Harry Potter Layer Cake
ShareHarry Potter themed layer cake with fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting! A fun birthday or celebration cake for any Harry Potter fan!
I’ve been a Harry Potter fan from the beginning. I wouldn’t go as far as calling myself a super-fan, because there are some seriously hardcore fans out there. I never read a book the night it came out or all in one sitting. But I did devour them at my own pace. I’ve seen every movie over and over and over again. I’ll even watch them when they’re on TV even though I own them. It would make so much more sense to pop them in the DVD player and watch without commercials but I never seem to. Surely I’m not the only one that gets suckered into the Harry Potter weekends and marathon showings?!
I’ll never get bored of Harry Potter. Never.
Anyway… long story short-ish…
It was clear that my kids would become obsessed with Harry Potter too. If they didn’t… and *gasp* the opposite were the case, that would be a sad, sad world.
Sometime in the last year or two, my oldest started reading the books. She was a bit scared by the size of the books. They are rather thick! But, she was quickly pulled into the world that is Harry Potter. Many days, she couldn’t put them down or looked forward to staying up late just to continue reading.
Her birthday was at the beginning of the month. And even though her birthday falls on the most patriotic day of the year, I decided a Harry Potter cake was 100% necessary.
A super fun Harry Potter cake… from the moist Gryffindor tinted layers of cake to Harry’s glasses and even his scar. Let’s not forget an essential part… the fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting!
This Harry Potter themed cake is perfect for any birthday or celebration, every fan will agree!
Make sure to whip this up for the Harry Potter fan in your life!
Harry Potter Layer Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 C unsalted butter softened
- 2 C granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 Tb baking powder
- 4 1/4 C and 2Tb cake flour
- 2 C sour cream
- Americolor Lemon Yellow
- Americolor Gold
- Americolor Maroon
- Americolor Red Red
Frosting:
- 1 3/4 C and 2Tb unsalted butter
- 1/2 C and 2Tb shortening
- 2 Tb vanilla extract
- 4 1/2 C powdered sugar
- 3 Tb heavy cream
- Americolor Chocolate Brown
- Americolor Eggplant
- Americolor Navy Blue
- Cocoa powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat two 8-inch round cake pans to prevent domes from forming. Line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper. Optionally, wrap cake pans in bake even strips to prevent domes from forming.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, with paddle attachment, cream together 1/2 cup butter with 1 cup sugar. Mix in 2 eggs, adding one at a time. Beat until fully combined. Mix in 2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp salt and 1Tb baking powder. Mix until just combined. Measure out 2 cups and 3Tb cake flour, plus 1C sour cream. Alternate additions of each until fully combined and no streaks remain. For the golden layers, add 6 drops lemon yellow Americolor and 4 drops gold Americolor. Mix well until batter is evenly colored. Divide between prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow cakes to cool before carefully inverting onto 8-inch cake boards. Flip again and cool completely on a wire rack.
- Repeat the steps up to this point to create two maroon layers of cake. When ready to tint the batter, add 6 drops Maroon Americolor and 2 drops Red Red Americolor. Bake and cool as directed.
- When cakes have cooled completely, wrap each cake in 2 layers of plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for 6-12 hours or overnight.
- Prepare frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer, with paddle attachment, beat together butter and shortening until light and fluffy, followed by vanilla. Add one cup of powdered sugar at a time until fully combined. Lastly, mix in heavy cream. Beat until fully combined and completely smooth.
- If cakes have domes, use a serrated knife or cake leveler to carefully remove the domes.
- Place one layer of cake on a cake turn-table or cake stand. Add roughly 4 large cookie scoops worth of frosting to the top. Spread into an even layer. Add a second layer of cake, of an alternate color, top off with frosting. Repeat with remaining layers, alternating colors as you go. Top off the last layer of cake with frosting. Spread into a thin and even coat over the entire cake. This will act as your crumb coat. Carefully transfer crumb coated cake to the fridge to chill for at least 1-2 hours. Cover remaining frosting with plastic wrap until ready to proceed.
- Set aside up to 1/2 cup of frosting. Cover and set aside for later.
- When your crumb coat is firm, remove from the refrigerator. Add a generous amount of frosting to the top of your cake, working it out and down the sides. Using a bench scraper and a large offset spatula, smooth sides and top of cake.Â
- Transfer cake to the refrigerator for 1-2 hours to firm up.
- Tint reserved frosting with drops of Americolor chocolate brown, eggplant and navy blue. Add spoonfuls of cocoa powder to darken the color. Continue adding color and cocoa powder until desired shade is reached. If necessary, thin out frosting a teaspoon at a time of heavy cream until desired consistency is reached for piping. Add tinted frosting to small piping bag fit with a small round tip.Â
- Use a small round cookie cutter or other small round option to gently press into the cake to create a template for the glasses. Carefully pipe glasses and scar.
- Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- When ready to serve, carefully cut with a sharp knife. Cake slices may be served as 4 layers each or divided into 2 layers per person to serve a larger group.
Notes
Items used in this recipe:
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Okay Rachel this is the cutest cake ever!! I always clarify the same thing when I say I’m an HP fan–I mean, I’m a fan, but I’m not a dresser-upper fan. Haha.
Thank you SO much, Karen! :)
This is such a fun cake! What a great way to celebrate a birthday!
Thanks so much Jessica! :)
We love Harry Potter! I remember waiting in line at the book store when the final book came out. I was about 7-8 months pregnant! I needed to read the book before my son was born. By the way, he will be 14 next month!
Time flies! And it’s crazy and impressive how long Harry Potter has been so popular!
Super fun cake Rachel! Love those delicious looking layers!
Thanks so much, Taylor!
what a fun cake! showing love with a cake is the best reason to bake one! I love the color and scarf idea!!!
Thanks Dee!
This is a great cake, but I have ONE question. Does the good coloring need to be Americolor, or can it be any brand?
It doesn’t have to be that particular brand, but you should stick to gel based color as they won’t alter the consistency.
wow that is such a cool cake
Thank you!
Hey I have a question on the picture it shows a four layered cake but in the recipe it says line two cake trays is that a typo or is the picture a fake because I want to make a four layered cake for my five year old daughter not a two layered one my daughter is very precious and when she wants a four layered cake that is what she gonna get so you better step up your game if that really is a fake picture!!!!
Instead of being rude and making false accusations, perhaps you should properly read the recipe in it’s entirety. In step 3, you make the third and fourth layers.
So beautiful! My son asked me for a Harry Potter cake for his birthday, and this definitely fits my abilities (not a novice but definitely not a pro). Thank you for your explanation!!! I look forward to surprising him at his party!
Enjoy and happy birthday to your son! :)
I have one question on the scarf. How was that done? I’m confused on that part.
The scarf is just that, a scarf. It’s not food.