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Harry Potter cake on a wooden table with books

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
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: British
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

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!

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 

Instructions

  1. 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.
  2. Make the caramel sauce: Make sure that you’re cooling it in the fridge. Then move onto making the cake.
  3. 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. 
  4. 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.
  5. 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. 
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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. 

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 slice
  • Calories: 517
  • Sugar: 62.6 g
  • Sodium: 465.4 mg
  • Fat: 17.5 g
  • Saturated Fat: 5.7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 88.3 g
  • Fiber: 1 g
  • Protein: 3.9 g
  • Cholesterol: 15.3 mg

Find it online: https://thebananadiaries.com/vegan-harry-potter-birthday-cake/