I think, over time, it has become quite clear how much I love all things Harry Potter. Sometimes, when it comes to Harry, I’m as much of a rabid fangirl as those half my age. I try not to embarrass the hubster and our boy too much with my fanaticism, though.
Over the last four days I had the luxury (seriously, it was a luxury) to read over 350 comments sharing with me your favorite Hogwarts houses and students. You guys amaze me. Really. Very, very few of the comments, I would say less than a dozen, were just “I like this house and this student.” Almost each and every one of you shared! You shared your favorite house, but you also shared why it was your favorite. You shared what made each student your favorite; the qualities they possessed that you admire. Some of you made me laugh until I cried, and some of your comments were so touching that I cried in empathy. My very favorite commentors were the ones who didn’t have a favorite house…they had THEIR house. It wasn’t, “My favorite house is…” It was, “I am IN this house…” And that is what makes Harry Potter so special, isn’t it? That’s what makes J.K. Rowling so gifted. It isn’t just that she wrote great stories that are fun to read. She touched us…her characters, her magical places resonated with so many of us in a much deeper way than just being an enjoyable story.
I know a lot of you struggled with picking a favorite student because your favorite character isn’t a student at all. I understand, and I can relate. If I had to pick my absolute favorite character of the entire series, it would be Dobby. He is so admirable: brave, strong, loyal, kind, loving. More humans could stand to be like that heroic little elf. However, I wanted to focus on Hogwarts, it’s houses, students, and staff, for this survey. You see, for me, Hogwarts itself is as much a character of the series as any one of the walking, talking characters. When I read the books and watch the films, imagining and seeing Hogwarts is half the enjoyment for me. I was fortunate enough to get to see an early premiere of the film last night at 7pm. Watching Hogwarts being destroyed during battle was almost as heartbreaking as the deaths of beloved characters. Seeing the rubble, the explosions, the debris…it was painful to watch happen.
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please!
Whether we be old and bald,
or young with scabby knees…
That’s why today’s post, and today’s treat, is dedicated to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I wanted to make Hogwarts a cake, but one that suited everything we’ve learned about the school. I made a delicious spice cake with cream cheese frosting (recipes below), keeping the outside rustic and homespun, just like I think they would serve it at Hogwarts. I covered the whole cake in a thick, fluffy, creamy buttercream and left it au natural, rather than smoothing everything down. Next, I created a banner with the first lines of the Hogwarts school anthem to drape across the top of the cake, as well as each of the four house banners. I love the way the cake looks, and I can easily picture it sitting amongst the amazing desserts and puddings in the Great Hall. But nothing at Hogwarts is what it seems, and this cake is no different.
I was inspired to make a cake with the four main Hogwarts house colors by a twitter friend of mine, John (@chocchunk). I was further inspired by the Hogwarts house scarves to give it a vertical striped filling (except I’m firmly canon when it comes to Ravenclaw, it’s blue and bronze, not blue and silver). I’m thrilled with the results! I love this new, interesting, surprising way to assemble cake and I can hardly wait to try it again!
This is why I wanted everyone to share their favorite houses and their favorite students this week. Without Harry, there is no Harry Potter, but the same can be said of dear, old Hogwarts.
That being said, here are the numbers for your favorite students:
Your #1 favorite Hogwarts student (by a landslide), past or present, is loopy, loony, lovable, and loyal Luna Lovegood. I can’t even begin to express how happy this makes me. 
Second place goes to our clever Hermione. Third goes to brave Neville, with Fred and George Weasley coming in a close fourth. Finally, Ron comes in fifth, with several more votes than the next closest student. Ginny, Harry, Professor McGonagall, Sirius Black, and Severus Snape all came in next, within one or two votes of one another. The next group of close calls includes Dumbledore, Lupin, and Hagrid. Finally, the last group includes all of the students who got one or two votes each: Lily, Tonks, Arthur, Molly, Cedric Diggory, Lucius Malfoy, Dean Thomas, Moaning Myrtle, Draco, Blaise Zabini, Oliver Wood, and Tom Riddle.
