Let's be honest here...graduations in 2020 weren't so cool.
Let's just put the politics and opinions aside for a moment. When 'social distancing' and quarantines shut the world down, it was rough on young people. Everyoneâs âsocially distantâ graduations just weren't anywhere near the normal celebrations. My niece really didn't get the full experience that senior year. Many of those special 'graduating class' experiences she should have had as a high school senior were really watered-down - or completely canceled. I saw a lot of creativity and resilience in the way she and her classmates handled senior year experiences in 2020 - but it was still a little sad to see.
That said - when I got a text from my SIL asking if I wanted to make my niece a Ravenclaw graduation cake? I said HECK yes. And let's go ALL in!
A boatload of blue frosting, some silver edible spray color, some gum paste letters and an edible icing sheet later â easily the BEST grad cake Iâve ever made! Recipe + supply list below!
Why you'll love this Harry Potter Graduation Cake recipe -
- Customizable to any Harry Potter house - you just need a different gel food color for the frosting! Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin - OR you could color the frosting black and just go with a more generic Harry Potter theme!
- Believe me - I spent a TONS of time scrolling Pinterest and Google for Harry Potter graduation cakes. And I'll tell you something else. If you're one that loves sculpting fondant for hours on end - well, you're in luck! Because most of the designs out there look like hours of fondant work. But if you're more like me - and not the best sculptor - this one has zero fondant to mess with!
- Easy stripes with just parchment paper and cake spray - no fussing with trying to get clear stripes out of frosting! Also an edible images makes decorating the top tier with a recognizable Hogwarts crest the easiest thing ever.
Recipe note -
If you watch the video closely you'll see different layers in the base and top tiers. I made a banana top tier per request; if you want my banana cake recipe shoot me an email!
FAQs
"Never made a tiered cake before - can you show me how?"
Short answer is yes, AND I can almost guarantee it's easier than you think!
Give the video a quick watch; it's less than a minute long (you can hit the 'Jump to Video' button above). I also filmed a quick 'Make a Tiered Cake' overview video that I posted on YouTube.
For a more in-depth overview I like this video - 'How to make a Tiered Cake' by Chelsweets - to see the whole process! I like using plastic straws instead of wooden dowels personally, but that's up to you. Any questions please send me an email!
"Holy MOLY there are soo many steps to this cake. Any way to simplify things?"
Man I get it. I have two small children as I update this post, and I need everything I do in the kitchen to be as fast and mess-free as possible. Obviously, I love the recipe I posted, but if you need to speed things up -
You can substitute 3 of your favorite vanilla cake mixes plus the ingredients the mixes calls for; keep the baking pans the same. Substituting butter for oil, buttermilk for water, and adding an extra egg per mix will help the layers taste more homemade.
If you decide to go with canned or store-bought frosting, just know you'll need several jars! It's also thinner than my recipe; I'd recommend adding some powdered sugar to combat that.
(Disclosure: As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases, and my posts often contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you!)
Don't forget to pin for later!
Harry Potter Graduation Cake
Equipment
- Baker's floured cooking spray (optional, but I prefer this spray to parchment rounds)
- 1 10 inch cardboard cake circle (or 8-inch circle; I just found it easier to move the cake on a 10" circle)
- 5 Cake dowels or large plastic straws (+ ruler for spacing dowels)
- small piping bag + star tip (I used a small star tip to decorate between the tiers)
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake layers
- 4 â cups all-purpose flour
- 4 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 ž teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter (3 sticks, room temperature)
- 9 eggs
- 2 Âź cups buttermilk (room temperature)
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- 12 ounces cream cheese (1 1/2 packages, softened)
- 1 1/2 cups butter (three sticks, softened)
- 9 cups powdered sugar
- 2-4 Tablespoons whipping/heavy cream (if needed)
- 1 ½ Tablespoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt (if using unsalted butter)
- 4-5 large drops Navy blue gel food coloring
Decorations
- 8 ounces Gum paste or fondant (for lettering & Snitch - I used SatinIceâs gum paste since it can be rolled thinner and still hold its shape)
- 1 Edible Harry Potter icing sheet (linked is the sheet I used in the video)
- Airbrush kit and silver spray, or silver edible decorating spray (Hereâs a link to the airbrush kit I use â itâs easy to use and works great; I was thrilled to find it for under $90! Silver edible decorating spray will work as well.)
- 1 sheet Parchment paper + scissors
- Gold edible decorating spray to make the Snitch + or white or gold cardstock (or you can use a Ferrero Rocher chocolate and buy the wings on Amazon!)
