Celebrate Harry Potter's Birthday With His 11th Birthday Cake

Summer is a very important time for Harry Potter fans. This June we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of J. K. Rowling's first book, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone." And the end of July is always important because it marks both J. K. Rowling and Harry's birthdays on July 31. What better way to celebrate everything in the Wizarding World this summer than with the iconic Harry Potter birthday cake Hagrid made for Harry when they first met?

In the book, the cake is described as "a large, sticky chocolate cake with 'Happy Birthday Harry' written on it in green icing." The film added some pink frosting and some interesting spelling choices from Hagrid, and now we have the epic birthday cake.

It's fairly simple to make, just know that it will take a ton of food coloring to get the colors where you want them. And don't worry if the lettering doesn't come out perfect, after all, it is a cake made by Hagrid, also famous for his horrendous rock cakes.

Harry Potter's 11th Birthday Cake

• Prep Time:20 mins
• Cook Time:28 mins
• Total Time:48 mins
• Servings:10
• Easy

Ingredients

• 1 box chocolate cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups butter softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 6 cups confectioners sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• Red green and blue food coloring

• Step 1

  Preheat oven to 350°F. Place parchment paper in the bottom of two circle cake pans and grease with butter or cooking spray.

• Step 2

  In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, eggs, vegetable oil, and water on a low speed for 30 seconds. Mix up to medium speed for 2 minutes. Keep in mind that the amount for each ingredient may vary based on the brand of cake mix.

  

• Step 3

  Pour an even amount of batter into both cake pans, and cook for 28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (again, this will vary based on the brand). Allow to cool and remove from pan.

  

• Step 4

  In another large bowl, combine the butter, vanilla extract, confectioners sugar, and milk.

  

• Step 5

  Separate about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the frosting in a smaller bowl, and add in green food coloring until you get the desired color.

  

• Step 6

  Add a drop or two of blue, and a lot of red, food coloring to the rest of the frosting until it reaches the desired pink color.

  

• Step 7

  Layer the two cakes together by placing pink frosting in between, and then frost a very thin layer on the top and outside to act as a crumb coat. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.

  

• Step 8

  Layer on the rest of the pink frosting. Using a clean knife, carve the cracks made from Hagrid transporting the cake.

  

• Step 9

  Place the green frosting into a plastic bag, and trim one of the corners. Frost "Happee Birthdae Harry" to match Hagrid's spelling. Serve and enjoy!