Now for the house standings:
In fourth place with 8% of the comments is HUFFLEPUFF
In third place with 11% of the comments is SLYTHERIN
In second place with 26% of the comments is RAVENCLAW
Which means the winner of the Hogwarts House Cup is GRYFFINDOR with 55% of the comments!
I don’t think many people are surprised by those results, although I do have to say that I don’t think Hufflepuff gets nearly enough credit. After all, the Goblet of Fire chose Cedric Diggory, a Hufflepuff, as the Hogwarts Champion. There’s a reason for that.
Now for the winner of my Harry Potter apron giveaway!
The winner is…
Comment #111!
CONGRATULATIONS, Britney!! And thank you for your kind words! Please contact me with your mailing address, as well as your design (mens or womens) and house choices.
For everyone else, as a consolation prize, you can download and print my Hogwarts Anthem and house banners to use for your own Harry Potter party decorating. Just click here to download the image and print at 100% (do not scale) on heavy, bright white paper.
To celebrate the release of the eighth and final film, the hubster and I had a small viewing/pre-premiere party last night. It was just the two of us and a few friends, so with my cake as the centerpiece, we had a small dessert table set up. We’re fortunate to have the sweetest little stone building on our property that was a perfect location for our party. We put all of our food inside with candles, and set up a few small garden tables and chairs outside. We had delicious chicken pot pies for dinner with grown up butterbeer. Afterwards, we all made our way to hammocks that the hubster had strung amongst the trees and watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I projected onto a large white sheet that we had mounted to act as our movie screen. It was a wonderful night and exactly the kind of evening that suits a Harry Potter viewing party.
For the cake, I divided the batter equally between four bowls and colored each one to match a Hogwarts house. I made my cake six-inches round, but this recipe can be altered to suit any size cake. By make a six inch round cake, I was able to make a single recipe and get all four layers. If I were to make an eight- or nine-inch round cake, the recipe would have to be doubled.
Once the cakes were all baked and cooled, I cut rings into them. I used two different sized cutters as guides. Once they were cut, I then cut them open and trimmed a small extra amount off of each of the outer layers. If you don’t cut this extra bit of cake out, then the ends of the rings won’t meet once the filling is added. To make things super easy, I filled a decorating bag with a coordinating frosting color and squeezed the frosting around the outside of it. At first, I used a star tip, but it’s better not to use a tip at all, just snip the end of the bag off. Be sure to apply a generous amount of frosting, so that you can see the colors in the layers. Once the frosting was on, I gently wrapped the next layer around it and pressed it gently to the frosting. One more layer of frosting and the final ring of cake, and each layer was complete.
I stacked the layers right on top of each other, without any frosting between them. You could certainly add more frosting between the layers, but I felt that the amount added already (plus the frosting that goes on the outside) was plenty for flavor, and the inside of the cake looks far more striking without that extra frosting separating the layers.
The outside of the cake couldn’t be easier. Just slather on as much frosting as you like, and keep it textured and fluffy looking, then top with the Hogwarts banners, attached to long wooden skewers.
I loved my little dessert table, and I had such an amazing time at our party, and then at the premiere later that evening.
Besides our whimsical Hogwarts cake, we also had homemade popcorn and pumpkin juice (Tang!).
I made more of my Harry Potter sugar cookies, as well as cockroach clusters (no bake cookies), and of course we had Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.
This cake is far, far easier than you might think. I had it completely assembled, filled, and frosted in only 15 minutes! That’s even with all of the cutting and trimming that had to be done. This is very similar to a vertical layer cake, but even easier.
The inside is so exciting, beautiful, and unexpected. Everyone was oohing and ahhing, and as I’m sure you know, there’s no better feeling than for everyone else to love your work as much as you do! If you still have a Potter party planned for tonight, and you want a spectacular centerpiece that’s much faster and easier than anyone would guess, then this cake is perfect. Enjoy your parties, premieres, and Potter farewells! Happy Harry Weekend, friends!
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup milk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1½ cups (7 ounces) cake flour
- 1½ cups (10 ounces) sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 8- or 9-inch round cake pans, or 4 6-inch round cake pans; set aside.
- Combine the eggs, milk, and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk until mixed; set aside.
