One of my friends loves Harry Potter so I made her a Harry Potter Cake! Any kid or even an adult would love to have this cake if they are a fan of Harry Potter.
I used the same cake recipe as my Naked Cake and I use buttercream frosting in the middle of the cake and red velvet for the top of the frosting. I wanted a deep red for the frosting of the cake so red velvet seemed to fit perfectly. Red and yellow are the colors of Harry Potter so I needed to make sure the whole cake were those colors.
Separate the batter into two bowls. Add yellow food coloring to one bowl batter and red into the other. Pour the batter into two separate 9 inch round pans and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 mins.
While the cake is baking make the red velvet frosting. Side note: I had extra buttercream from a previous cake so I used that in the middle. If you don’t want to make a separate batch of buttercream for the middle just use the red velvet for the middle.
Let the cake cools completely. Cut the top of the cakes with a serrated knife to even out the top of the cake.
Place the red cake on the bottom and spread the top of the cake with buttercream or red velvet frosting. Stack the yellow cake on top and coat the whole cake with frosting. Cut out 4 long strips of fondant and lay the strips on top of the cake. Like the picture below. Since I had the left over buttercream frosting I added yellow food coloring and used a round tip to pipe yellow dots around the cake. To get the Harry Potter logo I found a logo online and printed the logo and cut it out so I could trace the pattern using black fondant. Once the logo is cut out place it on top of the cake.
I had the glasses in my Halloween box from a Where’s Waldo costume and it worked perfectly. I got them at the local party store.
To make the happy birthday sign I printed happy birthday in red on yellow paper. Cut out diamond shapes around the letters and make sure to have enough paper to fold the diamonds in half so it can lay over the string. I used two wooden dowels to hold the sign up.
Harry Potter Cake
Ingredients
Ingredients
Cake
- 3 3/4 cups all purpose flour sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk room temperature
Vanilla Buttercream (see notes)
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 5 - 6 cups confectioners' sugar
- 5 - 6 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Red Velvet Frosting
- 1 cup unsalted butter room tempature
- 1 8 ounce cream cheese room tempature
- 2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp gel based food coloring
- 4 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Black and yellow fondant for decorating
Instructions
Instructions
Making the Cake
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Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease and lightly flour three 9-inch cake pan
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Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
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Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
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On medium-high speed, add 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
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With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not overmix this batter. The batter will be smooth, velvety, and slightly thick.
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Pour/spread batter evenly into the 2 prepared cake pans.
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Bake for around 30-35 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
Buttercream Frosting
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In a large bowl using a hand-held mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy - about 2 minutes.
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Add 5 and 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, 5 Tablespoons heavy cream, and the vanilla extract, with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes.
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Add 1/2 cup more confectioners' sugar if frosting is too thin, 1 more Tablespoon cream if frosting is too thick.
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Yields about 4.5 cups of frosting.
Red Velvet Frosting
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Using an electric stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or handheld mixer and large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Add cream cheese; beat until fully incorporated. Add vanilla and food coloring and mix until well blended. Gradually increase mixer speed to high and continue beating until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of bowl as necessary with rubber spatula.
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In a large bowl, whisk together sifted confectioners’ sugar and cocoa. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and cocoa mixture, beating on low speed (stir), until well combined. Beat on high speed until well combined and smooth while scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, about 2 minutes.
Assemble and decorate the cake:
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First, using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Discard or save and eat later.
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Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate. Spread frosting evenly on top.
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Top with 2nd cake layer and evenly cover the entire cake with frosting.
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Use a bench scraper to smooth out the frosting on the sides of the cake
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Cut out 4 long strips of yellow fondant and lay the strips on top of the cake.See picture for reference. Since I had the left over buttercream frosting I added yellow food coloring and used a round tip to pipe yellow dots around the cake.
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To get the Harry Potter logo I found a logo online and printed the logo and cut it out so I could trace the pattern using black fondant. Once the logo is cut out place it on top of the cake.
Recipe Notes
Please note that you don't need to make a full batch of buttercream frosting for this recipe. Cut the recipe in half if you want buttercream in the middle of the cake instead of red velvet. I also added yellow buttercream around the cake. I just wanted to list the buttercream frosting if you wanted the exact same cake.
