When your daughter tells you she want as tiger unicorn cake for her sixth birthday, you have to say yes. Especially when we can’t have a regular party right now. A girl only turns six once, so celebrating with an epic cake seems right.
What a weird time to have a birthday.
My birthday was right at the beginning of COVID cases being a concern in our area. We weren’t sure if we should cancel our dinner reservations or not. We took the kids out to brunch while restaurants were still open but everyone was sitting far away from each other.
And I had hoped that maybe by the time my daughter’s birthday rolled around, we could have the party that she’d been talking about for months.
But as the days of Shelter At Home went on, it became clear that wasn’t going to be an option. But still, I wanted to do what I could.
So we made a tiger unicorn cake and had a socially-distanced driveway party with family.
Tiger Unicorn Cake
We didn’t do a lot in the way of decor– my sister and her kids made a poster– but we focused on the cake.
And if you can believe it, outside of the fondant and pearl sprinkles on top, this cake was totally keto!
I modified the recipe for funfetti cupcakes from Carolyn Ketchum’s The Ultimate Guide to Keto Baking book
. I used three recipes worth to make six 8″ layers
. These layers are definitely on the thin side, but it worked for my daughter’s request for “six layers because I’m six!”
I didn’t have enough keto sprinkles to make more than two layers funfetti. So I made two layers pink, and two layers marbled with pink and teal.
I modified the Swiss meringue buttercream from the same book, and made a strawberry gelée filling for between the layers that I made up on the spot.
If you’d like to see the cake assembly and decorating process, watch the video below!
Ok, I’m going to admit that I had way less time to decorate this cake than I’d planned. I’d had to go to the grocery store in the morning and it took longer than I thought. Plus, I’m a terrible optimist when it comes to estimating how long it will take me to do anything, and this was no exception.
So this was a sloppier job than I usually prefer to do, but my daughter didn’t care. And it was still fun and tasty, so that’s what matters.
It was very windy that day, so she blew out her candles inside, right by the door so everyone outside could still see.
Seriously, how fun is this cake? I think we should make more things tiger unicorn themed.
I’m glad that even though we couldn’t have the party she’d envisioned, we had fun and ate good cake. Things are far from ideal right now, for everyone, but I’m happy for the bright spots.