- In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, mixing until the mixture looks sandy. Add about half of the egg mixture, mixing on low speed until incorporated. Increase to medium high speed and beat until light and fluffy. Return the speed to low and add the remaining egg mixture. Again, mix until just incorporated, then increase speed to medium high and beat until thoroughly combined.
- Divide the batter, adding color if desired, between the prepared pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting with Cream Cheese Frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until completely combined. Add the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well between each addition. Stir in the vanilla until thoroughly combined. Beat the mixture well, until light and fluffy, adding up to a tablespoon of heavy cream, if the frosting is too stiff.
Recipe by Darla
Hogwarts Banners by Darla
Click on the link(s) below, then click File > Save as or Print. Print at 100% (do not scale) on heavy bright white paper, cut out, and assemble as directed above.
Paper owls courtesy of 3eyedbear. Snowy (black and white), Gryffindor, and tawny versions are available through 3eyedbear’s site as Orly, Lava, and Hoothoot!, respectively.
Oh my head that is sooooo awesome!!!! And I have to ask where did you get the owls? They are too too cute! I’m going to make that cake if we celebrate Harry Potter’s birthday again this year!
Oh my goodness! I forgot the owl links! Eek! They’re printable!!! I’ll add them right away!
Your creativity amazes me!
This could not be any more awesome!! YOU are freakin’ amazing!
holy cow!!….that’s awesomely awesome!!! you rock
Awesome! I just love how the inside of your cake turned out! Very clever!
I have to hold off seeing the last movie, I’m not ready for it to be all over! This cake is breathtaking!!!
We saw the movie last night and I had the same feelings as you while seeing Hogwarts destroyed! It made me teary-eyed, actually.
Love, Love, LOVE THE CAKE! Absolutely great creativity! I agree 100% with you! Reading all of these wonderful books over the years (2-3 times =D) for myself and then for my daughters was simply transcendent. I will truly miss Harry, Ron and Hermoine and so will my girls. Thanks for sharing=)
I share the same feelings about Ravenclaw! Why did they have to change it?! I went to a double-feature with the part one and part two back-to-back. I dressed up as Luna Lovegood, complete with Quibbler and Spectrespecs!
I also love how you put the cake on The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Darla, you’ve outdone yourself. This is INCREDIBLE!!!
holy wow, this is absolutely amazing! i’m really truly speechless, and so wishing there was a way we could’ve joined with you! (although i think you’d need more than one cake…
)
Wow! So delightfully unexpected! How did you get that marvelous metallic sheen to the frosting in the house layers?
i. am. speechless. WOW! I thought the honeydukes cupcakes were the cutest thing i had even seen. this is now the most amazingly awesome thing i have ever seen. seriously. i can’t get over it.
Love this cake… as well as the rest of your Harry Potter goodies!
What a breathtaking cake! The amount of effort you put into your creations is always phenomenal and the results are very much worth it
although i have to say the thing that excited me most about this post is the fact i have made one of those in my boredom creative moments now summer hols have started, im looking at it right now! (i made the light green one, little cutie! yet to name him mind haha)
The basic cake itself sounds delicious as it is and is definitely being saved, wonderful post!
I like the owls, but the cake…. i looove it!! Looks really nice and sounds good! It’s soo colorful!
This is absolutely amazing. One of the top Harry Potter themed cakes I’ve seen. Wow!
Precious!!
The owls are absolutely adorable! Thanks for putting the link.
Found you through the Shiksa. This is one cool cake. Glad she recommended you. I am your newest fan!
How fun! Your cake is amazing and the colors are beautiful. Loved the cookies too and the dessert table looks magical. I am still trying to read the Harry Potter books, but now I can’t wait to see the new movie.
That is so amazing. I just love it! Well done, and Happy Harry Pottering!
http://secretlifeofachefswife.com/
Love the cake! So creative! Your whole display is amazing!
Omg wow! That is such a well done cake! Thanks for sharing how you did it!
My mind has just been blown. Your creations are truly works of art…absolutely beautiful & fun & just WOW. I could not believe the inside of that cake. I’m subscribing just so I can drool over your sweets!
What a delightful and surprising cake! I only wish I could have had this as a child.
