How to make Harry Potter’s Birthday Cake (Vegan Harry Potter Cake)

posted by Britt Berlin on Jul 8, 2022 (last updated Oct 23, 2023) 15 comments »

Learn step by step how to make the best Harry Potter cake, just like the movie! This unbelievably rich and decanted chocolate cake with caramel sauce (or toffee!) is so easy to make, and is perfect for any Harry Potter fan in your life! Just like Hagrid’s birthday cake to Harry on his 11th birthday, this vegan Harry Potter Birthday cake is simple and easy to make, yet so delicious and loved by all eaters!

Harry Potter cake on a wooden table with books

Whether you’re a witch or wizard or even a muggle, you’ll become absolutely enchanted with this vegan version of Harry Potter’s Birthday Cake!

As a true Harry Potter fan, of course, I had to make a vegan version of Harry Potter’s birthday cake. I’ve read the books several times through, and even in Italian. Oh and the movies.

My house is Gryffindor on Pottermore in case you were wondering 😉

If I were 11 years old again and finding out I was actually a witch and received a letter to Hogwarts, this is the cake I’d want (and I know you’ll just love it too!).

It’s a fudgy and rich vegan chocolate cake layered and filled with the ultimate vegan vanilla buttercream frosting and this unbelievable vegan caramel sauce (though it’s also delicious with this toffee sauce from my vegan sticky toffee pudding recipe!).

This vegan Harry Potter’s birthday cake is absolutely decadent and goes perfectly while watching the Sorcerer’s Stone I might add! And if you’re a super Harry Potter fan, you should check out my chocolate butterbeer cake as well!

HAPPEE BIRTHDAY HARRY Harry Potter cake on a table

What flavor was Harry Potter’s birthday cake?
Overview: How to make a Harry Potter Cake:
What does Harry Potter’s birthday cake say on it?
Pop quiz! What did Hagrid say to Harry?
When is Harry Potter’s birthday?
Watch how to make Harry Potter’s Birthday Cake:
More vegan cake recipes you’ll love:

What flavor was Harry Potter’s birthday cake?

According to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (or Philosopher’s Stone if you’re not in the U.S.!), Harry Potter’s 11th birthday cake (not sure he actually ever had a birthday cake prior to that!) was a deliciously rich chocolate cake with pink and green frosting made by none other than Rubeus Hagrid.

But I wanted to give Hagrid’s beautiful creation a little bit of a twist.

We’re adding caramel sauce into the middle, since Harry also later on learned of his love of butterbeer so that this cake is full of Wizarding World flavors (caramel is sort of like butterscotch, so it’s sort of like butterbeer!).

sliced vegan chocolate cake on a plate with Harry Potter birthday cake in background

Overview: How to make a Harry Potter Cake:

Making Harry Potter’s birthday cake is actually quite simple: you’re basically just making a birthday cake! The trick comes to when we make the cake design, but we’ll get there in a second.

Pro tip: I recommend making the vegan caramel sauce prior to making the cake, to ensure that the caramel has enough time to cool before we fill the cake. This will ensure that your cake doesn’t slip and slide while frosting!

We’re using my classic vegan chocolate cake recipe here. However, you can also substitute in my gluten free vegan chocolate cake that uses just oat flour.

Another note, you don’t have to use vegan butter for the cake part, though it does taste amazing! You can substitute in vegetable oil or coconut oil as well.

slice of vegan chocolate cake on a plate

Pro tip: Make sure you’re using all natural cocoa powder instead of cacao powder. This will ensure that your chocolate cake rises properly. Cacao powder doesn’t have a lot of acidity in it, which we actually need in order for the cakes to rise.

When you’re ready to frost, you’ll prepare a vegan vanilla buttercream from my vegan vanilla cake, saving a little bit in a small bowl for the green coloring. This is just a mixture of vegan butter, powdered sugar, and a bit of vanilla extract.

Pro tip: For vegan food coloring, I recommend using a liquid vegan food coloring to make the green and pink frosting, such as Nomeca. You can alternatively use beet powder and spirulina or matcha powder for a most natural color.

When the cakes are ready to frost, you’ll start by frosting the first layer with some pink buttercream. Then make a frosting dam to add the caramel sauce. Then frost the remainder of the Harry Potter cake.

Pro tip: I recommend refrigerating the cake for 15-20 minutes after you’ve stacked the second layer on top, and before you coat the cake in frosting. This will ensure that the filling sets enough and won’t seep out as you frost the cake!

What does Harry Potter’s birthday cake say on it?

Well, Hagrid being Hagrid, he spelled everything his own way, and I absolutely adore it.

For this part, you’ll want to spell out “HAPPEE BIRTHDAE HARRY” in the green frosting using a piping bag and frosting tip designed for writing (check out Wilton’s tips or simply snip the tip of the piping bag off).

