Rachel Johnson - Unicorn Food: Magical Recipes for Sweets, Eats, and Treats

Welcome to the wonderful world of Unicorn Food. Filled with plenty of sugar and magical recipes, this book is for those who seek joy in sprinkles, have glitter running through their veins, and believe that rainbows are a way of life. Unicorn Food will always give you joy, whether its in making a recipe for your friends or decorating a birthday cake with sugar and fun. This book was written to create fun and fantasy in the kitchen by way of rainbows and unicorns.

With everything going on in the world, we need a reason to stop and celebrate little moments that give us joy. These moments of celebration definitely require sugar cookies brushed gold with edible luster dust. Or Choco-Tacos with homemade sprinkles. Or White Hot Chocolatewith glitter marshmallows. This book has all of that! Gather your pals and host a unicorn high tea or an impromptu rainbow party, just because.

The Internet has been a major inspiration for this book; rainbowifying everything from lattes to donuts has taken trending topics by storm, and these recipes deserve a permanent place on your shelf. Whether youre looking to incorporate more edible glitter in your diet or need more tie-dye colored icing to reflect your lifestyle, all these recipes are Internet-approved and are definitely Instagrammable.

Lets just get this out of the way: no, unicorns are not real. But Swirly Sprinkle Celebration Cupcakes and Rainbow Sprinkle Waffle Cake and Eat-the-Rainbow Fruit Salad are very real and very delicious. The unicorn is the inspiration behind this entire cookbook in color, glitter, and uniqueness. Every recipe draws from the free and creative spirit of the unicorn, from Candy Mountain Creambows to the Real Deal Unicornchino (you know the one). Its up to you to channel your inner unicorn self and get in the kitchen!

Cheers to joy, happiness, and rainbow sprinkles!

Pack your tool kit with everything you might need to become the ultimate unicorn foodicorn.

FOOD COLORING

There are three main groups of food coloring: gel, liquid, and natural. The multicolor packs you may find in the grocery store are most likely to be the liquid kind (in dropper bottles) and will do in a pinch. The best, most vibrant colors come from the highly concentrated gels found in most craft supply stores and easily available online. If you are looking for colors that are free of chemicals and additives, go for natural. Those colors are derived from highly pigmented foods such as beets, turmeric, and purple cabbage. Natural food colors are available in many specialty grocery stores and online. I like the India Tree brand the best, but the three-color pack can be cost-prohibitive.

A note on dying batter: to make your life easier, dye batter in disposable paper bowls. Some of these recipes call for dividing batter and dying it in six different colors for rainbow layers, so give yourself a break and use paper to avoid the crazy cleanup.

PIPING BAGS/TIPS

Most large icing projects require a 16-inch bag, but you could get away with dividing icing into two 12-inch bags if thats all you have. Its better to get ahead of the game and use a large 16-inch bag instead of ending up with icing everywhere. Ive also made the mistake of purchasing small packs of piping bags and individual bags, but they inevitably end up at the bottom of a bin for me to forget about promptly and repurchase the next time I need them. If youre a frequent sweets and treats maker, I recommend buying a restaurant-grade box of large bags to keep them organized and roll them out easily when needed.

When it comes to tips, I recommend trying out different shapes and patterns to get the look you love. There is no wrong answer when it comes to icing! My go-tos are an -inch and a -inch plain and fluted tip, but Ill experiment with a star tip, mostly on cupcakes.

SPRINKLES

The world of pastry has moved past the rainbow jimmies! Mixing metallic drages, colored rods, and a variety of colored spheres creates a unique dimension on otherwise plain sweets. See for more on mixing the shapes, colors, and textures of sprinkles.

EDIBLE GLITTER/LUSTER DUST

If youre looking to coat your pastries in a gold finish, go for luster dust. Use a clear evaporating liquid as your medium (clear vanilla extract or vodka) and brush luster dust onto set fondant or solid candy coatings. If youre just looking for a sprinkling of glitter, go for edible disco dust. Hold the container a few inches above what youre trying to glitterfy and gently shake the container to coat evenly.

TOPPERS AND TOYS

Purchase cheap toys from the dollar store or online and spray paint them with metallic gold paint. Unicorn figurines, rainbows, shooting starsplastics the limit! Place painted toys on your treats as decoration or table accompaniments. Cut colored cardstock into shooting stars, rainbows, or sunburst shapes and tape them onto toothpicks or lollipop sticks for decoration.

CLEAR VANILLA EXTRACT

If youre looking to create bright white icing or transfer edible glitter or luster dust, be sure to seek out this specialty baking item. Now commonly found in the spices and extracts section of most grocery stores, this vanilla has a clarity that wont tint with a brown color like standard vanilla extract would. Also use clear vanilla as a medium to apply glitter or luster dust for dcor.

OTHER SPECIAL ITEMS YOU MIGHT NEED

Mini muffin pan

Donut pan

Milkshake glasses

Stand mixer

Candy thermometer

R A I N B O W SWIRL BREAD