Can I just tell you how excited I am that I found your blog?? My sister and I have fallen in love with it over the past few days. We love all the same nerdy things and all the fabulous food and hanging out in the kitchen. We’re kindred spirits. I can’t wait to read more.
Also, my husband is a Coastie too. We really are kindreds.
I’m not much of a Harry Potter fan but I would definitely eat this cake! I just love the colorful layers.
That’s AMAZING AWESOME FANTASTIC!!!
Yesterday I made chocolate cauldrons with pumpkin jam to celebrate the end… I cried a lot while watching te movie with my friend :’)
Thank you so much for share this, I really like it!
oh my gosh. you are my hero. seriously? i cannot believe how BEAUTIFUL this cake is. watching Hogwarts get destroyed in the movie was absolutely heart wrenching for me, too.
I just got home from watching the final movie last night and this post of yours blew my mind. At the start, I thought, “Oooo, cake, and banners. Super cute.” And then I scrolled down and my eyes widened and my mouth dropped open as the interior was revealed. Superty super.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful creativity. In a search for all things Harry Potter when I was hosting my own pre-final-potter party last week I came to your site but your wonderful words and photos definitely kept me here.
Now I’m going to look at that cake again.
Too wonderful for words!! LOVE.
This is incredible! At first it looks near impossible to make (least of all invent!) but reading the recipe I thought- I could do that! It’s brilliant and amazing and I cannot wait to give it a go.
I’m a Slytherin although I can’t tell you why. I’ve been told I’m too nice to be a Slytherin but I think Slytherin house is just brilliant and I have done so since I started reading the books when I was 8 years old. My Aunty made me a Slytherin birthday cake for my 11th birthday!
I went to a midnight premier of the film, it was my first and it was just incredible! It was like all of Hogwarts (and then some) roaming around the movie theatre! We laughed as one, we cried as one and it was just so fantastic sitting there, knowing that every last person in that theatre had lived and loved Harry just as much as I had and they were all “just as sane as I am.”
I went to the midnight screening (I’ve seen the film twice now) as Bellatrix Lestrange. I love her childlikeness and her loyalty is pretty impressive. She also has the most amazing energy and she was really fun to be for a night (I had a dark mark and all!).
In saying that, my favourite character has always been Remus Lupin, he’s a wonderful person and a fantastic teacher. He was dealt a pretty foul hand but he got passed it and during Part 2 I cried the whole way through knowing what was going to happen.
My favourite student would either be Ron or Draco but Luna is fantastic too and I LOVE the twins. It’s too difficult to choose a favourite. I love them all! And Hogwarts wouldn’t be the same without any of them.
go slytherin!
That cake is so amazing! Looks like a lot of hard work that really paid off! Thanks for sharing! So glad you love Harry Potter and made this week a little more fun for the rest of us!
Oh my gosh that looks so awesome! You totally inspire me to make crazily pretty cakes! <3
Magical!
i love love love LOVE this post!!
I love the harry potter series so much! I absolutely adore the cake you made! I really want to try and bake it with my friends because we are all huge HP fans.
I really like the owls in your pictures! I want to hug them
Whoa, that cake looks insanely awesome!!!!!!! What a cool dessert!
I am making this cake as soon as I can. You don’t even know my love of Harry Potter and how bummed I am to of just discovered this! Yay cake!
I have tried the colored tiers and each time the cake seems dry and pretty much sucky to eat. Is there a trick? I would appreciate the help!!
Hi Sandra, I know what you mean…sometimes mine come out dry too. I know why, though. It’s due to overmixing. Typically, once the batter is mixed, you’re done and the cake comes out great, but when you add color, you’re adding an extra step of mixing, so there’s too much. Overmixing causes more gluten which adds more structure and makes the cake firmer and dryer. Long story short, if you’re making more than one color of batter, when adding the color, fold it in gently at the end of mixing. If you’re only doing one color, you can add the color before the flour and mix as usual without any problems.
WOW! I make a lot of Harry Potter themed desserts but this one blows my mind! I love the way you made the house colors for each layer!!!! It’s a fantastic idea! I might try to do something like it the next time my friends want to throw another party.
This is absolutely amazing! I saw a picture of it on Tumblr and thought ‘I wish I could make that, but it looks so tricky!’ but it is so beautifully simple. Wonderful job. I wish I had been a part of your Harry Potter Party – the set up is fantastic – very creative!
