Menu
Fantastic Feasts: Harry Potter's 11th Birthday Cake (gluten free)
Share This Recipe
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy for details. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
To celebrate Harry Potter’s birthday and the 20th Anniversary of the film series, I will be creating some Fantastic Feasts by cooking my way through the whole Harry Potter series. Starting with Harry’s 11th birthday cake, as seen in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I felt it was the perfect choice to kick off the celebration and the new year with some cake, specifically a rich chocolate birthday cake with a mess of sweet frosting all over it! I am so excited to be starting this journey and cook (and obviously eat) my way through all the drool-worthy foods we see throughout the series.
I am a huge Harry Potter fan so recreating all the incredible foods from the Wizarding World is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. So the timing was perfect since it’s the 20th Anniversary of the Harry Potter film series. So crazy how the time has flown by… Growing up alongside these characters was a special experience and I will take any chance I can get to immerse myself into their world. Naturally, the way I’m doing that is through food, and damn is there loads of incredible looking foods that I can’t wait to recreate. I will probably skip out on the bogey and earwax flavoured beans though, sorry to disappoint.
Anyway, we are starting my Fantastic Feasts series with Harry’s 11th Birthday Cake. This scene is iconic! “You’re a wizard Harry,” a birthday cake that Hagrid made just for him, laughing as his cousin gets a pigtail for pigging out on the cake, what’s not to love!?
So this birthday cake that Hagrid made… Moist, chocolaty, covered in buttercream frosting and topped with a lovely personalized message: “HAPPEE BIRTHDAE HARRY”. I went for a simple one bowl chocolate cake since I didnt think Hagrid would be making anything too fancy, but made sure to make the cake heavy on the flavour and super moist. Also, if you are someone who hasn’t had tons of opportunities to hone your cake decorating skills (like me), then this is perfect for you. Hagrid’s decorating skills are a little rough so leaving the cake looking a bit “rustic” gives it an authentic charm.
This cake is super easy to make, really delicious and is perfect for any occasion, especially to celebrate a certain special wizard! Can’t wait to take you along on this journey with me!
If you make this recipe, I would absolutely love to hear your feedback and would love to talk to you all some more so please leave a comment! Also, if you do make this recipe, I’d really love to see your creations so please tag me on Instagram.
If you have any requests for inspired/themed recipes that you’d like to see, please let me know!
Sign up for our free newsletter that will be delivered straight to your inbox and stay in touch with me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for all of the latest goodies.
My Essential Pantry Items
Fantastic Feasts: Harry Potter's 11th Birthday Cake (gluten free)
To celebrate Harry Potter’s 20th Anniversary, I am creating some Fantastic Feasts by cooking my way through the whole Harry Potter series. Starting with Harry’s 11th birthday cake, as seen in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. This cake is moist, chocolaty, covered in buttercream frosting and topped with a lovely personalized message: “HAPPEE BIRTHDAE HARRY”. This is a simple one bowl chocolate cake that’s rough/rustic decorating job gives it an authentic charm.
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake:
- 1 ½ cup (255g) 1 to 1 Gluten Free baking flour
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
- 100 g unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ½ cup (300g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (112g) vegetable or other neutral flavoured oil
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste can be substituted with vanilla extract, but the paste is so good!
- 1 ¼ cup lukewarm water or milk I use water
- 1 Tbsp instant coffee
For the Vanilla Buttercream:
- 340 grams 340g unsalted butter softened
- 570 grams powdered sugar
- 3 - 4 Tbsp heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste can be substituted with vanilla extract, but the paste is so good!
- Pink and green food coloring
Instructions
For the Chocolate Cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (with convection). Grease 2 9-inch round or square baking pan and set them aside
- In a large bowl, mix wet ingredients and instant coffee together and sift dry ingredients into the bowl. Then mix until smooth.
- Divide the batter between the two pans evenly, and bake in the center of the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes (or until toothpick comes out mostly clean).
- Remove the cake from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting and letting cool completely on a wire rack.
- You may need to cut off a bit of the top of the cake to flatten the layers for assembly. Not to worry, you just get to enjoy a little snack!
For the Vanilla Buttercream:
- Whip buttercream until pale white and fluffy about 5 mins
- Add sugar (sifted), in 2 stages, waiting about 3 minutes between each addition
- Start on low speed and once it’s combined, raise the speed for a few more minutes and repeat.
- Add vanilla and half of the cream, whip on high and add more cream if necessary. Give the bowl a scrape and whip until it’s ready.
- You are looking for a smooth spreadable consistency.
- Separate a bit of the buttercream to the side to color green for your writing.
- Color the rest of your buttercream pink! Keep covered when not in use to prevent drying out.
For Assembling the Cake:
- Place one layer of cake down and spread a nice amount of buttercream across the surface. Gently place your second layer on top.
- Cover with buttercream and have fun here! You want to cover the whole cake, starting with the top and then the sides. Don’t worry too much about this, Hagrid’s cake decorating skills are a little rough so feel free to leave the cake looking a bit rustic to give it the authentic look.
- Pipe on the writing and make sure to get your spelling correct! That means incorrectly here… HAPPEE BIRTHDAE HARRY.
- Don't forget to sit on the cake before serving, it still tastes great!
Gluten Free With Me is where food and geek meet!
With a heavy focus on food inspired by Japan and recreations from your favourite Anime, Manga, Movies, & Games.
Oh… and It’s all gluten free!
You might also enjoy
WRITER & BLOGGER
Meh syh Schlitz, tempor duis single
origin next level ethnic isna smiko me
time mesole learn more…
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
Please share the pictures with us!
Tag @Glutenfree.Carly #Glutenfreewithme and #geekwithme on Instagram
Subscribe to our Newsletter and Stay up to date!