the two ends meet. Use a small icing spatula to tuck the fondant underneath the curve of the cake. Use a sharp paring knife to cut away any excess fondant from the top of the cake. Repeat Step 14 & 15 with all of your cakes. For your final, smallest blue cake, you’ll want to shape it into more of a cone shape.


    Stack Cakes

    Starting with the largest cake at the bottom, stack all of your cakes, spreading a layer of your buttercream between each layer. You’re working to create one tall upright cone. Don’t worry about dowels or cake boards, as you will be shifting the cake onto its side shortly. While you do this, make sure that all of the seams line up along the outside.


    Trim Cake

    Take a cake board, and place it against the largest six cakes to create a guideline for where you would like the cake to be cut off by your table. Do this along the side with the seams so that any remaining seams end up facing downwards. Trim along this edge on an angle, first taking only a small bit of fondant off and ending with about one inch of cake being trimmed away.


    Get Pointy!

    Take ¼  lb of yellow fondant and add ¼ teaspoon CMC. Roll this into a cone shape, ensuring that the base will line up with your 2” inch cake. Roll it into a point on the other end, and allow to dry.


    Roll Fondant Tubes

    To fill the gaps between your cakes, roll 8 tubes of yellow fondant, each about ⅜” thick. You want them to be long enough to wrap around the cake, and thick enough to hide the seams.


    Add Some Shimmer

    Dilute your gold lustre dust with a bit of clear food grade alcohol, and brush onto your yellow fondant. Allow to dry for about 5 minutes so that you can pick them up without getting too much gold on your fingers. Adhere to the cake with a bit of clear piping gel, and trim the edge where it meets the base of the cake with a sharp paring knife.


    Create A Gold Braid

    Take your remaining yellow fondant (it’s okay it it still has a bit of gold in it), and knead it back together. Roll out three ¼” tubes long enough to cover the mouth of the horn. Glue together in a triangle formation (two tubes on the bottom with one on the top) with a bit of clear piping gel. Twist each end in the opposite direction to make them look like a braid. Paint gold, ensuring to get gold into every crevice. Allow to dry for 5 minutes, and affix to cake around the opening of the unicornucopia.


    Prep Your Mini Cupcakes

    Pipe your cupcakes with buttercream, and top with a gumball in the colour that matches the cupcake. Sprinkle on some confetti sprinkles!


    Begin To Build Your Bounty

    Spread a thin layer of buttercream onto the mouth of the unicornucopia, and stick on broken bits of rock candy, candy beads, and any other magical decoration you desire!


    Make It Overflow!

    Take your brownies, cookies, chocolate gems, and assorted candy and build up a pile of sweet treats as if they’ve poured out of the unicornucopia. Let your imagination be your guide, and have fun!


    Congratulations!

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