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'Happee Birthdae' Harry Potter Cake

How to make Hagrid's 'Happee Birthdae' Harry Potter Cake! Chocolate cake, cream cheese frosting - and looks like 'someone mighta sat on it!'
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Decorating time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Hagrid's Birthday cake, Harry Potter Birthday Cake, Harry Potter Cake, Harry Potter Hagrid's Cake, Harry Potter Happee Birthdae Cake
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 536kcal
Author: Sarah H

Equipment

Ingredients

'Happee Birthdae' cake layers

  • 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup cocoa powder
  • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cups unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks, softened)
  • 3 large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cream cheese buttercream frosting

  • 6 oz 3/4 package cream cheese, softened (¾ package)
  • ¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks, softened)
  • 5 cups powdered sugar
  • 1-2 Tablespoons milk
  • 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
  • Few drops red + few drops green liquid food coloring (Save and add later!)

Chocolate Ganache filling (optional)

Instructions

'Happee Birthdae' cake layers

  • Preheat an oven to 350℉ (180℃). Prepare three 8 inch round pans with baker's floured spray (or grease and line with parchment rounds).
  • Mix together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt) in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle (or hand mixer or whisk) until well combined.
  • Add in bits of softened butter, mixing until no lumps of butter are visible and the mixture looks crumbly.
  • Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix until no dry ingredients are visible. Scrape down the bowl and beat for another 20 seconds.
  • Fill the pans evenly - I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part, and each of mine weighed out to about 600g. Bake for 30-35 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  • Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans, and cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired. (This is a great time to make your frosting!)

Cream cheese buttercream frosting

  • Beat together softened cream cheese and butter; slowly add in powdered sugar alternating with milk until frosting reaches desired consistency. Add vanilla and salt and beat until well combined.
  • Transfer about ⅓ cup of frosting to another bowl and color this green – you’ll use this for piping the letters! Add red food color to the remaining frosting. (I forgot to count how many drops I used, but I pulled up this video (1 minute 43 seconds in) and just shot for about the color of the screenshot I took!)

Chocolate Ganache filling (optional)

  • (This is an extra step and completely optional, but I filled this cake with chocolate ganache – because I’m a chocolate addict! Frosting would work as well.)
  • Place chocolate chips in a heat-proof bowl. Add whipping cream and microwave on half power in 30-second intervals, stirring in between until smooth. Cool in the fridge (or 10-minute intervals in the freezer) until the ganache reaches a spreadable consistency.

Assembly

  • Once your cakes are cool, level them (if needed). This can be done with a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and a ruler. Place a smear of frosting on your cake circle (to keep the cake from sliding while you decorate it) and center your first cake layer in the center of the circle.
  • If filling with ganache, pipe a small rim of frosting around the outer edge of your first cake layer to keep the filling from showing on the outside of the cake, and spread the ganache over the layer. Otherwise, spread the layer with frosting.
  • Add your second cake layer on top!
  • Now you're ready to crumb-coat . If you're unfamiliar with crumb-coating, it's just what it sounds like – spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire outside of the cake to keep crumbs out of your final layer.

Decorating

  • Once your crumb coat has set (this takes about 5-10 minutes in the fridge), add a final layer of frosting and smooth. I like to use an offset spatula and bench scraper for this part - but the cake's meant to look a little rough, so don't sweat getting it too smooth!
  • Transfer your green icing to a piping bag fitted with a small round tip. I used a movie screenshot from this clip as a guide when piping my letters – and to make sure I got the mis-spelling correct! Obviously I made the cake in the video for 'Ava,' - pipe the name of the cake's recipient! ;)
  • With a toothpick or small knife, add a few lines to the top of the cake between the lettering. (Make it look like someone ‘mighta sat on it at some point!’ ;) )
  • And you’re done! Give yourself a high five - and enjoy!

Video

Notes

(Please note nutrition information is an estimate, and may not be exactly accurate.) 

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 536kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 24g