Name: Sorting Hat Cupcakes
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 1 cup granulated sugar; 1/2 cup butter; 2 eggs; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 3/4 tsp baking soda; 1/2 cup milk; 1/2 cup vegetable shortening; 1/2 cup butter (softened); 1 tsp vanilla extract; 4 cups powdered sugar; 3 tbsp milk; 2 drops red food color; 2 drops green food color; 2 drops yellow food color; 2 drops blue food color; 2 drops brown food color; 12 Hershey's Kisses

If you’ve ever wondered which Hogwarts House you would be sorted into, then wonder no more with these delicious and fun Sorting Hat Cupcakes!

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Have you ever wondered which Hogwarts House you would be sorted into? Admit it, how many times have you done a Sorting Hat quiz? I have more times than I can count, and it’s never consistent for me. I always waver between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw but I have also gotten the occasional Hufflepuff. Wonder no more, because these Sorting Hat Cupcakes can help you get sorted while enjoying a sweet dessert at the same time!

I’ve seen “gender reveal” cakes or cupcakes made with either pink or blue frosting inside. So I thought I would try something similar. But I hid red, blue, yellow, or green frosting inside the cupcakes.

Young boy with the sorting hat one his head

Young boy with the sorting hat one his head covering his eyes

For those who aren’t as savvy when it comes to Harry Potter, the houses and colors are as follows:

Gryffindor: Scarlet and Gold
Ravenclaw: Blue and Bronze
Hufflepuff: Yellow and Black
Slytherin: Green and Silver

Scarlet isn’t an easy color to make. So I used red for my sorting hat cupcakes.

You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heast,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuff are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you’ve a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You’ll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
-Sorting Hat’s song in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

To make my Sorting Hat cupcakes, I used a recipe found here for a regular white cake. I’ve made a chocolate cake and yellow cake many times, but never a white cake. I wanted to make sure the colors were very noticeable in the cupcakes. The cake recipe is pretty straightforward. It’s similar to most other cake recipes.

For the frosting, I used a recipe that I was given by a friend many years ago for a buttercream frosting. I divided that into 5 bowls then colored them with red, green, blue, yellow, and a brown one to go on the top (same color as the Sorting Hat).

Step by Step

Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a cupcake or muffin pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. You can do this with an electric hand mixer, or use a stand mixer as I use for just about everything in the kitchen.

Creamed butter and sugar in a stainless steel bowl next to a whisk on a wooden surface

Beat in the eggs and the vanilla extract.

Liquid cake batter ingredients in a stainless steel bowl on a wooden surface

Add the flour and baking soda until it forms a cake batter. Scrape the sides of the bowl while mixing to make sure everything gets mixed in properly.

Dry cake batter in a stainless steel bowl on a wooden surface

Pour in the milk. Stir until the batter is smooth.

Cake batter in a stainless steel bowl next to a greased cupcake pan on a wooden surface

Fill the cupcake pan about 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cupcakes turn golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cake batter in a cupcake pan on a wooden surface

Frosting

Let the cupcakes cool completely. While they are cooling, make your frosting by mixing the vegetable shortening and butter until they are light and fluffy.

Creamed butter and vegetable shortening in a stainless steel bowl on a wooden surface

Add the vanilla, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar. Make sure to scrape the sides as you mix. The frosting will appear dry.

Dry buttercream frosting in a stainless steel bowl on a wooden surface

Slowly add in the milk, one tablespoon at a time, until you have your desired consistency.

Buttercream frosting in a stainless steel bowl on a wooden surface

Separate the frosting into five bowls. One bowl needs about 2/3 of the frosting, then divide the rest between the other four bowls. Add a couple of drops of food coloring. The bowl with the most frosting needs to be brown. I always use Wilton gel colors because they give better color and are easier to work with. The ones I used are called Moss Green (Slytherin), Lemon Yellow (Hufflepuff), Sky Blue (Ravenclaw), Christmas Red (Gryffindor), and Brown (for the Sorting Hat).

Five white bowls with buttercream frosting and a spoon in each. Frosting is colored with red, blue, yellow, green, and brown coloring

Creating the Sorting Hat Cupcakes

Once the cupcakes are cool, use a small melon-baller to dig out a bit of each cupcake from the top. Make sure you don’t go too deep. You don’t want to go through the bottom of the cupcakes. Use a piping bag or tool and fill each cupcake with one of the colors. Pipe some frosting into 1/4 of the cupcakes, and repeat with each color. Don’t put too much in, you want to make sure you can cover it. The frosting should be level with the top of the cupcake.

Cupcakes with the center cut out with colored frosting in the holes on a bamboo cutting board next to white bowls of yellow and blue frosting all on a wooden surface

Use the brown frosting to cover the tops of the cupcakes. I found piping this worked well because that doesn’t risk spreading any of the house colors with the frosting on the top.

Four cupcakes with piped brown buttercream frosting on top on a bamboo board on a wooden surface

Then put a Hershey’s Kiss on top to represent the pointed hat.

Four cupcakes with piped brown buttercream frosting topped with a Hershey's kiss on each on a bamboo board on a wooden surface

Serve these to family and friends then have fun biting into them to see which house you have been sorted into!

Sorting hat cupcakes with one cut in half showing blue frosting inside on a bamboo board with the sorting hat behind and a magic wand in front all on a wooden surface (vertical)

Recipe

Originally Published On: July 5, 2018

Last Updated On: February 26, 2020