Highway Unicorn Cake

1. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 160C (320F) or 180C (356F) for a conventional oven. Spray an 8” cake tin with oil spray and line the bottom with baking paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the flour, baking powder, caster sugar and salt. Turn mixer on low speed and allow it to mix for a couple of minutes to help everything combine well (alternatively you may do this by sifting the ingredients together). Add the softened butter and mix until it resembles a fine sand-like texture.
3. Add the milk, oil, greek yoghurt, eggs and strawberry essence into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down the bowl and mix for another 20 seconds.
4. Separate batter into three separate bowls. Add pink food dye and mix until well combined to one bowl. Repeat with two other bowls. Add pink and purple to make the purple and blue to make the blue. Be careful not to over mix your batter. You just want to fold the colour until well combined.
5. Transfer each colour into a separate piping bag and pipe random blobs of each colour into an 8-inch cake tin. Fill each cake tin just above halfway.
6. Bake for 30 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow the tins to cool for 2 min and then carefully flip the cake tins over on to a cooling rack to cool completely before using.
7. Using a large serrated knife or cake leveller, carefully trim the top off each layer of cake to make even and flat layers. You can make each cake layer however thin or thick you like. I got about 3 useable layers of cake from each of the three cakes. Try to aim to get them all the same height. If you don’t have a cake leveller, an easy way to do this is to find the lowest height of the cake, place a skewer or toothpick next to that point and mark it. As you go around each side of the cake cutting it, use the marked skewer to make sure each cut is at the same height.
8. To prepare crumb coat, add a dab of frosting onto an 8” cake board or serving plate. Add the first cake layer. Use a small offset to add a layer of frosting and smoothen out and layer the frosting on each layer before adding the next layer of cake. Add more frosting around the outside to fill the grooves between each layer. This should just be a neat thin layer of frosting which is aimed at trapping any cake crumbs so that random bits of cake crumbs don’t show up on the outside of the cake.
9. Add a fresh layer of frosting using a small offset spatula. Use a cake scraper to smoothen out the frosting around the sides. Then smoothen out the top using a cake scraper. Chill.
10. Separate two batches of Swiss meringue buttercream into three bowls. Colour each one blue, pink and purple using the same formulas as the batter.
11. Transfer to a piping bag and pipe two layers of frosting starting with the blue at the bottom, followed by the purple. I actually made a lighter purple as well, and then finish with the pink. Use a large cake scraper to go around the cake to smoothen out the frosting. Scrape any excess frosting on top using a sharp knife and use the cake leveller to even out the top. Continue scraping until the cake is smooth on the sides and top. Chill for 1-2 hours.
12. Stick some sprinkles to the bottom of the cake using your hands.
13. Drizzle some chocolate sauce over the sides of the cake and chill again for 1 hour. Mix the gold lustre dust and vodka or vanilla extract together and use a small food-safe brush to paint the chocolate drips with the gold. You may need to go over it twice. This takes a while guys. Have patience! Listen to Beyoncé in the background or your favourite podcast!
14. Fit the end of a piping bag with a Wilton 1M tip and frost some high swirls of pink Swiss meringue buttercream frosting. Make em high baby!
15. Add the macarons on top to finish off, this is completely optional! If you want to use the macarons, I’d recommend making them the day you bake the cake. This whole thing is a two-day process. Baking and crumb coat and then the decorating. Store the macarons in an airtight container at room temp until you’re ready to use them! :0)

HELPFUL TIPS!

STORAGE: store in an airtight container for up to 3 days (refrigerated or unrefrigerated).

HOW TO PREPARE YOUR CAKE TIN: For this recipe you’ll need at least one 8” cake tin but preferably three 8” cake tins. To prepare the tin, spray with oil spray. To prepare the baking paper use a pen to trace around the bottom of the cake tin on to the baking paper. Use scissors to cut slightly inside the circle you traced. Place the traced side down onto the baking tin with oil spray.

HAND MIXER: Can be made using a hand mixer (always mix on lowest speed) or a hand whisk. Take care not to over mix the batter.

OVEN TEMPERATURE:  If you’re baking at home set your fan-forced oven to 160C (320F).

BUTTER: Make sure the butter is very soft for the cake mixture. There are two ways to do this. Microwave for 5 seconds at a time flipping the butter on each side until very soft (not melted). If you don’t have a microwave run a large bowl over hot water. Dry the bowl and place over the butter for 1 min. The heat from the bowl will create a warm enough environment to soften the butter.

BAKING TIME: These cupcakes typically bake on a lower temp and for a little longer than regular cupcake recipes. That’s what helps get that gorgeous even dome shape on top. The cupcakes don’t dry out. Bake your cupcakes for 20 min. If you insert a skewer and it comes out with wet batter, bake for an extra 5 min until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with moist crumbs.

TOOLS:

Cake turntable/lazy susan

Large mixing bowls

Spatula

Magic Whisk for wet ingredients

Kitchen Scales

Stand mixer (or hand mixer)

Wire rack

Frosting bag

Tablespoon

Measuring spoons

8” cake tin

Ice cream scoop (optional)

Source: https://www.thescranline.com/highway-unicorn-cake