Did someone say Harry Potter cupcakes? This candy-filled dessert can take you right to Hogwarts! If you’re planning on having a Harry Potter birthday party or a Harry Potter movie marathon, these sorting hat cupcakes are the perfect addition to your event.

Harry Potter Sorting Hat cupcakes in purple metallic cupcake liners on a wooden table. Wand boxes in background with a wand resting on top of them. — Let’s make Harry Potter cupcakes!

Harry Potter Sorting Hat Cupcake Recipe

These Harry Potter cupcakes are much more simple than you’d think. They also go great with a butterbeer recipe and Harry Potter pumpkin juice! You can use any of your favorite cupcake recipes for this, but the one I used was a simple vanilla cake. The frosting used in this recipe is for a stiff consistency, so it’s easier to form the sorting hat.

Kiddos will love the mystery behind them and figuring out which Hogwarts house they end up with.

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Related: Check out these Harry Potter recipes and Genius Tips to Make Box Cake Mix Better!

Ingredients Needed To Make Harry Potter Cupcakes

Ingredients for the Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of softened, unsalted butter
3/4 cups of sugar
2 large eggs at room temp
2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup of buttermilk
baking spray
cupcake liners

Ingredients for the Chocolate Frosting

1 cup of solid white vegetable shortening (I used Crisco)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
12 tsp of water
4 cups of powdered sugar
1 tbsp of meringue powder
optional pinch of salt
3/4 cups of cocoa powder

Ingredients for the Sorting Hat Decorations

Directions to Make the Harry Potter Cupcakes

Step 1

First, you need to make the cupcakes. After you preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set that aside and then beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until it’s fluffy.

Step 2

Next, you want to add the eggs one at a time and beat the mixture after each one. Make sure to scrape the bowl as you go so it all stays together! After that’s combined, add your vanilla extract and mix again.

Collage of making cupcake batter: first mixing dry ingredients, then wet ingredients, filling the cupcake pan, and putting the pan in the oven. — Making the cupcakes!

Step 3

Bring the mixer to medium speed and add the dry ingredients you whisked earlier in thirds. After each dry addition, add some of the buttermilk until both the dry ingredients and the buttermilk are gone. Keep mixing and scraping until it’s all smooth!

Step 4

It’s time to grease your cupcake pan and add cupcake liners of your choice! I used some cool metallic purple ones because I thought they fit Hogwarts. Once it’s all greased, pour your batter into each liner and make sure not to fill it too high!

Step 5

Now you just need to bake them for 20-23 minutes, and then let them cool so you can decorate!

Step 6

Okay, now you need to make the delicious frosting! This buttercream frosting starts off by beating the shortening, vanilla, and 8 tsp of water together. Then you want to add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and salt, mixing that until it’s all blended.

Step 7

Since we want chocolate frosting for the sorting hat color, we’re going to add the cocoa powder and the remaining 4 tsp of water. Keep mixing until it’s all creamy, and keep in mind it will be stiff for decorating purposes.

Collage of decorating the cupcakes with sorting yellow, green, blue, and red M&M colors, making the chocolate frosting, making the brown fondant hat brims, cutting open the cupcakes, and filling them with the M&M's. — It’s starting to come together!

Step 8

While the Sorting Hat does its own sorting, it’s our job to sort these M&M’s! Pick out the four house colors: Green for Slytherin, Red for Gryffindor, Yellow for Hufflepuff, and Blue for Ravenclaw! You can munch on the orange and brown M&M’s while you’re baking!

Step 9

Next, you want to cut out a hole in the center of each baked cupcake so you can put the M&M’s in there. Evenly fill the cupcakes with the sorted candy so that there’s enough for every house!

Step 10

Don’t worry to much about the fondant, what we’re doing with it is so easy! I took some white fondant, warmed it up for just about five seconds in the microwave, and added brown food coloring to it until it matched the frosting’s color.

Collage of putting the Sorting Hat fondant brims on the cupcakes, frosting the tips of the hats with the choclate frosting, and pictures of the cut open cupcakes with M&M's for the Hogwarts Houses falling out of them. — Decorating time!!

Step 11

After it’s dyed, you just roll it out until it’s relatively thin and cut circles out of it that are big enough to cover the tops of the cupcakes. I crinkled them a little bit so that they looked more like the brim of the Sorting Hat.

Step 12

Now you want to put a little dab of icing over the holes you cut in the cupcakes so the M&M’s can’t be seen, place your fondant circles over them, and frost a little swirl on top! The frosting is stiff enough to mold with your hands if needed, and I even made little lines with a butter knife to make the creases in the hat.

Finished Harry Potter Cupcake Recipe

And that’s it! Now you can let your kiddo pick a random Harry Potter cupcake so they can see what Hogwarts house they get! Just a heads up: they’ll keep coming back for more to see which new one they’ll get. Now all they need is a Harry Potter spells printable to go along with them!

