Unicorn cupcakes recipe

Vegan, quick & easy

I am SO happy the ‘unicorn trend’ is back! 🦄

I love unicorns and how magical they are (and of course look).

I wanted to make some special cupcakes and came up with a delicious vegan funfetti cake, with a caramel buttercream, colourful buttercream mane and a sparkly unicorn horn. Isn’t it the cutest cupcake you’ve ever seen?! 

These charming and girly cupcakes are absolutely scrumptious. The cake is fluffy and light, the buttercream is perfectly flavoured with caramel, mixed with the fondant coating and buttercream on top…..it’s just a delightful treat! You won’t be able to have just one.

They would be perfect for a birthday party, special occasion or just to enjoy making! 

Preparation- 10 minutes

Baking time- 18-20 minutes

Makes- Around 8-10

Level- Easy

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Ingredients for the cakes

-240ml of dairy-free milk (I use almond)

-1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

-210g of self-raising flour 

-100g of golden caster sugar

-1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

-1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

-60g of coconut oil (Melted)

-10g of vegan sprinkles

Ingredients for the buttercream

-150g of butter (I use Tomor)

-400g of icing sugar

-2 teaspoons of caramel flavouring

+

-Pink food colouring

Decorations

-Unicorn horn and ears (Get my recipe here)

-Roll out white fondant

-Edible pink glitter

-Edible black writing pen

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To make the cupcakes

Step 1- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c and line a cupcake tin with cupcake cases.

Step 2- In a small bowl, combine the almond milk with the apple cider vinegar and whisk until fully combined.

Set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. This creates a vegan ‘buttermilk’.

Step 3- In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

Mix well to combine.

Step 4- Add the melted coconut oil to the ‘buttermilk’ and whisk to combine.

Step 5- Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until a smooth batter.

Step 6- Fold in the sprinkles. Don’t overmix or the colours will bleed into the batter.

Step 7- Fill the cases 3/4 full with the batter.

Make sure to tap the tins on the worktop to remove any air bubbles.

Step 8- Pop the cakes into the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes.

You will know they are done when you put a knife or skewer in and it comes out clean and they are springy to the touch.

Step 9- Place the cupcakes on a cooling rack and allow to cool fully before frosting.

To make the frosting

Step 1- Cream the butter in a bowl, on a high speed until creamy. I use my stand mixer with the balloon whisk attachment.

Step 2- When your butter/margarine is creamy & light in colour, add in the icing sugar and caramel.

Whizz together until fluffy & fully combined.

Add a splash of dairy-free milk if too thick.

Step 3- Separate the buttercream into 4 different bowls.

I coloured my buttercream 3 shades of pink and left one white.

Step 4- Transfer the buttercreams into piping bags fitted with different nozzles eg mini star tip, circle, open star…

Step 5- Pipe a bulb of buttercream onto each cupcake.

Step 6- Roll out the white fondant and cut out a circle using a cookie cutter, making sure the circle is a fraction bigger than the cupcake.

Step 7- Place the fondant on top of the buttercream, using your hands to make it smooth.

Step 8- Using the colourful buttercream, pipe the unicorn mane. I added swirls, bulbs and stars. 

Step 9- Using the edible pen, draw on some eyes and using a food brush, brush on some of the pink glitter for the cheeks.

Step 10- Finally, add on the unicorn horn and ears.

Serve these cupcakes fresh or store in a sealed container in or out of the fridge, the buttercream will firm up at room temperature. 

Best eaten within a few days.

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Holly Jade