Sunday, July 31, 2016

Golden Snitch Birthday Cake - Harry Potter Birthday Cake

This has been the year that Rebecca has fallen in love with Harry Potter...so of course she wanted a Harry Potter themed birthday cake.  Her favorite character goes back and forth between Ginny and Hermione...but Ginny started out as her firm favorite.  (I talk about that more Rebecca's connection to Ginny here.)  Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  When you make a purchase through an affiliate link, a small percentage of your purchase goes to support my blog.

So we decided to go with a cake that Ginny would love since she is such a super quidditch player, and sometimes plays the position of Seeker.  We figure this must be similar to the cake the Mrs. Weasley made for Harry's 17th birthday in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  We also made matching golden snitch cupcakes to take to her class at school (although almost none of the kids knew what they were...first grade is a bit early for Harry Potter literacy apparently.)

Becca's always been about the heroines in any book or movie.  It's been so fun to see her fall in love with books I love so much...and I think Ginny is a freaking awesome role model...as are most of the women in Harry Potter.



And I'm always excited to do things that help books come alive in a tangible way.

I didn't take step by step pictures for this...but it's really easy to make and you only need a few supplies and one color of frosting.

Supplies:

Directions:

  1. Start on the wings first, so they have plenty of time to harden.  You may even want to make them the night before.  For the wings, melt the candy melts on the stove or microwave according to package directions.  Draw out the shape of the wings you want on a piece of paper.  The wings should be connected in the middle with a piece poking down from the center that you can use to secure the wings in the cake.  (This is a picture from the Golden Snitch Cupcakes we made several years ago.  The shape for a large cake is the same, only bigger.  We also filled our large cakes wings in more to make them stronger.)  Put your drawing on top of a cookie sheet and place a piece of wax paper ON TOP of your drawing.  Add your melted candy melts into a heavy duty ziploc bag and snip off the corner.  Use the ziploc bag to pipe out the candy melts onto the wax paper, using your drawing underneath to serve as a guide.  Place in the freezer or other cool place to cool COMPLETELY.
  2. We used two cake mixes for our cake.  If you're going for the whole ball/round snitch instead of the half snitch, then you may need more cake mixes.  And yes...we keep things simple around here and nearly always make cake from a box.  The kids love it the same as a fancy-schmancy from scratch cake and it simplifies my life.  You will also want to make the cake in plenty of time to completely cool, both for the frostings sake, and because you're going to need the cake to support the wings without melting them.
  3. Ours was one cake mix in a ball pan (which didn't quite fill it) and one cake mix in a double layer pan.  You can see from the shape of our cake that the sides are a bit more straight than round.  Then we layered the half-ball on top of the round cake and trimmed as needed.  You could really go whole-hog and use your ball pan to make two half balls and layer them into a totally round snitch.
  4. Make up your frosting and add plenty of golden yellow food coloring.  I strongly recommend the food coloring paste over traditional food coloring drops because you'll get a stronger color without diluting your frosting consistency.
  5. Frost your cake as smoothly as possible.  
  6. For adding details, I put the extra frosting into a heavy duty ziploc bag and snipped off a tiny bit of the corner and used that to do my piping.  (I even have the real piping bags, but I prefer the ziploc method for most decorating because it's so much easier to clean up.)  You will get a more even, polished result if you use a piping bag and small round tip.  I tried to make one side look like a "real" snitch and used the other side for the name and birthday year.
  7. Once your wings are completely cool, carefully peel them off your wax paper and place them on your cake.
  8. Be careful to keep an eye on it...you don't want it flying away.
  9. Add candles and make a wish!




See these links for more details about other Harry Potter themed crafts we've done...and we're always adding more.


Gryffindor Deathly Hallows Quilt
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html

 

 Hogwarts Crest Quilt
 

Slytherin Quilt - Green and Silver
 Slytherin Quilt

 
 Giant Monster Book of Monster Cushion (No Sew)
 


Golden Snitch Birthday Cake
 Slytherin Quilt

 

Granger-Lovegood 2016 Election Shirts 
 

Potter - Weasley 2016 Election Shirts 
 

 

Lumos and Nox Quilt


Harry Potter Party Overview


 


 Hedwig Necklace
 

Accio Book Tote Tutorial - Freezer Paper Stencil 
  
Harry Potter Shirt - Freezer Paper Stencil



Easy Harry Potter Wands 


Printable Hogwarts Library Book Plates

Printable Harry Potter Valentines


Easy Harry Potter (Hogwarts) House Scarves


Golden Snitch Necklace

Golden Snitch Cupcakes
 


Ron Weasley "I'm a Keeper" Shirt - Freezer Paper Stencil
 

Ginny Weasley's Golden Snitch Skirt
 
DIY Quidditch Association Shirt - Freezer Paper Stencil (Boy Version)
 
DIY Quidditch Association Shirt - Freezer Paper Stencil (Girl Version)
 
Harry Potter Wizard Robe in 15 Minutes from a T-shirt
 

Harry Potter Family Themed Costumes
 

Harry Potter Inspired Charm Ornaments
 


Harry Potter Printable Spell Books
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html

Harry Potter Printable Dementor Themed Chocolate Bar Wrappers Books
  http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2014/01/harry-potter-valentine-printable.html



The Hermione Skirt
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html
Dementor's Kiss-Away Free Printable Party Favor or Valentine
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html

DIY Hogwarts Robe for 18-inch Doll
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html

Hermione in the Library - CraftingCon Post
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html

Harry Potter Potions Ornaments

 Harry Potter Robes with Oly*Fun


 The Wand Skirt

 Always Doe Pillow

Deathly Hallows Pillow
 Deathly Hallows Pillow

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