Where oh where did you get that copy of The Tales of Beetle and Bard??? It’s BEAUTIFUL.
the tales of beedle the bard*
ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! THANK YOU!
For the record, I like your cake. My BF on the other hand, LOVES your cake!
He also right away recognized the amount of work you did in making it, where I said, oh but there’s molds for that, it makes it super easy. Then I scrolled down and saw you didn’t use the molds.
So… Before you even start, I’m awarding my BF two points and myself zero… lol. I LOVE the cookies though! Hermione is so cute!
go slytherin! btw if you post hissing noises as a reply, ill bite your virtual ears off
Oh my GOODNESS. This is completely brilliant!!! Thank you for sharing it!
AMAZING! you rule!
You are completely amazing. Complete and total kudos. Not just at your deceptive skill at making your inventions sound so simple, but at the inventiveness that went into them.
Fablious. *Wild, roaring applause!*
I can’t wait to make this cake for my Harry Potter fanatic friend! Just one question: how much cinnamon do I mix into the cream cheese frosting?
Hi Danielle, That’s actually a typo, sorry about that. There isn’t any cinnamon in the frosting recipe. You can add some if you like (1 teaspoon would work great). I hope you like it!
Normally, I’d use my regular name, but I had to use my gaming name for your post instead to express my love of all things Harry Potter. As you can tell from my gaming name, I am almost a dead heat of half Ravenclaw and half Hufflepuff. I value intelligence, loyalty and hard work. I saw your cake on cakewrecks.com and posted a picture of it on my LiveJournal as a birthday wish to a LJ friend, who is also a big HP fan. She quite loved it.
Thanks so much for the downloadables and the sharing the instructions of this very cool cake. It’s a cake even I can make with my adequate baking skills, and just might some day. Thanks so much for giving us a cake that does not require a ton of experience with gum paste/marzipan to make look cool. You rock.
How did you get the shiny inner icing?
Hi Jessica, I didn’t do anything special to it. It’s just a combination of the texture of the frosting and the way the light is hitting it. It is slightly shiny, but not very much so.
What brand of food coloring did you use? If you could tell me that would be a lot of help. Thanks.
I used Wilton gel colors, but Americolor gels are also fantastic.
I know I’m asking a lot of questions, haha, but did you mix colors to get the bronze for Ravenclaw?
Thanks.
Can I ask, then, what sort of food coloring you used? What brand I mean.
I just made this cake for my boyfriends birthday and I’m so excited! I added some edible glitter to the frosting to give it that extra magical kick! That you so much for the incredible idea! I can’t wait for him to see it!
Where did you get the bronze and silver food coloring? I really want to replicate this cake for my birthday but cannot find the bronze/silver? So excited!!
It’s actually just a very lightly tinted gray frosting for the silver. I just used the tiniest bit of black food coloring until I was satisfied with the hue. As for the bronze, I just added a touch of cocoa powder to make it brown. The metallic sheen is just an illusion caused by the shine of the frosting. I hope this is helpful.
Hi! Lovely cake, I’m planning to make this for my big sister’s 19th birthday. Thanks for your recipe! I’m so excited on trying this cake, it’s just amazing!!! Anywho, I was just wondering if you can alternate the cake flavor with something else and if yes, what flavor do you suggest? I’m also gonna try if I can make the other Harry Potter recipe you have on your site. And also, I was planning to make Harry Potter themed foods and or cakes etc. , do you know other Harry Potter recipes? Thanks so much! I love your site!
This. Is. Fricken. EPIC.
I used this idea (house colors in confectionary treats) to make awesome cupcake bites in little bowls for a Harry Potter party of my own. Turned out great! Next time I’ll be making this cake. Your recipes are so inspiring.
I am just now seeing this and it is awesome! I am an avid Harry Potter fan and I am so in love with this cake! I am turning 30 in February and I have been wanting a Harry Potter Party so this is just an awesome idea for a cake! I wish I would have seen the original post about your favorite character and house as well and while it is very hard to choose I would have to go with Neville! Well I just wanted to comment that I love your cake and I am heading to check out the sugar cookies next! Keep on Loving Harry and Baking! Just simply Awesome!!!
