Every celebration cake I make feels special, of course.  But this one was exceptionally so, because I made it for my daughter's 6th birthday according to precise specifications ('white cake with chocolate frosting and those crunchy yellow things on top').  It was also extra extra special because we decided to suspend all dietary restrictions (primarily, grain and dairy) to thoroughly enjoy the celebration and all the trimmings that a young girl's birthday celebration should have, including a little magic and a damn good birthday cake.  

She earned it, for heaven's sake.  It's been a tough month for my girl.  So many of her favorite foods such as pasta, fried rice, pizza, hamburgers, muffins, granola and other weekend treats have been off the table.  My heart nearly broke in two last week when she came home from school, so terribly sad, because her entire class enjoyed birthday cupcakes while she and another gluten-free student looked on.  Kinda pretty devastating stuff for a first-grader.

Needless to say, if we were having a cheat day for her birthday, then I was determined to reward her with a cake that she would head-over-heels love.  I found inspiration from one of her current favorite cartoons, My Little Ponies, which in actuality has pony, unicorn and alicorn (winged unicorns) characters.  The little heart shaped sprinkle (all-natural ones I gleefully snagged at Eataly on a recent trip to NYC) represents the "cutie marks" each character has.  Or if you're not into MLP, you might see them as bedazzled bums or tramp stamps. Ha!  Another thing about these tattooed unicorns is that it turns out unicorn cookies are tricky to make because of the skinny and fragile legs, tails and horns.  It took major effort not to amputate them while unmolding.  And I guess since those same legs, tails and horns bake more quickly than the larger head and torso, they ended up with uneven tans.  Still, I was very happy with the way the unicorn carousel effect turned out!  My two daughters loved it,  farmers' tans and all.    

It's a lengthy recipe but take note of the make ahead options below.  I like best to stagger the work over several days so it is less onerous.

MAKE AHEAD + OTHER NOTES:  

• Swiss meringue buttercream can be kept room temperature for up to 4 days.

• Honeycomb candy can be kept in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

• Sugar cookie makes 36 3" cookies of fewer if using large cookie cutter like my unicorn one. If you only want to make 4 unicorn cookies for the cake and don't plan to serve the extra cookies right away, the unbaked cookie dough freezes beautifully! Flatten into a 1" disk and wrap tightly in plastic film inside a ziptop freezer bag. To use, defrost overnight in the fridge and take it out to warm up a bit on the counter shortly before rolling. I've froze mine that way for as long as 3 months and it bakes perfect.

• The day before the cake is being served, I bake the cake layers and frost the cake. Once frosted, the buttercream in effect seals in the moisture to prevent drying. It can be kept at room temperature (under a cake dome or upside-down box) until the next day no problem.

• The day-of is the ideal time to add the unicorn cookies and honeycomb crunchies.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:  

• Lollipop sticks for the unicorn carousel. I used Wilton lollipop sticks NOT their cookie sticks which are thicker.

A Very Special Unicorn Cake  { Vanilla Cake + Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream + Honeycomb Crunchies }

Recipe makes one 8" 3-layer cake, 6 cups of buttercream (which very generously frosts the cake; I had leftover) and 36 regular cookies or fewer larger unicorn cookies.  

INGREDIENTS

For the chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream:

6 large (180g) egg whites

1 1/2 C (300g) granulated sugar

1 1/3 C (160g) confectioner's sugar

2 1/4 C (512g) unsalted butter, room temperature  (leave it out at least 3 hours or overnight)

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract

Pinch salt

4 oz (110g) good quality dark chocolate, melted (over water bath or in microwave) and cooled 

For the honeycomb crunch:

1 1/3 C (245g) superfine white sugar

1/2 C corn syrup

Pinch of cream of tartar

1 tsp white wine vinegar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

For the vanilla cake layers:

3 3/4 C (431g) unbleached all purpose flour 

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 C (3 sticks; 345g) unsalted butter, room temperature left out of fridge 3 hours

1 1/2 C (280g) granulated sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

2 large egg whites, room temperature

3 tsp (15ml) pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 C (360ml) buttermilk*, room temperature

*If you do not have buttermilk, make your own by putting 3 tsp of vinegar into a measuring cup and adding enough whole milk to make up the 360ml required in the recipe. Stir and let sit 5 minutes before using.

For the rose water sugar cookies:

1 C (230g) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 C (140g) granulated sugar 

1 large egg

1 tbsp orange juice or milk

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp rose water

2 1/2 C (310g) unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

METHOD

Make the chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream: 

1. Over a double boiler, whisk in granulated sugar and egg whites, stirring and moving everything around constantly, until mixture reaches 115f or you can feel between your fingers that the sugar grains are completely dissolved.  

2. Pour mixture into metal bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on high until thick, glossy and white (very firm peaks), about 4 minutes.

