Sorting Hat Cupcakes from Harry Potter

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!

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! 

Every Harry Potter fan has done it at one point. These fun cupcakes are the perfect treat for a Harry Potter movie marathon! We had so much fun biting into the cupcakes to see what House we were sorted into. The Harry Potter House Cupcakes were the hit of the night!

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

To make my Sorting Hat cupcakes, I used a recipe found here for a regular white cake. I’ve made chocolate cupcakes 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 separate bowls and then colored them red (Gryffindor), green (Slytherin), blue (Ravenclaw), yellow (Hufflepuff), and brown to go on the top of the cupcakes (the same color as the Sorting Hat).

Hogwarts Houses

For those who aren’t as savvy when it comes to Harry Potter, the colors of the Hogwarts houses 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

Sorting Hat Cupcakes Step by Step

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 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

Buttercream Frosting

• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp milk

Decoration

• 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

Preparation

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.

Beat in the eggs and the vanilla extract.

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

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

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

Buttercream Frosting

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

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

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

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).

Creating the Sorting Hat Cupcakes

Once the cupcakes are cool, use a small melon baller to dig out the center of the 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 colored buttercream choices. 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. Try to get an even amount of cupcakes with red frosting, blue frosting, yellow frosting, and green frosting.

Idea: Use the cake that you pulled from the center of the cupcakes to make cake pops and cover them with different colors for the Houses. You could also use candy melts to coat the cake pops. 

Use the brown frosting to cover the tops of the cupcakes. I found piping worked well because that doesn’t risk spreading any of the house colors with the frosting on the top. I used a decorative piping tip for the brown to add a bit of flair. 

Then put a Hershey’s Kiss on top to represent the pointed hat. Press the bottom of a kiss in just a little bit to make it stick to the frosting. You could also add chocolate cookies under the kiss to represent the brim of the Sorting Hat before adding the kiss on top with a bit of frosting. 

Serve these to family and friends then have fun taking a bite of your cupcake to see which house you have been sorted into!

Sorting Hat Cupcakes Leftovers

Storage: I find that anything with buttercream frosting does best when stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. If you live in an area that isn’t warm and humid these may do well for a day at room temperature.

Recipe

Sorting Hat Cupcakes

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!

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Cooling Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Course:

Dessert

Cuisine:

American

Keyword:

cake

|

cupcake

|

Harry Potter

Servings: 12 cupcakes

5 from 7 votes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 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

Buttercream Frosting

• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup butter (softened)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp milk

Decoration

• 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

Recommended Equipment

• Muffin/Cupcake Pan
• Baking Cups – Silicone
• Mixing Bowls – Stainless Steel
• Electric Mixer
• Food Coloring
• Melon Baller
• Piping Tool

Instructions

Cupcakes

• Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a cupcake pan
• In a medium bowl, cream the sugar and butter
• Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla extract
• Slowly mix in the flour and baking soda, scraping the sides to incorporate it into the batter
• Add the milk and stir until the batter is smooth
• Pour the batter into the prepared cupcake pan
• Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the cupcakes are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean
• Let the cupcakes cool completely

Frosting

• While the cupcakes cool, make the frosting by beating the shortening and butter together until light and fluffy
• Add the vanilla
• Gradually add the powdered sugar, scraping the sides as needed
• Icing will be dry, so add milk, one tablespoon at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency
• Separate the frosting into 5 bowls and add a few drops of food color to each and stir (about 2/3 of the frosting should be brown, then divide the rest among the other four colors)

Decoration

• Once cupcakes are completely cool, use a small melon-baller to scoop out some of the tops of the cupcakes making sure to not go too far
• Pipe some of each house color (red, green, blue, yellow) into the cupcakes, making 1/4 of them each color
• Pipe the brown frosting on top carefully to not spread the inside color
• Place a Hershey’s Kiss on top of each cupcake

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Nutrition Facts

Sorting Hat Cupcakes

Amount Per Serving (1 cupcake)

Calories 532 Calories from Fat 243

% Daily Value*

Fat 27g42%

Saturated Fat 13g65%

Cholesterol 70mg23%

Sodium 317mg13%

Potassium 45mg1%

Carbohydrates 72g24%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 59g66%

Protein 3g6%

Vitamin A 535IU11%

Calcium 36mg4%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

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