Halloween Unicorn Cupcakes

If you have a unicorn lover at home, then you’ll have loads of fun making these halloween unicorn cupcakes for your next halloween party: zombie unicorn cupcakes and red devil unicorn cupcakes!

Yes, it’s October! Fall weather has just started to peek it’s head here in San Diego, and my neighbors are decorating their homes with pumpkins. Halloween decor is also rolling in and the latest greatest halloween costumes are being designed. Even my teenage kids are feeling the halloween spirit.

Since my kids are older, I no longer bake halloween cupcakes for classroom parties. But that doesn’t keep me from making halloween cupcakes. My 14-year old princess is always ready and willing to celebrate halloween. So these halloween unicorn cupcakes are inspired by her and the crazy unicorn cake we created last year for her birthday.

Why you should make these cupcakes

When I was young, I had a fascination for all things unicorn, as most young girls did. But it consisted of drawing unicorns and collecting unicorn stickers. Today, unicorn madness has certainly taken the food world by storm and ultra fancy unicorn cakes have popped up everywhere.

Last year I conquered my four thumbs and lackluster cake decorating skills and made a 6-tiered rainbow unicorn cake. Once I broke it down into smaller steps, I grew more confident in my baking abilities and my unicorn loving daughter was thrilled with the results.

While many may have had enough with the unicorn cake and cupcake craze, it appears to be here to stay a bit longer. So why not have some with it this halloween?

Since my girl’s birthday is in October, she has received halloween themed desserts for her birthday. I vividly remember decorating halloween cupcakes to celebrate with her class one year, and a halloween ice cream cake for another. This year, we decided to have some fun and create some halloween unicorn cupcakes.

We came up with two new unicorn cupcakes: a red devil unicorn cupcake and a zombie unicorn cupcake. The base for both cupcakes is box red velvet cake. Feel free to use any cupcake base you choose, whether box or homemade.

Supplies you need

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As with the rainbow unicorn I made, I found that the cupcake decorating required so much attention to detail that I had no qualms about using box cake mix for the cupcake base. And they are red. Very halloweeny.

My girl and I decided to not go ghoulish and gory with these zombie unicorn cupcakes. Our first attempt was made with darker, drabbier colors and we didn’t like how they turned out at all. A little touch of zombie to our still colorful and happy unicorns was the look we were looking for.

For the base of frosting we chose a bright green color. For the colorful mane we used the same green plus purple and touches of orange and black frosting. We also used black frosting for one eye and mouth.

Another option is to continue frosting the mane down half the cupcake, at an angle, covering the second eye altogether. Leaving only the candy zombie eye exposed. Which in hindsight, is what I think I should have done in the first place.

I used candy eyes for the zombie eyes which we adhered with white frosting. You can also use the black frosting, both looked great. We made homemade red gel icing for the red veins. We mixed green fondant for the ears and used an edible black marker to color in the center of the ears.

Black fondant was used to make the zombie unicorn horns. The horns were brushed with a little edible gold dust, which is totally optional. And red gel icing was added to the tip of the horns. That was a gory as we were going to get. 

How to make zombie unicorn cupcakes

Once the red velvet cupcakes were baked and cooled, it is time for some decorating fun! Okay, I confess. I don’t always think decorating cupcakes as a fun activity. But the more I do it, the more comfortable I become with a piping bag, and yes, the more fun I have!

I piped the top of the cupcake with green frosting use tip #2A and then used a straight spatula to flatten and smooth the frosting. It is a similar technique for frosting the side of a cake. You can continue frosting the cupcakes or refrigerate the cupcakes so that the top would stiffen a bit for the next stage.

I position the eyes next. I used a tiny dab of white frosting to hold the candy eye. Since I wasn’t needing any fine details for the black frosting, I just snipped the corner of a ziploc bag and used it to dab the frosting. You can also use a piping bag and tip #5 for the same effect. 

For the black eye, I was torn between the classic closed eye unicorn look and an ‘X’ for a dead eye look. I tried both and you can decide which you prefer. I used tip #5 to pipe the black eyes and the mouth.

Usually unicorn cupcakes don’t have mouths and once the zombie unicorn cupcakes were done, I thought they looked better with a mouth. Again, you can pipe whichever you prefer. All I piped was simple horizontal line because zombies don’t usually smile, right?!

Now that the eyes were in position, it was time for the mane. The unicorn mane, whether for a cake or a cupcake, is intricate and colorful – and ever flowing. They are usually piped as rosettes using a star tip. But alas, my tips were too big and so I piped stars.