3.  Meanwhile, sift confectioner's sugar. Once the egg whites are done, turn the stand mixer to the lowest speed and add the confectioner's sugar all at once.  Let the whisk turn a few times to settle the sugar before increasing mixer speed to medium-high and whisking until everything is even. While the mixer is still running on medium-high, add the room temperature butter in about 2 to 3 additions.  Add the vanilla extract.  Mix until thoroughly combined.  Add the cooled, melted chocolate.  Switch to the paddle attachment and blend on low speed until the buttercream is smooth, about a minute.  Swiss meringue buttercream can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Make the honeycomb crunch:

4.  Line a 8 inch square baking pan with lightly oiled foil. Half fill the sink with cold water and have ready a whisk and the baking soda.  Place the sugar, syrup, cream of tartar, and vinegar into a medium-size, solid-based saucepan. Add 5 tablespoons water and set the saucepan over medium heat.  Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then bring the mixture to a boil.  Continue to cook until the mixture turns amber-colored and reaches "hard crack" stage, or 300°F (154°C) on a candy thermometer.
As soon as the caramel reaches the right temperature, remove the saucepan from the heat and plunge into the sink of cold water to speed up the cooling process.  Working quickly, pour the baking soda into the caramel and whisk to combine evenly; the mixture will foam up like a mini volcano.  Pour into the prepared pan in an even layer and let cool.  Honeycomb candy can be stored in airtight container for 2-3 days.

Make the vanilla cake layers:  

5. Preheat oven 350f.  Grease and flour 3 x 8" round cake pans.  [Optional but recommended:  wrap the cake pans in wet towel strips to minimize doming during baking.  You can see how I did this in my Black Forest Cake post]

6. In a large bowl, whisk the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Whisk everything very well and set aside.

7. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth & creamy, about 1 minute.  Add sugar and beat on high speed for 5 minutes until creamed very well. Scrap down sides.  On medium-high speed, add 1 whole egg at a time, beating well after each addition until all 4 whole eggs are mixed in. Beat in vanilla, Scrap down sides.  On low speed, add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Do not overmix!  The batter should be smooth, velvety and slightly thick. Transfer to the large bowl that previously held the dry ingredients.

8. Change to the whisk attachment on the stand mixer. Vigorously beat the 2 egg whites until thick and foamy, approximately 3 minutes.  Fold egg whites gently into the batter.

9. Divide equally into prepared cake pans and bake ~22-25 min for 8" pans.  Insert a toothpick in center of cake to test doneness - it should come out dry.  Do not overbake.  Since ovens vary so much, always test doneness a few minutes prior to the stated bake time for any recipes you're making for the first time.   

Make the rose water sugar cookies:

10.  Combine butter, sugar and egg in bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add orange juice, vanilla extract and rose water.  Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Add flour and baking powder; beat at low speed until well mixed.

11.  Divide dough into thirds. Shape each third into a ball; flatten slightly. Wrap each in plastic food wrap; refrigerate 2-3 hours or until firm.

12.  Heat oven to 400°F.  Roll out dough, one-third at a time, on lightly floured surface (keeping remaining dough refrigerated), to 1/4-inch thickness.  For the cookies you plan to put on a stick, make sure the dough is slightly thicker than the candy stick. Cut with cookie cutters.  Carefully insert the candy stick straight up into the lower side of the unicorn torso, leaving about 3/4 inch at the top of the torso.   Space them out onto ungreased cookie sheets.  I found it easiest to stagger them, right side up and upside down, to save space but making sure at least 1 inch clearance on all sides of the cookie for spreading during baking.  (To save time, I only did this for 4 unicorns and no stick for the remaining cookies).  Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.  Bake 6-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.  Let stand 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to cooling rack.  Cool completely.

Assemble the cake:  

13. If needed, level out the tops of your cooled cake layers with a long serrated knife.  If you used the wet towel trick, then you should be able to skip this step or have minimal doming to level off.

14. On a cake board or cake stand lined with 2-3 pieces of parchment (staggered in a circle that can be removed once the frosting is done), place bottom cake layer in the center, right-side up.  Scoop about 1/3 of the buttercream into the center and spread it out evenly with a spatula. Continue with the remaining cake layers, stacking the second layer upside-down, the third layer upside down again for a nice flat top. Make sure all the layers line up nicely before continuing. 

15. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining buttercream.  For a prettier finish, do a crumb coat first - that is, spread a thin layer of buttercream and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes (but not longer) to firm up then spread the remaining buttercream on.  For this cake, I opted for a rustic finish so I didn't scrape the tops and sides flat.  Decorate the top with honeycomb bits and insert the unicorn cookies to create the carousel effect.  To ensure the unicorns didn't slide down over time, I wrapped a tiny piece of scotch tape twice around the stick just under the torso, and tied a ribbon to conceal it.  Magic!

Enjoy xx

Honeycomb recipe from Epicurious.  Butter cookie recipe adapted from Land O'Lakes.