Unicorn Toast

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & LeisureToday I am bringing to the blog a food trend that has recently swept the nation (OK, maybe not the whole nation, maybe just Instagram and Pinterest)…Unicorn Toast!

This unicorn toast is simple, easy & all-natural, although it does take some time to prepare the colors.

But I guarantee, once you start creating your magical unicorn masterpieces, you won’t want to stop!

And of course, I can’t take full credit for these divine creations. This recipe was inspired by the original unicorn toast creator, Adeline over at Vibrant & Pure!

The base of these toasts is made with cream cheese, and one good thing about cream cheese is that it tastes just as delicious with sweet things (strawberries & blueberries) as it does with savory items (cucumber & cream cheese sandwich anyone?). So that will allow us to use a variety of sweet and savory items in our toast decorations.

If you are dairy free, vegan, or just don’t like the taste of cream cheese, you can also substitute a variety of other white foods. Greek Yogurt (or any thick dairy free yogurt) would work very well. And if you’re in the mood for a sweet treat, marshmallow fluff could be a great option as well! Although it might be a little sticky, it would be fun for a birthday party idea!

So, let’s get to the good stuff, shall we?

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Ingredients:

  • 2 blocks cream cheese
  • 3 Beets – to make the pink dye
  • Spirulina Powder (or capsules) – to make the green dye
  • Turmeric powder – to make the yellow dye
  • 1-2 dozen Blueberries – to make the purple dye
  • 1 Loaf sliced bread

Optional Decoration Ingredients:

  • Shredded Coconut
  • Kiwi
  • Strawberries
  • Cucumber
  • Radishes
  • Chopped Nuts
  • Edible Gold Leaf
  • Sliced Banana
  • Blueberries

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

To Make the Cream Cheese Colors

I started with about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese in each of 7 ramekins, but feel free to use more or less cream cheese. The color is definitely able to adjust to whatever amount of cream cheese you have.

Hot Pink

  • To make the pink colored cream cheese we first must boil up the beets in order to make the natural colored pink dye. I started by boiling up the beets in a pot over high heat. I boiled them for 30 mins because I planned on eating them in a salad, but if you don’t want to eat them, you can just boil for 10-15 mins. The remaining pink/magenta water will serve as our pink dye.

Purple

  • Add 10-12 blueberries to a saucepan with an amount of water just covering the blueberries. Boil these until the water is almost gone and a thick blueberry paste remains in the pan. I smashed the blueberry skins up a bit while they were boiling to get a darker color.
  • For both the beets and the blueberries, allow the colored water/paste (aka the dye) to cool completely before adding it to the cream cheese. I originally tried using hot water from the beets to make the pink dye and the heat from the water just made the cream cheese runny and thin. So, just be patient and let the water cool, or set it in the fridge for a bit to speed up the process.

Yellow/Orange

  • For the yellow, just add a bit of turmeric powder to one of the ramekins and stir to blend. This stuff is pretty potent, so again, start off with a few sprinkles and add more to get the color as desired).

Green

  • For the green I used a spirulina powder that came in a capsule. I found these at a local health food store, but you can buy them here online.
  • I added about 2 capsules for the dark green and 1 capsule for the light green. And remember, if you make one too dark you can always add more white cream cheese to lighten it up a bit.

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

There is no set amount of dye you need to create the colors, just add as much or as little as you’d like to get the color you want. But you’ll probably need no more than 1 tablespoon of each. I started by adding a little bit, mixing it up, and adding more as desired.

And, don’t worry, in case you’re wondering, none of these dyes give off any flavor in the cream cheese. It just tastes like regular cream cheese! Except for maybe the blueberry (purple), but only because I included some of the smashed blueberry skins in the mix.

So, no. Beet flavored cream cheese will not be making its debut on the blog anytime soon. Ha!

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Ok, now comes the fun part…the “painting” of the bread!

I advise to start with a layer of plain white cream cheese. This base layer will allow the brightness of the colors to really show through without being muted by the brown color of the bread.

There are a few ways you can go about adding the colored cream cheese, such as painting blobs on and then blending them. Or painting stripes one by one and then blending it. There really is no wrong way to do it, so just have fun!

Once you get the hang of it, you’ll feel like Picasso creating a new masterpiece with each slice, and I guarantee you won’t want to stop “painting” your toasts.

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

And now onto another fun part…the toast decorations.

I made a little pile of all the fun foods I thought might come in handy for the decor part…which I like to call the ‘Decoration Station’.

These foods include things like kiwi, blueberries, chopped nuts, flax seeds, and shredded coconut (I dyed some of the coconut pink using a few drops of the beet juice – so easy!).

And let’s not forget my favorite, the edible gold leaf!

Be creative and use whatever you have lying around the house. I will say, however, the radishes worked the best for cutting the star shapes out. I tried this with kiwi, strawberries, and bananas, but the radishes had the perfect thickness and weight in order to hold the shape.

I’m sure this would work better with tiny cookie cutters like this one, but I didn’t have one that was small enough so I cut them out by hand (and yes, it was a pain, thanks for asking.)

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Here are some of my favorite magical creations I made using the ingredients I listed above.

Sorry for the photo overload, but they were just so pretty I couldn’t help but take a million pictures!

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

The best part about this Unicorn Toast is that they are beautiful, delicious, and all natural! None of that yucky artificial food coloring here. You can also make this recipe vegan by substituting vegan cream cheese.

The possibilities are certainly endless with all the different combinations and options you can create!

So, what are your ideas for making Unicorn Toast?  Let me know in the comments below!

While this probably isn’t a recipe you’ll be whipping up before work in the morning, I think these would be beautiful for a Summer brunch party or a bridal shower.

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Unicorn Toast - Quartz & Leisure

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9 Comments

    1. Thanks Kelsey! So glad you liked it! 🙂
      Xx

    1. No, it’s really not difficult at all! Just takes a little time. Let me know if you end up trying it!
      Xx

    1. Thanks Emmy, I’m glad you like it! Let me know if you end up trying it! 🙂
      Xx

    1. Yay! Please let me know if you end up making it and how it comes out!
      Xx