We started with a large rosette in the center of the cupcake and just above the eyes. My daughter was able to pipe rosettes using star tip #32, which was the smallest start tip I had. But when I attempted it later, my four thumbs took over and I made a mess.

I suspect I need a full set of piping tips to accomplish all of my future cupcake decorating projects! I still liked the stars I was able to pipe, so I filled out the mane using star tip #32 and then various small dots using tip #5. Again, any of the small star tips and small round tips will work.

You want the mane all piped and filled out before you add the unicorn horn and ears. Vary the colors and shapes as you go, and of course, you can drape it down one side in classic unicorn flair, if you choose.

How to make a fondant unicorn horn

You will need both the fondant unicorn horns and ears to harden at least 6-8 hours before adding them to the cupcakes. So I suggest making them the day before you frost your cupcakes so they don’t wilt when inserted into the cupcakes.

For the zombie unicorn horns, we chose black fondant. You can make it yourself or purchase it. I love the ease of purchasing colored fondant, so I did not make it. You start with a small ball of black fondant, about the size of Milk Dud candy or Peanut M&M.

Roll between your hands into the shape of a snake, approximately 4-inches long. Then gently bend the fondant until the tips of the snake join and gently pinch them together.

Slowly twist the fondant so the two pieces of fondant join and twist together. Gently stretch the fondant as you twist it so that the tip is pointy and the base is fat. And tadah, a small unicorn horn for your cupcake!

If you like, use a clean paintbrush and brush on edible gold dust to the horn. Because even though it’s a zombie, unicorns still have a touch of gold and sparkly about them. Then let the fondant unicorn horns sit overnight to harden.

Once hardened, place the black unicorn horn into the center of the frosting mane.

How to make gel icing

For the tips of the zombie unicorn horns, we added a touch of red gel icing to mimic blood and to add the red veins to the candy zombie eyes. I never made homemade gel icing before so I was very excited to see how easy it was.

You do not need much and I bet you have all of the ingredients to make red gel icing in your pantry. Simply whisk together 2 tablespoons of water with 1 ½ teaspoons of cornstarch until combined. Stir in 2 tablespoons of light corn syrup. You can also add a couple drops of peppermint or white vanilla extract, if you want flavoring.

Microwave this wicked concoction in 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until the mixture boils, thickens and turns clear. I added 4 drops of Wilton’s crimson food coloring and my gel icing was done. Once cooled, I piped the veins on the candy eyes using tip #2.

I added the gel to the unicorn horns later, after the horns had hardened and placed into the cupcakes.

How to make a fondant unicorn ears

The unicorn ears are also made out of fondant and should sit out for 6 hours or overnight to harden, too. I had some leftover green and yellow fondant from a birthday cake so we mixed the two together until we matched the green fondant with the green cupcake frosting.

You don’t need much fondant to make the 24 pairs of unicorn ears. About 4-ounces should be enough. Roll out the fondant about ⅛-inch thick. I had these small fondant leaf cutters in my bin of miscellaneous baking supplies and they were the perfect size for our unicorn ears.

Once the 48 pieces were cut out, set them on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and let them harden. If your leaf cutter shape curves in like mine do, make sure half the ears and flipped over and curve the other way. So you will have each unicorn ear curving in towards the horn. Make sense?

When the fondant unicorn ears have hardened, use an edible black marker to color in the black part of the inner ear. And once that is dry, you can place the ears on the zombie unicorn cupcakes, on either side of the black horn.

My daughter colored these in, I’d probably make the black part smaller and show more green. But hey, a teenager actually helped me, so I’ll take them as is!

How to make red devil unicorn cupcakes

The red devil unicorn cupcakes are so much easier to make and assemble then their zombie counterparts. The only frosting I used was red and a bit of black. I frosted the top of the red devil cupcakes the same way as I frosted the green onto the zombie cupcakes, using tip #2A and then smoothing it over with a straight spatula.

I piped black frosting for the closed unicorn eyes and then frosted various red swirls, stars and balls for the unicorn mane. The red unicorn horn was made the same way as the black zombie unicorn horns except with red fondant. And yes, we dusted them with edible gold dust, as well.

For the fondant devil horns, we started with a ball of black fondant, again about the size of a milk dud. Then I shaped them into small devil horns, pointy on top and fat on the bottom. Just like the unicorn horn and ears, let the fondant devil horns harden before placing onto the frosted cupcakes.

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