It was the eve of my birthday and I was headed to a book club meeting, except we were meeting at one of the leader’s houses and we were going to watch a (book-related) movie—an annual event. We were told we could bring treats; I took that as an opportunity to do some cooking or baking to impress my new friends. But it was the eve of my birthday… so what better way to celebrate at a book club than a literary birthday cake? Maybe it will become an annual tradition.

I would have included the box had I thought of the idea early enough.

“Anyway—Harry,” said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, “a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here—I mighta sat on it at some point, but it’ll taste all right.”

From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J. K. Rowling

Note: You’ll need green and pink food coloring, a small round and medium star piping tip with piping bags, a cake box and a round cake board that will fit into the box.

Another note: I decided to stick with the book version of Harry’s cake as opposed to the movie version, since this is a literary birthday cake. The book version is chocolate (not pink-frosted) and the writing on top is not misspelled, which is a bit of an insult to Hagrid anyhow. I added pink decorator flourishes because the book doesn’t go into great detail–a little bit in homage to Hagrid’s pink umbrella and his soft side.

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour parchment paper into the bottom of two round cake pans. Set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl or mixer, mix together 1 1/3 cups brown sugar and 1/3 cup plus 1 T neutral oil. Add 2 eggs and mix again. Add 1 cup sour cream and mix again.
3. Sift 2 cups ap flour and ¾ cups plus 2 T cocoa powder over the wet mixture. Sprinkle with 1 t baking powder, 2 t baking soda, and ¾ t salt. Mix just until combined.
4. Slowly add 1 cup hot, strong coffee, mixing just until it is incorporated.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans.
6. Bake for 30-45 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool for 5-20 minutes before turning out on a cooling rack to cool completely.
7. Meanwhile, let 1 cup milk and 2 cups unsalted butter come to room temperature.
8. Cream 1 ½ cups of the butter until light and fluffy.
9. Sift in 1 cup cocoa powder and ½ t salt and mix into butter.
10. Sift in 5 cups powdered sugar, stopping between each cup to add enough of the milk to bring it to frosting consistency.
11. Add 1 t vanilla extract and 1-2 sleeves of espresso powder. Taste frosting for flavor and keep adjusting with powdered sugar and milk until frosting is the consistency you wanted. If it seizes, either keep whipping or add mild heat and keep whipping until it pulls back together. (Some of your ingredients may have been too cold.) Set aside, covered.
12. Meanwhile, cream remaining ½ cup of the butter (or ¼ cup butter and ¼ cup vegetable shortening) until light and fluffy. Sift in 2-2 ½ cups powdered sugar and ¼ t salt.
13. Add in 1 t vanilla extract and milk by the tablespoon until it is a smooth, stiff consistency.
14. Divide frosting into a smaller portion and a larger portion, about 1/3^rd and 2/3rds. Color the larger portion pink and the smaller portion green. Then put the green frosting in a small, round-tipped piping bag and the pink in a medium, star-tipped piping bag. Set aside.
15. Meanwhile, rough up a cake box enough that it looks “slightly squashed,” especially on the half where it will be opened from. Set aside.
16. When cakes are cooled, dab a small bit of frosting in the center of a round cake board. Trim your first cake so that it is flat on the top and place on the round. Generously frost with the chocolate frosting to cover.
17. Trim your second cake so that it is flatter on one end, beginning in the center. This should not be perfect. It is supposed to look squashed. Place on top of the first cake and frost the whole thing, making sure to keep the squashy slant. The flat portion of the cake should have smooth, neat frosting and clean edges while the bottom part should be bumpy and look like it’s sliding off a little.
18. With the green frosting, write “Happy Birthday Harry” on the cake so that it is a little closer to the edges of the bottom part.
19. With the pink frosting, do a decorator border of choice around the top edge of the cake. Make sure it falls off the side of the cake where it is “squashed.”
20. If your cake board is the size of your cake, then place the cake board with cake in the box (securing with a dab of frosting) before doing the next part. If your cake board is wider than your cake, you can do this step before placing in the box. Anyhow, do another decorator border around the bottom of the cake with the pink frosting.
21. Let the frosting set for a couple hours, at least.
22. When the frosting is a little stiff and no longer tacky, use your fingertips to press down on the lettering where the cake is “squashed.” Do the same thing with the edging, just where it is supposed to be “squashed.” Do it again; go ahead, sell it.
23. Maybe throw some twine around the box and serve, preferably from a giant, dark overcoat filled with pockets bursting with strange and magical things.