Woah….that is awesome!! It looks like there’s actually four hogwarts scarves inside….well done!!
About how many people would this serve?
Depending on how you cut it, 12 to 16, at most.
How did you make the pumpkin juice?
Honestly, I just made Tang. I had the real pumpkin juice at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter last summer, and I didn’t like it at all, so I nixed the idea of recreating. Tang was much tastier.
I might try to recreate it eventually, but probably not for a while yet.
are we related?
I’m a rabid fan girl, ahem, woman. Fan woman sounds, just, wrong.
Anyway, you’ve just skyrocketed to my favorite food blogger (other than myself. ah.ha.ha.).
You made me all happy inside with this cake. Going on the ‘must do’ list for my upcoming Harry Potter Party.
I think you win the House Cup and Quidditch World Cup for this one.
The site with the owl-folding description dosn’t work…
what did you searh for to find that pattern, im gona give my nephew a harry potter party
// ida (love the blog and i made Gorp’nMore Cookies, yummie)
Hi Ida, Thanks for the info on the links, but I can’t give you any help, unfortunately.
As stated in my link area at the end of the post, 3EyedBear’s site is currently unavailable, and I don’t know why. He is the creator and owner of the owls, so they are unavailable anywhere else, but I have sent him an email in hopes of getting the files for you guys. So sorry about this, and I hope I can find a solution for everyone. 
Why am I not surprised that you have a Tales of Beedle the Bard authentic story book?
I love all of your Harry Potter themed treats! And your pictures from wwohp! I come on here to reminisce on my trip often! (my camera died early into the day when I was there)
*Shocked face!* I ADORE this idea and think it would be awesome if I could make this cake for my friend who has recently gotten obsessed with the amazing world of Harry Potter! and + her birthday is coming up soon
but how do you get you’re cake batter in suck deep colors? I know that the regular food coloring drops that I can get at any supermarket give the batter a more pastel version of the color (ex. reds turn out to be pink) so could you tell me what dye you used? It would help so much and I’m sure my friend would love the cake 
Hi Jasmine, You’re right about those supermarket colors. I hat those things. I used Wilton gel colors. They work beautifully. You can also use Americolor gel colors. Both work great.
This is so cool!
but how do you make the icing strips between the cakes, what are the ingredients?
Hi Caitlin, Thank you!
For the frosting inside the cake, I used the same as what’s on the outside, I just added food coloring. The recipe is listed at the end of the post. I hope this is helpful.
Wow! This is such a great idea. I would love to make such a Harry Potter Party, but my friends aren’t such Potter fans as I am.
How did you recolor the owls? Simply recoloring the PDF in Photoshop doesn’t work because of the color gradient of the Pattern.
Hi Milli, thank you. You can come to my next Potter party!
I changed the colors of the owls using a combination of clone stamping, magic wand, and color replacing. They turned out pretty fun, and perfect for Hogwarts houses. 
Hi! So this is absolutely brilliant! I dont have advanced photo editing software. =( I was wondering if you could email me your color edited copies? I am throwing a birthday party for my sweet sweet bestfriend and I want it to be perfect! I would really appreciate it.
-Brandy
GandLBoutique@gmail.com
Hi Brandy, You don’t need any photo editing software for these. You simply click on the links at the bottom of the post and they will take you to the images. Save the images to you computer, then print. That’s all there is to it!
It’s the same as if I emailed them to you, but much faster. I hope this is helpful.
Love how you did it! But if came out a bit different for me… The cake was altogether darker, and the colors wouldn’t stay as vivid as they are in yours. I guess it’s just a mistake somewhere on my part.
can i replace the cake flour with self raising flour and not use the baking powder? because i have self raising flour at home and i want to use it, rather than buying another flour
Hi Anya, I wouldn’t recommend it, only because I’ve never done it, but you can try it. There isn’t really a recommendation for replacing cake flour with self rising flour, as they are different grades, and cake flour gives a softer, lighter cake. I’ve used all-purpose flour in a pinch by combining 2 tablespoons of corn starch with 3/4 cup all-purpose flour to get 1 cup “cake flour.” Since self rising flour and cake flour are a very similar grade, you could try the same thing with it. Then, I would reduce the baking powder…maybe by half, but I wouldn’t omit it all together. I have never tried this before, so I cannot guarantee that it works, but I would love to hear about your results if you try it. I hope this is helpful.
