Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Mix up chocolate cake batter per package directions into mixing bowl.

Divide batter into 3 6-inch cake pans, coated with oil and lined with parchment paper.

Bake cakes until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Let cakes cool completely on wire racks.

Do not begin frosting the cake until the cakes are completely cooled.

Mix approximately 1-ounce of white fondant with brown food coloring until it looks like chocolate. Roll it until ¼-inch thick. Use teardrop cutters or the template I provide printed at 70% (link in blog post) to cut out the large ears.

Roll about 1-ounce of white fondant until ¼-inch thick and cut out 2 inner ear pieces.

Mix a few drops of peppermint extract into edible gold dust and then brush it onto the inner ear to paint it gold.

Dampen back of inner ear with water and use s small offset spatula to place on top of larger ear piece. Place ears facing down over a small rolling pin or round form and let it harden overnight (detailed instructions in blog post.)

Roll out about 2-ounces of white fondant into a log about 1 foot long. You want to taper it so that one end is thinner than the other.

Starting with the thinner smaller end, wrap this around a bamboo skewer to form the unicorn horn.

You will only need about 3-inches of bamboo stick to place in your cake, so cut off any remaining parts of the bamboo stick, past this 3-inch mark.

Paint the unicorn horn gold with more of the gold dust and peppermint extract. It sometimes takes two coats. Allow the horn to sit overnight to harden and dry.

In a small pot, heat the heavy cream until it is hot and just about to bubble and boil.

Put chocolate in a medium bowl and pour over the hot cream over it. Let stand for 5 minutes to melt the chocolate.

Whisk until smooth and all the chocolate is melted. You want a smooth and uniform mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool about 1 to 2 hours. You want a firm frosting consistency.

Use a hand mixer to whip the chocolate mixture until fluffy and forms stiff peaks, about 3 minutes.

In a stand mixer, combine butter and shortening until smooth.

Mix in powdered sugar, one cup at a time.

Gently pour in the heavy cream and vanilla extract and blend until smooth.

Remove approximately ⅓ of the frosting, place in a small bowl and mix in pink food coloring. You want a light pink color.

Remove approximately ⅓ of the frosting, place in a small bowl and mix in brown food coloring. You want a light tan color.

Stack cakes on a cake stand, layering in the chocolate ganache frosting between each inside layer.

Smooth top of cake and surrounding sides with chocolate ganache frosting to make a crumb coat.

Place in refrigerator to chill.

Once chilled, frost and smooth out entire cake in chocolate frosting. Reserve the remaining frosting, about 1 cup.

Transfer the remaining chocolate ganache frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large coupler and tip #1M.

For the 3 colors of buttercream, transfer to their own piping bags and use star tips like #18 and #32.

Pipe rosettes on the top and along one side of the cake using the chocolate ganache frosting and tip #1M.

Add dollops of white, tan and pink frostings using the #32 and #18 tips.

Place horn on the top center of the cake and the ears on either side of the horn.

For the tan frosting, swap out tips and use tip #3. Pipe the eyes and lashes on the side of the cake. If your frosting is not sticking to the cake, add a few drops of water to the frosting to soften it up and try again. This did the trick for me.

Add chocolate and sprinkles around the cake, if desired.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.