Harry Potter Birthday Cake

I made this Harry Potter Birthday Cake for my sister's birthday last year, she is a huge fan of the Harry Potter books and films and has been for as long as I can remember. I thought it would be a cool idea to make her the same birthday cake that Hagrid bakes for Harry in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone but changing the name from Harry to Izzy (my sisters name). 

The chocolate cake recipe I used for this bake is from BBC Good Food, It's the same cake recipe I used for my 'Death by Chocolate' cake that I wrote a blog post on last year. It's the best chocolate cake recipe I've ever used, the cake is insanely moist and fudgy and stays fresh for up to 5 to 6 days.

Sponge Ingredients:

225g – Plain Flour

350g – Caster Sugar

85g - Cocoa Powder

1 ½ tsp – Baking Powder

1 ½ tsp – Bicarbonate of Soda

2 – Eggs

200ml – Milk

125ml – Vegetable Oil

2 tsp – Vanilla Extract

250ml – Boiling Water

This is possibly one of the simplest cakes I've ever had the joy of baking, all you need to do is to mix all of the cake ingredients together in a large bowl (except the boiling water). Once the ingredients have been mixed you can begin to add the boiling water a little bit at a time until fully incorporated and runny. Then divide the mixture evenly between two lined baking tins and bake for 25-30 minutes at 180°.

Buttercream Ingredients:

140g – Butter

280g – Icing Sugar

Pink Food Colouring

Green Food Colouring

Strawberry Food Flavouring

Whilst you wait for your cake to bake you can make the buttercream icing, to begin with just mix together the butter and sugar until thick and creamy. Once the cakes have cooled you can use approximately ¼ of the butter cream to sandwich together the two halves of the cake. Before continuing to the next step you'll need to set aside a few scoops of the buttercream in a separate bowl to use for the green piped writing later.

Add a few drops of both the pink colouring and strawberry flavouring to the remaining buttercream and spread it over the top and around the sides of your cake, creating a messy look to resemble Hagrid's creation in the film. Once you've done this, add a splash of green colouring to the buttercream you set aside earlier and use a piping bag to write 'Happee Birthdae' to whoever's birthday it is that you're celebrating.

I hope you enjoyed this post, I really enjoyed making this cake and I think my sister really enjoyed receiving it. The experimentation with the strawberry buttercream worked a treat and tasted amazing alongside the chocolate sponge. Let me know what you think down in the comments below and if you're planning to bake anything Harry Potter themed anytime soon!