How well do you think this cake would keep? Im thinking of making it two days ahead of time but i’m afraid that it’ll become all soggy and disgusting by the time we want to eat it. What do you think?
Hi Leslie, The cake freezes beautifully, so you can make it several days in advance, and just give it about 30 minutes to thaw before decorating. Wrap the cake in plastic wrap the day that you bake it (after it cools), and store on a flat surface in your freezer for up to three weeks. In fact, freezing the cake, even for only one day, actually helps lock moisture in.
Once the cake has been frosted and decorated, I like to serve it within 24 hours. Be sure to refrigerate the cake at least until two to three hours before you serve it.
I hope this is helpful.
Absolutely brilliant!
I’ve very recently found you’re foodblog and I find it really interesting, especially due to all the Harry Potter recipes you post:)
I will definitely have to make this cake as soon as possible.
Thanks for sharing this awesome idea!.
My friend and I tried baking this yesterday… We made a mess of the kitchen! And in the end it didn’t turn out as pretty as yours.
But it was really yummy, I must say! Thanks for sharing the recipe! The Potterhead in me is well fed and extremely happy. 
WE WILL TRY AGAIN with a smaller tin. XD
This is so awesome!! I am a harry potter fan and I love this cake!! Thanks for the detailed “tutorial”!
Where do you find bronze food coloring? My birthday is next Friday and I’m making this cake.
Oh my. I just nerded out so hardcore… This cake is so fantastic. I WILL try to recreate this!
This is amazing and lovely! I have an abiding interest in subtleties in the medieval and renaissance, and that people are still making beautiful and fantastic food in this way makes me so happy!
Thank you for sharing your skill!
What a wonderful cake! I absolutely love surprise cakes – unassuming on the outside, but full of specialness on the inside
I tried to download your Ravenclaw owl (love it!!) but the link is broken. Do you perhaps have the templates hosted anywhere else still?
Wow, thanks to you I’ll have the best Graduation party this side of Platform 9 and three quarters. I managed to get the other little owls but they don’t have the Hogwarts Household ones anymore (Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, etc). Is there any way you could send them to me? It would just make my party perfect and I’d really appreciate it. Thanks again!
-Ilse.
Hi !
I discovered your blog while I was searching some recipes for my dog’s treats.
I really really like your blog. And I just found in love with this cake ! I’m a huge Potter fan, and this is just perfect !
Congrats.
your 3 owl link is broken, would you very kindly send them to me via email? I LOVE THEM thanks in advance
Im gonna make this for my best friends Birthday which is coming up! so excited! ma bestie’s gonna be so happy =D i might add my own supprie >=3
I printed those owls a while ago (the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin ones) and now I’m moving out, and I couldn’t bring them cause they would have broken really easily. So I threw them out, thinking I could just reprint them and fold them when I got to my new home.
But now I tried to reprint them, only to find the link doesn’t work anymore! D: Please please please tell me you can put them on again?
By the way, I never commented before, but I saw this page a while ago and I absolutely love the cake, I showed it to all my friends.
Darla,
I LOVE what you do
I am scheming a Hogwarts Halloween Party and plan on using the House Cake, the owls, your Butterbeer and Cauldron Cakes, just to name a few. I found a cool Marauder’s Map at britta.com that will help me make my invitations, my neighbors’ kids will help me make a Ford Anglia to perch in the Womping Willow out front, I’m gonna paint the message of the Mirror of Erised on the mirror in the Room of Requirement (the one full of Chamber Pots…), etc. I am having so much fun imagining it all. I hope I don’t run out of time, energy or money before Nov. 4! I was wondering if you could refresh the link to the little banners and school song pdf file. It seems to be a dead end, currently. I am going to put a portrait of the Fat Lady on the front door, to enter the Gryffindor common room, and I want to hang all four House Banners leading to the Great Hall (which will be outside; I will use the umbrella to bewitch the ceiling to look like the night sky with black and blue tulle woven through the spokes and dotted with stars, and have lights and pumpkins hanging overhead). I thank you dearly for your inspirations and very useful tips and links!
