🎂 Hagrid’s “Happee Birthdae Harry” Cake

 

🎂 Hagrid’s “Happee Birthdae Harry” Cake

A magical chocolate cake inspired by the iconic scene — perfect for fall movie nights! ✨

With fall just around the corner, it’s officially Harry Potter movie marathon season.
So of course… I had to recreate the legendary pink birthday cake Hagrid made for Harry! 💌🎂
Here’s the full recipe to bake your own Hogwarts-worthy treat:

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🤎 Ingredients

For the Cake (Makes 3 x 7-inch layers):

• 220 mL whole milk

• 1 tbsp white vinegar

• 250 g all-purpose (plain) flour

• 350 g caster or granulated sugar

• 65 g unsweetened cocoa powder

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1½ tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)

• 1 tsp salt

• 110 g sunflower oil (or neutral oil)

• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

• 220 mL boiling water

For the Buttercream:

• 226 g unsalted butter, softened

• 450 g powdered sugar

• 4 tbsp double cream (or heavy cream)

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 tsp salt

• Pink gel food colouring

• Green gel food colouring (for piping the lettering)

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🤎 Method

Make the Cake:

1. Prepare your tins
   Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease and line three 7-inch cake tins with parchment paper.

2. Make the “buttermilk”
   Mix the milk and vinegar together and let sit for 5 minutes until slightly curdled.

3. Combine the dry ingredients
   In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. Add wet ingredients
   Pour in the oil, vanilla, and the milk–vinegar mixture. Mix until well combined.

5. Add boiling water
   Slowly pour the boiling water into the batter while stirring. The mixture will be thin—this is correct and gives a very moist cake.

6. Bake
   Divide the batter evenly between the three tins.
   Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Cool completely
   Leave cakes in the tins for 10 minutes, then remove and cool fully on a wire rack before decorating.

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Make the Buttercream & Decorate:

1. Whip the buttercream
   Beat the softened butter until light and creamy.
   Gradually add the powdered sugar, then the cream, vanilla, and salt. Beat until smooth and fluffy.

2. Color the icing
   Set aside 2 tablespoons of buttercream and tint it green for writing.
   Tint the remaining buttercream pink, just like Hagrid’s cake.

3. Assemble the cake
   Stack the cooled cake layers with buttercream between each.
   Cover the entire cake with a generous layer of pink buttercream, keeping it slightly rustic to match the movie.

4. Write the message
   Pipe the iconic message on top:
   “Happee Birthdae Harry”
   using the green buttercream.