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a box containing Harry's birthday cake and hydrangeas surrounding the box. A wand in the bottom right corner

Harry Potter's Birthday Cake (vegan + gf)

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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cooling Time 2 hours
Servings: 16
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, British
Calories: 350
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Cake
  • 3 cups oat flour
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • ⅔ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 ½ tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ⅓ cup black coffee or 1 tbsp espresso powder dissolved in 3 tbsp hot water
  • 1 ½ cup applesauce
  • 1 cup plant milk
Frosting
  • 12 oz cream cheese
  • 16 tbsp butter
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
Natural Coloring
  • 5 tbsp cherry juice see notes
  • 2.5 tbsp matcha powder

Equipment

  • 2 cake pans
  • 1 piping bag
  • 1 size 10 round piping tip

Method
 

Cake
  1. Preheat the oven to 350℉ and lightly grease two round cake pans.
  2. Combine oat flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
  3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour in the applesauce, plant milk, and brewed coffee.
  4. Fold gently to fully combine.
  5. Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.
Frosting
  1. Add vegan butter and cream cheese to a large bowl and beat on high with a hand mixer until fully combined.
  2. Add powdered sugar in three batches to avoid making a huge mess!
  3. Separate about ⅛ of the batch - this will be used for the green frosting.
  4. Add 5 tbsp cooked cherry juice or sub another pink dye (see ideas above) to the larger batch of frosting and incorporate with hand beater on low.
  5. Add matcha powder to the smaller sized batch of frosting and stir thoroughly to combine.
Assembly
  1. Wait for the cakes to cool completely before frosting!
  2. Add the first cake the your final serving platter. Place the platter on a lazy susan, if available.
  3. Add about ¼ the batch of pink frosting on top of th efirst cake and spread into one even layer.
  4. Carefully place the second cake on top.
  5. Use the rest of the pink forsting to cover the top and sides of the layered cake. Be sure to create a smooth surface on top for piping letters.
  6. Add the green frosting to a piping bag fit with a size 10 round tip.
  7. Pipe "Happee Birthdae Harry" in three separate lines on top of the cake.
  8. Cut a curved line into the cake to fully replicate the visual we get in the film scene! The line should curve between the P and E in "Happee," the H and D in "Birthdae," and the H and A in "Harry." :)

Notes

For the pink frosting
There are a couple of options for this one, but I used roasted cherry juice. Frozen cherries release their juices as they thaw, and the juices thicken as the cherries continue to cook at higher temperatures. 2 cups of cherries release about 5 tablespoons of juice, which is enough for this recipe!
 
You could also use freeze dried strawberries or freeze dried raspberries as a natural dye, I’ve had great results with both in the past! If you go this route, you’ll need to blend up the strawberries or raspberries - I LOVE using my coffee grinder (linked here) for small-batch blending like this.