You’ll want the “HAPPEE” to curve up top, then the “BIRTHDAE” is slightly crooked (especially with the “I” being way smaller than the rest). Finally, you’ll make sure to add a curve to the “Y” of “HARRY.”

You want it to be messy– Hagrid was riding in on a flying motorcycle and accidentally sat on it on the way to rescue Harry, so it’s not meant to be perfect!

Then draw a line through it as shown below. You can use a knife or a toothpick.

Now you’re ready to serve!

Pop quiz! What did Hagrid say to Harry?

Yer a wizard, Harry!!

When is Harry Potter’s birthday?

July 31, 1980

You’re just going to love this version of a Harry Potter cake, whether you’re a muggle or a witch or wizard! If you give it a go, let me know down below in the comments section.

As always, I absolutely LOVE to see your beautiful magical creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!

Happy Birthday to Harry, and happy magical baking to you!

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

Watch how to make Harry Potter’s Birthday Cake:

Vegan Harry Potter Birthday Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 5 reviews

Author: thebananadiaries
Prep Time: 15
Cooling time: 180
Cook Time: 45
Total Time: 4 hours
Yield: 16 1x
Category: Dessert
Method: Baking
Cuisine: British
Diet: Vegan

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Description

Ingredients

Scale

1/2 batch vegan caramel sauce or vegan toffee sauce, cooled
1 1/4 cup (300 mL) vegan buttermilk, room temperature
3 cups (375 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 3/4 cups (350 g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (110 g) brown sugar or coconut sugar
1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted vegan butter*, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 cup (220 g) unsweetened applesauce or dairy free yogurt, room temperature
1 cup (95 g) all natural cocoa powder, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (240 mL) hot water + 1 tsp dissolvable espresso powder (or 1 cup (240 mL) brewed coffee, decaf if desired)
1 batch vegan buttercream

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Instructions

Note: I recommend making the caramel sauce first before making the cake. The caramel sauce will need ample time to cool to at least room temperature before filling your cake. Once you’ve made the caramel sauce (or toffee sauce) according to the instructions, you can move onto making the cake.
Make the caramel sauce: Make sure that you’re cooling it in the fridge. Then move onto making the cake.
Prep: Place the vegan butter out for the vegan buttercream to come to room temperature while you bake and cool the cake. Measure out all ingredients for the chocolate cake. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two 8″ cake pans with parchment paper and grease the sides. Make the vegan buttermilk.
Make the chocolate cake. Whisk and sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
1. Mix: In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, melted vegan butter, and dairy free yogurt until combined. Next, add in the cocoa powder and vanilla extract, and whisk together until incorporated.
2. Finish the batter: Sift in the flour and pour in the vegan butter milk in 3 increments, mixing gently between each increment. Stop mixing just before the flour is incorporated so as not to over-mix. Then add in the hot coffee, and mix until incorporated.
Bake: Pour the batter into the cake pans evenly, and place the cakes into the oven to bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool: Remove the cakes from the oven, and allow them to cool for 10 minutes in the baking pans. Then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack to cool COMPLETELY before assembling the cake.
Make the buttercream: Once the cakes are completely cooled, you can make the buttercream according to the instructions. Once the buttercream is made, take about 1 cup of the prepared buttercream and set it aside in a bowl. Add a few drops of the green vegan food color to the 1 cup of frosting and mix. Set aside. Then add in 2-3 drops at first of vegan red food coloring and mix again until the color is distributed. You can add more red to create a deeper pink color.
Assemble the cake: Place one cake layer onto the cake plate or stand. Apply 1/2 cup of frosting to the top of the cake layer. Spread evenly. Then piping about 1/3 cup of frosting onto the rims of the cake to create a frosting dam. Add about 1/2 cup of cooled caramel or toffee sauce to the middle. Place the second cake layer on top. I find it easiest to place the cake now into the fridge to set the middle part of the frosting for 15-20 minutes. Once set, you can frost the remainder of the cake with the pink frosting.
Decorate: Fill a piping bag with piping tip (or simply cut off the tip of the piping bag) with the green frosting. Pipe “HAPPEE BIRTHDAE HARRY” onto the cake, like in the movie. Then drag a knife or a toothpick through the tops of the letters, like in the movie.
Slice and serve! Slice and serve your Harry Potter cake and enjoy! Store any leftovers in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Notes

Gluten free: You can swap in 3 cups of gluten free 1:1 baking flour (such as Bob’s Red Mill in the blue bag). Please DO NOT use Namaste flour. If you’d like, you can also swap in my vegan chocolate oat flour cake instead.

Vegan butter: You can also substitute in coconut oil, but the best flavor will be with vegan butter.