Making a unicorn with sugar dough: complete tutorial

Whether it's for a birthday, wedding or any other joyous occasion, the ceremony is usually accompanied by a cake. However, not just any cake! In fact, we all want our cake to be memorable and leave a lasting impression on guests. For this, what better than a sugar paste unicorn to decorate our unicorn cake and add that fun and magical touch?

In fact, whether it's a unicorn cake, a chocolate cake or any other type of cake, decorating is one of the most important steps. Remember, the better the cake looks, the more appetizing it will be and the better it will be eaten. That's why, in addition to the little flakes in the cream, figures on each side, a unicorn on your cake will be a real "chef's touch".

So if you're wondering how to make that sugar dough unicorn, you're on the right page. In this detailed and comprehensive tutorial, we'll explain step-by-step how to easily model a beautiful edible unicorn. As a bonus, we'll give you some chef tips on how to successfully prepare it and how to store it.

Making a sugar dough unicorn: where to start?

When you have never used sugar dough to make complex shapes, you often think that making a unicorn will be complicated. As a result, we tend to abandon the idea and opt for simpler, less appetizing shapes. However, this is not always the best idea.

Indeed, the body of our unicorn is divided into three parts: the head, the thorax and the four limbs. In this quick tutorial, each of these parts will be made separately, which will make our preparation even easier.

Once all the parts have been formed, all we have to do is put them together. In fact, this is the easiest step and will only take a few seconds.

Note: for each step, you don't have to follow our instructions to the letter. Although it would be easier for you to quickly learn how to make your sugar paste unicorn if you do as we do, you have the possibility to adjust certain shapes to make your unicorn even more authentic.

Remember, the unicorn is just a mythological creature. Therefore, you have the right to do whatever you want. For example, add wings, a mane of all colors, a legendary tail, or why not an impressive horn? Either way, it's up to you.

What will we need for our preparation?

Now that you have the basics of the tutorial, here is the list of the material we will need for our preparation. Rest assured that, for the most part, you already have what you need. All you need to do is prepare them and start modeling.

White sugar paste, which will be used to model the main shapes of our unicorn. Here, the quantity depends mainly on the size of the unicorn you want to make. For our preparation, a white paste the size of a large walnut will do (about 250 grams).

The modeling tools (roughing tool, bone tool, etc.).

One lilac sugar dough, one sky blue sugar dough, one pale pink sugar dough. These will be used for the colored parts of our unicorn (mane, tail, horn, etc.). Don't forget, you can add colors or simply modify the one we propose.

Two edible black beads, which will serve as eyes.

A food glue, to assemble the parts of our unicorn.

A toothpick, to join the head and torso.

Finally, a small brush, to customize our animal by adding colors.

01 - Modeling the different parts of our unicorn with sugar paste

Enough talk, let's get down to business. For this first step, we are going to model the different parts of our unicorn in sugar dough. However, before you start, your white sugar dough must be soft and easy to handle. To do this, use your fingers to knead it with a little tylose (optional). Here, the goal is simply to make the dough soft.

How to make the head of our unicorn in sugar dough?

To shape our sugar paste unicorn, the head is the main part. It is the first part you see and you have to apply a little.

To begin, form the previously kneaded white dough into a round ball. Next, place the ball on a flat surface and use two fingers (preferably your thumb and forefinger) to press lightly on the side. The goal here is to obtain a pear shape.

Once the shape is made, place your little finger (pinky) in the center of the ball; then press lightly while rotating the ball to complete our pear shape.

Once done, press lightly on the top to make it slightly flat. This part of our sugar paste unicorn will represent the face and will carry the eyes. Therefore, press very lightly.

If during the flattening process the pear shape has disappeared, you must press the sides again to bring it back.

It is finished for the head, although it is not really similar to a horse's head, it will surprise you at the end. Just put it down and move on to the next step.

Making sugar dough unicorn eyes.
For the eyes of our wonderful unicorn, nothing could be easier! Simply use the pattern to mark the eye sockets on the head.

