This tutorial is originally a guest post I created for SprinklePop’s blog. It’s too good not to re-share over here, because this Unicorn sprinkle blend is downright magical and plays such a big role in making this party cake a showstopper.
Unicorns are arguably the best mythical creatures of all. It’s no wonder that they became a major trend in the cake and party planning world! You’ve probably seen plenty of unicorn cakes in your social media feeds, the most popular look being the ones where the entire cake looks like a unicorn head. I thought I’d switch it up a little bit with this one, especially because I got my hands on a bottle of this Unicorn sprinkle mix by SprinklePop! They’d look amazing on any cake design, but I really love how they enhance the magical colors and textures going on in this unicorn cake:


The Unicorn sprinkle mix is made up of the most beautiful textures and colors. It’s a blend of pastel pinks, purples, and blues, mixed with gold metallic accents and tiny wafer paper unicorns. In other words, pure magic in a bottle! I was so obsessed with the color palette of the sprinkles that I decided to theme the entire cake around it. Just look at those pretty colors and the cute wafer paper unicorns!

This cake is perfect for any unicorn lover and is actually quite simple to create. It all starts with a smooth frosted buttercream cake and some easy piping. I used three of my favorite piping tips to get the look (listed below) and then pressed the Unicorn sprinkles onto the smooth part of the cake in a floating sprinkle design. And finally, I topped it with a sprinkle-covered white chocolate unicorn that I created using a unicorn shaped cookie cutter and a few wisps of pink and blue cotton candy for good measure. I’m pretty over the moon with how it turned out!
Every detailed instruction for how to make this unicorn-inspired cake is in the tutorial below, but I also made a video to show you the process! Take a look:
You Will Need:
- A frosted buttercream cake
- 1 batch of vanilla buttercream frosting
- 8oz bottle of Unicorn Sprinkles
- Wilton Tips 1M, 104, and 4B
- Piping bags
- Icing color gels of your choice
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
- Wax paper
- A unicorn-shaped cookie cutter
- ½ tsp coconut oil
- Cotton candy
Step 1: Make The Unicorn Cake Topper
To make the unicorn cake topper, spread out a small sheet of wax paper onto a moveable flat surface (like a cookie sheet). Add the white chocolate chips to a microwave-safe bowl, then reserve about ⅛ cup of them and set aside. These reserved chips will act as a “seed” to help temper the melted chocolate. Microwave the white chocolate chips sans “seed” in 30 second increments until melted, stirring after each interval, then toss in the reserved chips and stir until everything is fully melted.

Spread the melted white chocolate onto the wax paper about ¼ inch thick. Smooth the coconut oil onto the edges and crevices of the unicorn-shaped cookie cutter (helps with easy release once the white chocolate is set), then press the cookie cutter into the melted white chocolate.

While the chocolate is still wet, add Unicorn sprinkles to cover the entire area within the unicorn cookie cutter and gently press them in. Refrigerate the sprinkle-covered white chocolate unicorn for 10 minutes, or until firm to the touch.

Carefully remove the excess white chocolate from the edges of the cookie cutter, then release the center from the mold.
Step 2: Mix Up a Buttercream Color Palette
Divide the buttercream into a few separate bowls for color mixing. I ended up making five different colors for my palette. First, I used a mix of Americolor Electric Pink and Electric Purple to create a dark pink, then created a light pink by mixing that with white buttercream. Next, I used Americolor Sky Blue to create the light and darker blue shades. And finally, I used Americolor Regal Purple to create the purple tone.

Feel free to use whatever colors you’d like for your color palette! I’m sure the Unicorn sprinkle mix would look gorgeous with any pastel tones.
Step 3: Pipe the Bottom of the Cake
Prepare a few piping bags by fitting them with Wilton tip 1M, 4B, and 104, then filling them with your colored buttercream. Any of your favorite piping tips will do for this part, but here’s how to recreate the look. First, pipe rosettes with Wilton tip 1M:

Next, pipe ruffles to accent the edges of the rosettes using Wilton tip 104:

And finally, fill in the empty spaces with open stars in a few different colors using Wilton tip 4B:

Step 4: Add the Floating Sprinkles
One by one, add sprinkles to the smooth part of the buttercream cake in a floating pattern. You can either use tweezers for this part, or press a sprinkle onto the tip of your finger and gently press it into the buttercream.