I just discovered your blog, and I LOVE this cake! It’s actually almost 3am the morning of my birthday, and I would love, love, love to make this today, but unfortunately I’m currently in the hospital with a leg injury (I am set to be discharged later today though, so at least I will get to celebrate my birthday out of here) and even when I get home, I will not be able to bake really because I’m on crutches… :\ Oh well, I will have to settle for making it some other time.
Anyway, I was hoping to print out the templates for the owls, however, the links for Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin seem to be broken. Is there some other way I can get them? I adore crafts and would love to make some of these adorable owls while I’m laid up with my leg injury. Please, if you could let me know, that would be great. Thanks in advance.
Hope you have a great day, and I can’t wait to see some more Harry Potter creations from you!
In my house we are HUGE Harry Potter fans. I came across Bakingdom a little while ago and was so unbelievably excited about this cake that me and Mum have started to prepare it for my sisters 18th birthday over a week early! This is probably one of the most amazing and innovative ideas I have come across! Clever lady…
Hey Darla,
This cake is AMAZING and i plan to make it for my sons 7th birthday party this weekend. I am also trying to get your super cute owls for table decor, but i cannot find the HP theme ones. The links dont work… any way you can help me out? Maybe you could email them to me please?
Thanks!
Hi Kristen,
Im sorry the links aren’t working. I’m working to recover them, but have had little luck, so far. I’m sorry.
If anything changes, I’l let you know.
Any luck with recovering it? I have a very good friend’s 21st coming up soon and she would absolutely LOVE this cake and the owls!
No, my hard drive crashed. I have to remake the owls, sorry.
Darla,
I usually do elaborate fondant cakes for my kids birthday parties it but when I saw this hogwarts cake I just fell in love with the idea and hoped I could sell the idea to my 6 year old (who had already requested a cake topped with fondant HP lego characters playing quidditch). When I showed him the picture he liked it too – I think it was the banners! It turned out beautifully, impressed all my guests, and the small size was perfect as part of the “end of year banquet” dessert table for our Hogwarts themed party. I contemplated doing only gryffindor colors on the inside but was glad I stuck with your concept because all the kids were excited to see the colors of the houses they had been “sorted” into represented inside the cake. So thank you! It was wonderful.
Hi! I was just wondering how you made the bronze color for the Ravenclaw frosting?
I just added a small amount of cocoa powder to regular frosting to give it a lighter brown color. I hope this is helpful!
and + her birthday is coming up soon but how do you get you’re cake batter in suck deep colors? I am scheming a Hogwarts Halloween Party and plan on using the House Cake, the owls, your Butterbeer and Cauldron Cakes, just to name a few.
Hi Yolanda, I use gel colors to get the rich colors of the cake. It’s much more effective than the typical grocery store colors. I hope this is helpful!
Hi Darla!
I love your blog so much, especially the crafts and printouts that you add your creations. When you first posted this, I save your Hogwarts owls to my hard drive, so I could make them later because they were so cute! I noticed that the links aren’t working anymore, so I was wondering if you wanted me to email them to you, so you reupload them since your hard drive crashed?
Can’t wait for your next post!
The link to the anthem and banners does not seem to be working. I love what you have created here, and was wondering if you wouldn’t mind sharing the file with me. Thanks so much!
Nevermind my last post about the link to the anthem and banners. I found a link farther down on the page that worked. Thanks so much for sharing all your hard work and ideas – truly inspirational!
Thanks for the update, Myla! I was trying to figure out the problem since they seemed to be working for me! I will fix the other links. I appreciate your help!
Hello! Great ideas! If I wanted to make the cake using a boxed cake mix (due to lack of time), how many boxes do you think I would need? Thanks for the reply!
I only made a 6-inch round cake, which is one recipe. That is the equivalent to one box mix. If you make an 8-inch cake, with 4 layers, you will need two boxes.
Pinterest is a wonderful, magical place where I find awesome ideas such as this! My daughter’s Harry Potter party is tomorrow and this is on the menu! Thank you so much for sharing!