Little trick, the eyes should be horizontal and placed at the base of the flat part of the head: level with the little holes on the side.

Then use the edible black beads to fill our previously created eye sockets. Use your fingers to flatten them slightly and spread them out a bit.

Note: since we're working on the head, let's take advantage of this little decoration. Form two more small white beads with the sugar dough. Then use the edible glue to place them under the eyes. However, for the design to be successful, the distance between the two small white dots must be larger than the distance between the eyes.

How to make the sugar paste of unicorn ears?

Unicorn ears are small and easy to make.

To make unicorn ears with the sugar dough, form two balls of dough into a teardrop shape. Flatten them with your finger; then press into the center with the bone tool to make the hole for the ears.

You don't have to use the bone tool here! You can use any tool capable of creating a hole in our "blob of dough".

Once the ears are finished, glue them to the sides of the head with some edible glue or drinking water.

Now you can see that our head is starting to take shape. If this is the case for you, it is fine. If it is not, please read the above steps several times to take the plunge.

How to make a unicorn horn with sugar paste?

A unicorn without horns is not a unicorn! To complete our head, we need a horn worthy of the name.

To do this, use the white sugar dough again; shape it so that it forms a sausage with a few pointed inches at both ends. Then fold it in the center and roll it up.

Use a knife to cut off the rounded part at the bottom. Then place the horn on the head between the two ears.

How to make the mane of our unicorn?
Our head is almost finished! Now let's make a little mane to make the hair of our unicorn with sugar dough. To do this, start by mixing our three color pastes (lilac, light blue, pale pink) separately with white paste. The goal is to dilute the intensity of our colors to obtain pastes with pastel shades.

Next, form three small pointed sticks with the different colors obtained. Then, scratch each of them with the tip of the "bone" tool or any other alternative object.

Once the decoration is finished, glue three strands (colored paste) on your head, just in front of the horn. Then, repeat the operation with two more colored sticks to place on the side. Feel free to bend them to embellish the thing.

How do we make the body of our unicorn with sugar paste?

Now you can push a relief egg! In fact, you've done the hard part. The body of our sugarpaste unicorn is the easy part. To make it, form an oval ball again with the white sugarpaste. Then, put a toothpick in the center of the ball. We'll use this to fix the head later. Note that the free end of the toothpick should be placed on the oval side of the ball.

How do we shape our horse's legs with hooves?
For a party cake decorated with a sugar paste unicorn, the legs are essential. For this preparation, start with the top of the legs (the arms).

Form two small carrot-shaped puddles; then, without folding them, place them in front of the torso. Make sure they are straight and the same size. Then use a spatula to make two fingers (front hooves). Feel free to make a small horizontal line above the hooves to make them more natural.

After the front legs, make two more socks to glue horizontally to the body with food glue. To make the sugarpaste unicorn a nice shape, slightly bend the back legs to make them rounded at one end (the one that will be glued to the unicorn's torso).

Making the tail of our unicorn white horse
The last part of our white horse is its tail. Unlike an ordinary horse, the unicorn is usually depicted with a multicolored tail. Therefore, ours will also obey this logic.

To make the tail of our unicorn, form many socks of different colors and sizes. Do not forget to dilute the intensity of colors with white paste or use petal colors.

Then glue each shape on the back of our unicorn. To make it look appetizing, you can also make folds in each shape and refine it with your fingers.

Note: As with the mane, you can mix the glue colors as you like.

02 -Ensamblando nuestro unicornio de pasta de azúcar

We have just completed all the parts of our unicorn. Now we just have to assemble them. If you noticed, we only have two blocks left (the head and the body). Here, the only thing to do is to carefully take the head and place it on the body stick.

Note: Be careful that the toothpick does not go beyond the limit of our head.

03 - Decorating our unicorn to make it unique and appetizing

For decoration, you have free choice. Simply use your little brush and decorate your unicorn as you like. For example, use the gold powder to make a golden horn. You can also decorate the hooves of your unicorn to make them different from the rest of the body.

Don't forget your silicone unicorn molds for an exceptional cake.