Repeat until you’ve covered the top half of the cake with floating Unicorn sprinkles.
Step 5: Top the Cake
To complete the cake design, stick the legs of your sprinkle-covered unicorn into the top of the cake, then add some cotton candy as a backdrop. Just remember to add the cotton candy within an hour or two of serving the cake, because it’ll start to melt if you put it in the fridge.

As a final finishing touch, I also used Wilton tip 4B to pipe some open stars around the unicorn in a random pattern, then sprinkled some more Unicorn sprinkles (because more is more, people!).
And there you have it! A unicorn-inspired cake perfect for any magical occasion.

Is there a unicorn party in your future? Let me know if you end up making this cake by leaving a comment below! You can also tag me on Instagram so I can see what you’re caking. It gives me all the feels!
Lovely, thanks for sharing. Will try this
Yay, Bukky! Let me know when you do!
I am going to be making this next week for my daughter’s birthday. Perfect for a preteen who loves Unicorns but don’t want a “childish” cake.
Yay, Lesa! This design is going to be perfect!
Well here it is… https://www.instagram.com/p/B0L60J0hK09/?igshid=14ftvziy62g8y
Oh my goodness, Lesa!! It turned out gorgeous!! Thanks so much for sharing that with me <3
I’m throwing a unicorn Birthday party for my little girl’s 7th birthday in January. I already had a plan for her cake, but now I’m switching things up and incorporating design elements from your cake as well. Just ordered the sprinkles, and I need to order those beautiful colors. Thanks so much!
Yay, Allison! Excited for you to incorporate some of these design elements to make an epic unicorn cake for your daughter. Cheering you on!
How big are the cake pans you used and how many layers?
Hi Misty! For this cake I used three 6-inch layers and here’s a link to the cake pans I have: https://amzn.to/2tYVCK9
Thank you so much!! If I can pull even part of this off my daughter will be so excited!! Do you have a certain cake recipe you use?
I love using my vanilla cake recipe and my chocolate cake recipe for cakes like this. My vanilla cake recipe is here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/vanilla-cake-recipe/ (and you can turn it into a funfetti cake by adding about 3/4 cup of sprinkles coated in 1 Tbsp flour). My chocolate cake recipe is here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/chocolate-cake-recipe/
Hi! I’m going to attempt this. Was just wondering how long the white choc topper lasts outside of the fridge? I made another white choc topper last weekend (probably half the thickness of yours) and it only lasted about 15 mins out of the fridge. We’re in the middle of summer where I live. Thanks in advance!
Hi Yasodhaa! Wow, it must be really hot where you live. White chocolate has a melting point of about 86-90ºF (or 30-32ºC), so it all depends on the temperature of your environment, whether or not the cake will be in the direct sun, etc. That being said, if you’re concerned about the temperature and the chocolate melting, I would consider making the cake topper out of gumpaste or fondant. You can still wet the surface of gumpaste or fondant and add sprinkles to achieve relatively the same look, but the topper won’t melt. Hope that helps!
Thank you! I’ll do a practice run with the chocolate first and see how I go
I really appreciate, you written well and helpful blog for those regarding cakes. I will follow and share these cake related blogs.In this blog cakes’ pictures are looking very awesome.
Thanks so much!
On a scale from 1 to 10, you’re an 11. I really appreciate, you written well and helpful blog for those regarding cakes. Looking forward for more!!
Thank you so much, Santosh!! That made my day 🙂 Happy you’re finding my blog helpful!
This looks so fun! I want to try it! I have piped cupcakes like this but I am worried it will be really hard to do it on the side?? Any tips, or am I over thinking it? 🙂
Hi Kirsten! It’s not hard to pipe on the side of the cake, but it can be nerve wracking if you haven’t done it before. You’ll use the same piping techniques you used for your cupcakes, only you’ll be holding the bag more horizontally than vertical. My biggest advice would be to make sure your buttercream consistency is thickened for piping so that the details don’t droop. Here’s more info on that: https://sugarandsparrow.com/buttercream-consistency/