Happy Birthday, Harry Potter
Got something for ya. Afraid I might have sat on it at some point but I imagine it will taste just the same. Baked it myself, words and all.
Rubeus Hagrid, The Philosopher’s Stone
July 31st is going to by Harry Potter’s 35th birthday and I’ve been dying to recreate Hagrid’s birthday cake he made for Harry in The Philosopher’s Stone. If you’re a beginner at making cakes, this is perfect since it’s not meant to look perfect. I’ll be honest and say cakes a quite foreign to me since I mostly have experience creating plated desserts and entremets but this was so easy to put together. Please enjoy and Happy Birthday, Harry!
Harry Potter’s Birthday Cake
yield: 1 – 6″ cake prep time: 35 minutes total time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
ingredients:
- 260g all purpose flour, sifted
- 375g granulated sugar
- 75g cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 220g buttermilk
- 115g vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200g brewed coffee
recipe adapted from Ina Garten
buttercream:
- 120g butter, softened
- 550 sifted powered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tbsp milk
- pink, green, and brown gel food coloring
directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350F. In a mixer bowl, combine your eggs, sugar, and vegetable oil. With the paddle attachment, mix until combined. Add the buttermilk. Mix to combine. Add your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Alternate your dries with the coffee with the dries being your last addition. Before pouring the batter into greased cake pan, give the batter a good mix with your spatula in case there are any dry spots. Pour the batter into the greased cake pan and bake for 35 minutes. Check with a cake tester or toothpick. The cake should be firm to the touch. Let it cool before unmolding.
- In a mixing bowl, prepare your buttercream by first adding your softened butter. Paddle for one minute to soften it. Add your sifted powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Mix until the sugar is mostly hydrated. Add the milk and mix until combined. Take out 1/4 cup of icing for the writing, 1/2-3/4 cup for the middle of the cake, and the rest will be reserved for the pink icing. Add your gel food coloring to the icing to create green for the writing and a brownish pink of the rest of the cream. We will leave the center icing white.
- Unmold the chocolate cake and sliced it in half to create two cake layers. Take the top half and place it on a cake stand. This will be your base. Add your white icing and spread it out evenly. Take the other layer of cake and turn it over so the bottom is now the top. Place it on top of the cake and press down gently. Ice the cake with the pink icing; This part does not need to be perfect. Finish by piping “Happee Birthdae Harry” on top and cut it a cut down the middle to make it look just like Hagrid’s.
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