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This easy Unicorn Cake Roll Recipe looks like a dream thanks to all of the sprinkle and glitter going on. With several decorating options, you can easily recreate this cake roll recipe for your next birthday party!
Fun Unicorn Cake Roll Recipe
This is actually love at first sight. The sprinkles, glitters and colorful cake filling makes this pastel cake roll recipe one attractive dessert. A Unicorn Cake is perfect to make for a birthday party since it’s easy, unique and is great for pictures.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Such a fun and festive cake birthday cake!
- So creative – a cake version of my unicorn cupcakes!
- Looks professionally made and is easy
- This recipe will help you easily achieve a cake roll with no cracks
Ingredients Needed
- Eggs: Large eggs will be whipped until frothy and dark yellow which gives the cake it’s spongey texture.
- Oil: the best oil to keep your cake moisturized is vegetable oil
- Flour: I’m using all purpose flour
- Food Coloring: I’m using different neon food colorings but any pastel food coloring will work.
- Powdered sugar: to aid in rolling – I sprinkle it all over my towel so it doens’t stick.
- Whipped Cream: for filling – and I add pudding mix for flavor and stabilization.
- Toppings: I poured my sprinkle stash on top and covered it with sparkly candy and marshmallows. Anything goes when decorating this cake!
How to make a unicorn cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a cake roll pan with foil and spray with floured nonstick cooking spray.
- To make your batter, place eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat until foamy and yellow. Add sugar and mix until the mixture thickens slightly. Mix in oil, baking powder, salt, and vanilla, then add flour and mix slowly until just combined.
- Divide batter into three bowls. Color each as desired.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the top is browned and the cake springs back when touched lightly. While the cake is baking, lay out a clean kitchen towel onto the counter. Spread with about 1/4 cup powdered sugar.
- Remove the hot cake from the oven and carefully, using oven mitts so you don’t burn yourself, flip the cake onto the towel. Carefully remove the pan and foil and then, using the towel, roll up the cake from the short side. The towel will be rolled into the cake. Let this cool completely before continuing.
- Make the filling: Place the heavy whipping cream in a very large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the pudding mix and beat at high speed with an electric or hand mixer until stiff whipped cream forms. This will take anytime between 1-5 minutes, depending on the speed of your mixer. Taste, then add powdered sugar as desired for sweetness, whipping to mix them in.
- To fill the cake: Carefully unroll the cake. Spread with some of the whipped cream mixture. Carefully roll the cake back up as tight as possible, unsticking it from the towel as you go.
- To decorate the cake: divide the remaining frosting into 2-3 bowls. Tint with frosting as desired.
- To decorate: go to town with sprinkles, brightly colored candies, marshmallows and more.
- Chill for at least 1 hour before slicing. Cover loosely if chilling longer than one hour.
Expert Tips
- To frost as I’ve shown it: place each color in its own ziploc or piping bag, then cut off the tip. Pipe stripes of each color on the cake roll, then swirl with a spatula as desired. You can also use a 1M tip to make roses in different colors, however you like it.
- You can wrap the cooled unfrosted cake in plastic wrap and let it sit overnight before finishing.
- Garnish with anything your heart desires – candy, sprinkles, you name it! Anything goes on a Unicorn Cake!
FAQs
Why did my cake roll crack?
Your cake roll probably cracked because the cake did not have enough time to cool completely. Or your cake batter was either too moist or too dry.
Can I freeze this cake?
Yes. Freeze this cake roll recipe for up to 1 month in an airtight container.
How to store leftover cake?
Store leftover cake in the fridge in an airtight container for up to one week.
Unicorn Cake Roll
Unicorn Cake Roll – an easy cake roll recipe that is all things rainbow and UNICORN! Colorful cake and frosting, pudding whipped cream, sprinkles, marshmallows and all things glitter and fun.
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Cooling Time 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (93g) all purpose flour
- Food Coloring see note
- Powdered sugar to aid in rolling
For the Filling and Topping:
- 1 quart heavy whipping cream
- 1 (3.4 ounce) box instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 tablespoons (28g) powdered sugar
- Food Coloring see note
- Assorted sprinkles colorful marshmallows and/or candies, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 10×15” or 10.5×15” cake/jelly roll pan with foil and spray with floured nonstick cooking spray.
