Fondant Unicorn Horn Tutorial

A great fondant unicorn horn tutorial with easy to follow step by step guide and images!

This fondant unicorn horn tutorial is part of my unicorn birthday cake decorating tutorials. In fact, I have 3 separate tutorials on just that cake, one for the unicorn eyes, one for its mane (which I made using simple sugar flowers) and the last one is off course, this tutorial on its horn. I wanted to put all the tutorials on one page it was getting a bit too long and felt that it is better to separate the tutorials. So here I am, sharing the steps I took in creating a unicorn horn tutorial for a unicorn cake.

You can use this very same technique for cupcakes and even cookies, all you need to do is scale the size down to match your cupcakes or cookies.

Frankly speaking, making the horn is a very straight forward technique and does not require any special tools or cutters. And off course this is not the only method of making the horn, but this was how I made it and I am happy to write all about it here.

The horn I made here was painted in gold dust and let me share with you a great trick when it comes painting gold on fondant.

Fondant Unicorn Horn Tutorial - Here is how I made it

Like I mentioned earlier, there are no special tools required to make this fondant unicorn horn. These were the main supplies I used to make it:

Fondant & CMC powder - I used Satin Ice fondant in Ivory and mixed some CMC powder into it. Tylose powder will work equally good as an alternatively to CMC powder. I used about 3/4 tsp CMC powder for this horn. CMC helps the fondant to set firm and is highly recommended when making 3D figures and decorations with fondant.

Wood skewers - This is a food grade skewer and is used to support the horn so that it remains straight as well as to help attach it to the cake once completed.

Edible gold dust & lemon extract - Since I wanted the unicorn horn to be gold in color, I painted it with a mixture of edible gold paint and lemon extract. You can also airbrush the fondant horn in gold or use edible gold sprays. All will give the same effect to the horn.

Cake decorating brush - Again, this was a food grade brush and I used it to paint the gold dust onto the horn. This is not required if you choose to airbrush the horn or spray paint it.

Needle scriber tool or toothpick.

And this was how I made the horn:

Firstly, I mixed CMC powder into my ivory fondant and kneaded it well. I purposely chose Ivory color because it helps in bringing out the gold color on the horn after painting it. White fondant would require extra coats of paint as it is a contrast color to gold. This is a trick most cake decorators use so if you want to paint your fondant gold (not just for unicorn horns but also any other fondant decorations, choose a base color that is closer to the gold tone.)
I then divided the fondant into 2 and shaped them into sausages, with one end of each of the sausages narrower than the other.

I then put the two rolls together and gently twisted them with both hands as shown below:

I twisted the rolls and then rolled them on my work table such that one end formed a sharp point and the other end remains wide and flat.

Since I rolled the pointed end more than the other end, the twisted lines were faded and to enhance the lines, I used my needle scriber tool to mark the lines so that they become a bit more obvious. If you don't have the tool, a pointed toothpick can do the trick too.

And this was how the horn looked like after all the rolling and shaping were done.

Next, was inserting the stick into the horn for support. The stick I used was long enough to not only fit into the horn but also to be inserted into the cake.

I applied fondant glue to the stick and carefully inserted it into the fondant horn. When inserting the stick, it would be easier if you twist it into the fondant (as how you would a screw) rather than poking it in.

The next step for the fondant horn is painting. For this purpose, I poked the horn in an upright position on a styrofoam as I would do on a cake. Use a styrofoam block that is thinner than the length of the stick. That way, it will be so much easier to remove the horn off the styrofoam after painting (you can just push the stick from the bottom of the styrofoam without having to hold the horn to pull it out, which can totally disfigure the horn). And with the stick jutting out of below the styrofoam, it would be impossible to rest it on a flat surface, so I used a tall drinking glass for support. I did not want to cut the stick any shorter as a longer stick provides better stability for the horn on the cake compared to a shorter one, especially for tall fondant toppers.

For the gold paint, I used edible gold luster dust and mixed it with some lemon extract to form a thick paint. If the paint is too diluted, you will have to paint many layers to get a well toned gold. Its always better to add the extract in very small amounts until the consistency is right.

For the painting, I used a wide tipped brush so that I could cover a larger area within a shorter period of time. I applied two coats of the gold paint on the horn.

And this was how the completed fondant unicorn horn looked like. I left it in this position for it to set before placing it on the cake.

Fondant Unicorn Horn Tutorial

And this was how the horn looked like when put on my unicorn birthday.

Want to see how I made and assembled the cake with the eyes, mane and the upright standing font? Click here or the image below for a full tutorial on how I made the cake.