- 3 Skewers or straws + 3 key chain rings + hot glue (or whatever you want to use to make Quidditch hoops! I've looked everywhere and can't find an equivalent online)
Instructions
Vanilla Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch cake pans and two 6-inch cake pans with baker's floured cooking spray, or grease and line with parchment rounds.
- Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle until fully combined. Mix chunks of room-temperature butter slowly into the dry mix, on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture becomes crumbly.
- Pour in eggs and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk on a low speed. Add vanilla extract and oil, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
- Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part â I had about 675g in my large pans and about 450 in my smaller ones). This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.
- Bake for 34-37 minutes, (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans . Cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
- Once the layers have fully cooled, they can be leveled and any caramelized bits can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife if desired. Be sure the layers are completely cooled or chilled before trimming. If you try to trim the layers while theyâre still warm, they will crumble apart. (While youâre waitingâŚmake your frosting!)
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
- Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with flavor extract and whipping cream until frosting reaches a spreadable / pipeable consistency. Add salt if needed and beat until well combined. (You'll use less gel color if you only use colored icing for the outer layer (not the filling and crumb-coat).)
Assembly
- Place a smear of frosting on your large cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding) and center your large first cake layer in the center of the circle.
- Spread the layer with frosting, and center the next layer on top. Repeat the process with your remaining 8â cake layers.
- Next, repeat the same process with your smaller cardboard circle and cake layers. Of note â if your circles arenât pre-center-punched, be sure to grab a dowel or straw and make your own hole in the exact center of the circle! This will allow you to center the tier on the base tier later on.
- Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like â spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of both tiers to keep crumbs out of your final layers.
- Once your crumb coats have set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add gel food coloring to remaining frosting (if you haven't colored it already) and add final layers of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part. I struggled a bit at first getting the sides smooth on my smaller one, but trimming my smaller cake layers slightly smaller than my cake circle and using the cardboard as a guide worked well!
Decorating (base tier)
- Once your base tier is frosted youâre ready to add stripes! I cut eight 1â and eight 1/2â strips of parchment paper and placed them in an alternating pattern around the cake. Once theyâre well-adhered to the frosting, use your airbrush or an edible cake spray to spray on silver stripes! I recommend allowing the spray to dry for 10-15 minutes so it doesnât smear or drip as you remove the parchment paper. (Unless you're more coordinated than me - which is likely! ;) )
- I added my nieceâs initials in gum paste lettering â I used this Harry Potter font and printed the letter the size I wanted on printer paper, then traced and cut them out of gum paste.
Okaaaay. The stacking process!
- I watched a few tutorials before I started, but âHow to Make a Tiered Cakeâ by Chelsweets was my favorite. To place cake dowels (to ensure the top tier doesn't crush the lower one, as well as keep it centered), it helps to have a ruler handy!
- Push dowels/straws down into the base tier just over one inch from the cake edge, placing them evenly at quarter intervals around the cake. Place your last, tallest straw or dowel into the exact center of the cake, making sure to keep it vertical and centered as you press down.
- Now youâre ready â center the hole in the bottom of your top tier cake circle over the tallest dowel and let the top tier gently down onto the base tier. The dowel will poke into the center of the top tier to hold it in place.
- Pat yourself on the back; you did it! I found that my cardboard cake circle showed more than I was happy with, so I piped some extra frosting with a small star tip onto the base of the top tier to hide it.
Decorating (top tier)
- Cut your edible icing sheet to size â I cut off the âDraco Dormiens nunquam titillandus' logo from the bottom to add to the back of the base tier, and obviously cut off the âhappy birthday.â It fit perfectly on my top cake tier!
- Make the snitch by forming a ball of gum paste and spraying it with cake spray, and cut/feather paper wings to press into the sides. A toothpick helps to get the ends of the wings into the gum paste.
- Hot glue key rings to the top of three skewers to make your Quidditch hoops, and spray them with the airbrush or cake spray you used on the stripes.
- Add your decorations to the top of the cake â and find someone to give you a high-five! (Shoot me a DM on Instagram if you canât find anyone right away!)
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Mentioned in post -
Favorite Vanilla Cake recipe
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
Did you make this Harry Potter Graduation Cake?
Send me an email and let me know how it went â or make my day and find me on Pinterest or on Instagram and tag @IntensiveCakeUnit in your photo!
You can also add a comment or a recipe rating at the bottom of the page! đ
Other recipes you may loveâŚ
Pictured: Sorting Hat Cupcakes, Happee Birthdae Harry Potter Cake, Harry Potter Cupcakes
(Or click / tap the photos to be taken to the recipe pages!)
3 thoughts on “Harry Potter Graduation Cake”