- Place eggs in a large bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat at medium speed with mixer for 5 minutes until foamy and yellow. Add sugar and mix for 2 more minutes, until the mixture is thickened slightly. Mix in oil, baking powder, salt, and vanilla, then add flour and mix slowly until just combined.
- Divide batter into three bowls. Color each as desired.
- Pour each batter into prepared pan, spreading and swirling as desired with a spatula. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the top is browned and the cake springs back when touched lightly. (Mine took 12 minutes, but all ovens differ.)
- While the cake is baking, lay out a clean kitchen towel onto the counter. Spread with about ¼ cup powdered sugar.
- Remove the hot cake from the oven and carefully, using oven mitts so you don’t burn yourself, flip the cake onto the towel. This might make a mess, but that’s okay. Carefully remove the pan and foil (they’re hot!) and then, using the towel, roll up the cake from the short side. The towel will be rolled into the cake. Let this cool completely before continuing.
- Note: you can wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap and let it sit overnight before finishing.
- Make the filling: Place the heavy whipping cream in a very large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the pudding mix and beat at high speed with electric or hand mixer until stiff whipped cream forms. This will take anytime between 1-5 minutes, depending on the speed of your mixer. Taste, then add powdered sugar as desired for sweetness, whipping to mix them in.
- To fill cake: Carefully unroll the cake. Spread with some of the whipped cream mixture. Carefully roll the cake back up as tight as possible, unsticking it from the towel as you go.
- To decorate the cake: divide the remaining frosting into 2-3 bowls. Tint with frosting as desired. To frost as I’ve shown it: place each color in it’s own ziploc or piping bag, then cut of the tip. Pipe stripes of each color on the cake roll, then swirl with a spatula as desired. You can also use a 1M tip to make roses in different colors, however you like it (see this cake roll for an example of how that looks).
- To decorate: go to town with sprinkles, brightly colored candies, marshmallows and more.
- Chill for at least 1 hour before slicing. Cover loosely if chilling longer than one hour.
Recipe Notes
- Make sure to beat the eggs for at least 3 full minutes if using a stand mixer (on high speed) or 5 minutes using a hand mixer. They should be thick, frothy, and dark yellow.
- I like using instant vanilla pudding but any flavor instant pudding mix will work for the whipped cream.
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1/8th slice of cake | Calories: 280kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 1456mg | Sugar: 45g
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Other Cake Roll Recipes
Love at first stinking sight. This cake is screaming mine and my daughter’s name– I cannot WAIT to see the look on her face when she sees this on our to-do list!
Hi Dorothy. I hope you don’t mind that I use your blog as a reply to the people who complained that the Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino had three Snickers bars worth of sugar (and who might complain about your cake). Let’s put this in perspective since I know none of these complainers have actually done the research… Starbucks currently has 18 frappuccinos on their menu (not counting the “light” ones that use diet sugar). Out of those 18, the sugar content (all for grande frappuccinos) ranges from 41 grams (Cinnamon Dolce and Midnight Mint Mocha Creme) to 69 grams (Caffe Vanilla and The Pokemon Go [vanilla bean base with freeze dried blackberries and raspberry syrup]). That means that there is an average of 58.5 grams of sugar (that’s right, I did the math) per grande frappuccino. That’s 0.5 grams less than the Unicorn Frappuccino!!! And of course, that’s before any “extras,” like extra syrup (or an additional flavor). So seriously, quit judging before you actually compare apples to apples! Just because something is bright and colorful doesn’t make it any worse than anything else on the Stabucks menu. In fact, it actually has less sugar than 10 of the frappuccinos on the menu! OK, rant over. 🙂
Your unicorn cake is super cute. 😀 And I am totally trying the pudding whipped cream. I’ve made cream cheese whipped cream before and love it. Maybe combine the two and be in total heaven?!
Beautiful pics! Looks wonderful. I love the unicorn “poo”. lol
This is SO Dorothy all the way! I love it! Pudding whipped cream…I actually had a recipe recently I made that I used Cool Whip, 1 packet of pudding, and half the milk called for on the pudding packet (1.5 c instead of 3c) and it turned out PERFECTLY. That way I didn’t have to whip heavy cream, lazy yep.
I wish I could have a piece of this! Honestly! We had to drive around to 4 Starbucks to find the Uni Frap because it was sold out everywhere. S loved it, and I had a taste of hers and I thought it was actually pretty good, sugar city but good 🙂
Such a fun cake!! Loving all the marshmallows and sprinkles the unicorn dropped off 🙂
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