Unicorn Carousel Cake
You will need
For the cakes and cookies
• 12.5cm (5in) round sponge or fruit cake
• 23cm (9in) round sponge or fruit cake
• 6 baked unicorn cookies
To decorate
• 30.4cm (12in) round cake drum
• royal icing
• 2kg (4lb 4oz) Sattina ivory sugarpaste
• 500g (1lb 1oz) Sattina Perfect Paste modelling icing
• edible glue
• golden sands lustre dusting powder
• gold edible glitter spray pump
• pearl white lustre dust
• rejuvenator spirit
• cornflour pouch
Equipment
• large non-stick rolling pin
• small non-stick rolling pin
• 12.5cm (5in) round single thick card
• cake smoother
• Bellissimo medium smoother
• 3 dowels
• white or gold doily
• unicorn cookie cutter
• Squires Rococo curl scroll mould
• small flat palette knife
• stars embossed mini rolling pin
• knit embossed mini rolling pin
• scroll embossed mini rolling pin
• floral textured embossing sheet
• flower & leaf shape modelling tool
• gold and white sturdy stripy straws
• soft brush for dusting
• fine paint brush for painting
• paint palette
• double sided tape
• 1m of 15mm gold ribbon
• 2m of 15mm satin ivory ribbon
Covering the cake and board
1. Covering the board in sugarpaste is not essential but it does create an elegant look. Brush the board with a little cooled boiled water, then dust your work surface with icing sugar and knead and roll out approximately 500g (1lb 1oz) of ivory sugarpaste. Lift up and place onto the board, smoothing it over with a cake smoother for a professional finish, if you like.
Cut off any excess icing around the edge of the board with a small palette knife and decorate the board with a sparkling gold ribbon, attached with double sided tape. If you prefer not to cover the board in icing, usea gold or coloured board to match the colour theme of your cake.
2. Starting with the bottom tier, knead and roll out approximately 1kg (2lb 2oz) of ivory sugarpaste large enough to cover the top and sides. Use a cake smoother to achieve a professional finish all over the cake. If you want to achieve a crisp look, use a Bellissimo cake smoother to create the sharp top edge. Place the top tier on a cake card the same size as the cake and cover in approximately 500g (1lb 1oz) of sugarpaste. Leave both cakes overnight to dry before assembling.
Assembling the cakes
1. Carefully place a palette knife under the bottom tier, lift and place on the covered board, attaching with a little royal icing. Cut three cake dowels to the same height as the cake, then carefully push them in so that they will sit in a triangle underneath the top tier (this is to prevent the top tier sinking into the bottom tier).
Attach the top tier onto the bottom cake with another dab of royal icing. Finish the bottom edge of both cakes with ivory satin ribbon.
Decorating the cake
1. Use a gold or white doily to make the roof of the carousel. Make one cut into the centre of the doily, curl it around and sellotape it together underneath to create a cone which will neatly sit on top.
2. We used stripy cake pop straws instead of drinking straws as they are much sturdier, enabling you to push them firmly into the cakes. If you can only get hold of drinking straws, insert long plastic dowels into them to offer some extra support. Make a quick template out of card or greaseproof paper to work out where the straws go, then push three straws into the bottom tier and three straws into the top tier, cutting them all off at the same height. Make sure you cut them high enough to take the unicorn cookies on the top tier.
3. To decorate the sides with scrolls, use a mix of 50/50 sugarpaste mixed with modelling paste or Perfect Paste (this is already mixed for you). Dust the scroll mould with cornflour, press the icing firmly into the mould, then cut off any excess with a flat palette knife.
Paint the scrolls gold using a mix of metallic gold dust and pearl white lustre dust mixed with rejuvenator spirit, then finish with a spritz of gold edible glitter to add sparkle. Leave for around 5 minutes then attach to the cake with edible glue while each scroll is still soft enough to shape to the curve of the cake. Always start decorating at the back of your cake in case the pattern does not match up precisely!
The unicorn cookies
1. Decorate each of the six unicorn cookies individually, embossing the icing with different designs. Take the first cookie and spread it with a really thin layer of either royal icing, apricot glaze or piping gel, being careful that it doesn't spread down the side of the cookie (using a brush helps to prevent this!) Roll out some ivory sugarpaste to around 5mm (¼in) thick, then dab with a cornflour pouch and roll over again with an embossed rolling pin. Using the same unicorn cutter that the cookies were made from, cut out the icing and gently position into place on top of the cookie. Brush off any excess cornflour and highlight the pattern by painting with metallic gold dust and pearl lustre dust mixed with rejuvenator spirit. We used a mixture of embossed rolling pins and texture sheets to create the different designs on each unicorn. We left one plain, just using a flower and leaf shape modelling tool to shape the horn, mane and tail before painting them gold. 
2. Leave the painted cookies to dry overnight, then attach them to the straws with dabs of royal icing or Perfect Paste mixed with a little edible glue to make a sticky icing.
Finishing touches
1. Lastly spritz edible gold glitter spray over the entire cake to add a touch of pizzazz! 