How To Store Your Harry Potter Cupcakes

If you don’t have a cake holder or cupcake holder you can store your Harry Potter cupcakes in another airtight container. That will be the easiest way to ensure your fun cupcakes stay moist. No one likes dry chocolate cake or vanilla cupcakes.

Harry Potter Cupcakes

All Harry Potter fans are gonna love these easy Harry Potter cupcakes. These themed cupcakes are perfect for birthday parties, movie marathon, Halloween, really any time. These are the perfect cupcakes that can even go along with Harry Potter books reading. These delicious cupcakes are things everyone will love. Chocolate cupcakes, chocolate buttercream icing on top of each cupcake, and even M&M’s.

Harry Potter Sorting Hat cupcakes with M&M's in the middle.

Bring these to a Harry Potter themed birthday party or movie marathon and join in on the Sorting Hat fun! Don’t forget to leave a comment letting us know what Hogwarts house you’re in! This is our favorite Harry Potter recipe, and hopefully it is yours as well.

Yield: 1

Harry Potter Sorting Hat Cupcakes

Name: Harry Potter Sorting Hat Cupcakes
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 1
Cuisine: dessert
Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour; 1 1/4 tsp of baking powder; 1/2 tsp of salt; 1/2 cup of softened, unsalted butter; 3/4 cups of sugar; 2 large eggs at room temp; 2 tsp of pure vanilla extract; 1/2 cup of buttermilk; baking spray; cupcake liners; 1 cup of solid white vegetable shortening; 1 tsp of vanilla extract; 12 tsp of water; 4 cups of powdered sugar; 1 tbsp of meringue powder; optional pinch of salt; 3/4 cups of cocoa powder; Family sized pack of M&M's; white fondant; brown food coloring; circle cookie cutter; frosting bag and tip

This candy-filled dessert can take you right to Hogwarts! If you’re planning on having a Harry Potter birthday party or a Harry Potter movie marathon, these sorting hat cupcakes are the perfect addition to your event and any of your other Harry Potter party foods!

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

For Cupcakes

For Frosting

1 cup of solid white vegetable shortening
1 tsp of vanilla extract
12 tsp of water
4 cups of powdered sugar
1 tbsp of meringue powder
optional pinch of salt
3/4 cups of cocoa powder

For Decorations

Instructions

First, you need to make the cupcakes. After you preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set that aside and then beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until it’s fluffy.
Next, you want to add the eggs one at a time and beat the mixture after each one. Make sure to scrape the bowl as you go so it all stays together! After that’s combined, add your vanilla extract and mix again.
Bring the mixer to medium speed and add the dry ingredients you whisked earlier in thirds. After each dry addition, add some of the buttermilk until both the dry ingredients and the buttermilk are gone. Keep mixing and scraping until it’s all smooth!
It’s time to grease your cupcake pan and add cupcake liners of your choice! I used some cool metallic purple ones because I thought they fit Hogwarts. Once it’s all greased, pour your batter into each liner and make sure not to fill it too high!
Now you just need to bake them for 20-23 minutes, and then let them cool so you can decorate!
Okay, now you need to make the delicious frosting! This buttercream frosting starts off by beating the shortening, vanilla, and 8 tsp of water together. Then you want to add the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and salt, mixing that until it’s all blended.
Since we want chocolate frosting for the sorting hat color, we’re going to add the cocoa powder and the remaining 4 tsp of water. Keep mixing until it’s all creamy, and keep in mind it will be stiff for decorating purposes.
While the Sorting Hat does its own sorting, it’s our job to sort these M&M’s! Pick out the four house colors: Green for Slytherin, Red for Gryffindor, Yellow for Hufflepuff, and Blue for Ravenclaw! You can munch on the orange and brown M&M’s while you’re baking!
Next, you want to cut out a hole in the center of each baked cupcake so you can put the M&M’s in there. Evenly fill the cupcakes with the sorted candy so that there’s enough for every house!
Don’t worry to much about the fondant, what we’re doing with it is so easy! I took some white fondant, warmed it up for just about five seconds in the microwave, and added brown food coloring to it until it matched the frosting’s color.
After it’s dyed, you just roll it out until it’s relatively thin and cut circles out of it that are big enough to cover the tops of the cupcakes. I crinkled them a little bit so that they looked more like the brim of the Sorting Hat.
Now you want to put a little dab of icing over the holes you cut in the cupcakes so the M&M’s can’t be seen, place your fondant circles over them, and frost a little swirl on top! The frosting is stiff enough to mold with your hands if needed, and I even made little lines with a butter knife to make the creases in the hat.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 582Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 63mgSodium: 231mgCarbohydrates: 76gFiber: 2gSugar: 60gProtein: 4g

This is just an estimate.

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