Harry Potter's Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake with Malted Double Chocolate Frosting

Happy Birthday Harry Potter!  Today is Harry's birthday, and b/c I am a super big nerd I made the same, but probably tastier, cake he received from Hagrid in the Sorcerer's Stone.  

Hagrid brought Harry a chocolate cake with green writing. Hagrid's writing wasn't super neat, which I was grateful for.  

When I was a teacher there was another teacher in 5th grade that had the absolute neatest handwriting I've ever seen.  She was known as the perfect handwriting teacher; I was known as the messy handwriting teacher.  

This Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake is a perfect little cake to celebrate Harry's birthday, a long hard week completed, or any occasion really.  

Personally, a dark and flavorful chocolate cake is always good and always seems to be needed.  This from scratch cake is moist (I know we all hate that word but it's true), flavorful and so easy to make.

Happy Birthday Harry Potter!  Thanks for letting me be a complete nerd and celebrate a fictional characters birthday.      

Harry Potter's Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake with Malted Double Chocolate Frosting
Recipe: Alohamora adapted from CakeMerchant
Active Time: 45 minutes
Inactive Time: 4+ hours
Servings: 4-6 large slices

Ingredients: 
Cake
1 c. flour
1 c. and 2 Tbsp sugar
1/3 c. cocoa, unsweetened
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. sour cream
2/3 c. water
2 tsp distilled white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg, large

Frosting
2 Tbsp cocoa, unsweetened
2/3 c. malted milk powder
1/8 tsp salt
3 T boiling water
2/3 c. butter, softened
1 1/4 c. powder sugar
1/4 c. and 2 Tbsp flour
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325 and grease and flour, or spray with a baking spray, two 6-inch round cake pans.  If you want to do two 9-inch pans just double the recipe. 
2. In a medium to large bowl whisk the flour, sugar cocoa, baking soda, and salt together until well combined.  You can use a whisk, or a fork like I prefer.  Forks are far easier to clean in my book. :) 
3. Add the oil and the sour cream and whisk until it is well combined.  It will look like powder chunks, but keep going.  Trust the recipe. 
4. Add the water, vinegar, and vanilla one at a time whisking until well combined after each addition.  If you need to scrape the sides of the bowl be sure to keep everything combined well.  
5. Add the egg and mix it until well combined.
6. Evenly divide the cake batter between the two prepared pans. 
7. Bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  30 minutes was my magic number. 
8. Pull the pans out and place them on a wire rack to cool.  
9. After 30 minutes invert the cakes onto the cooling rack to finish cooling.  I like to bake the cake in the morning and let it cool completely before frosting in the afternoon.  
10. For the frosting, in a small bowl whisk the cocoa, malted milk, and salt together.  I used a 2 cup class measuring cup and it worked great. 
11. Add the boiling water to the small bowl and whisk it all together until it is smooth. 
12. Using a stand mixer or electric mixer in a medium bowl, beat the butter until it is light, fluffy, and creamy for a couple of minutes. 
13. Add the powdered sugar and flour until it it is just combined scraping the sides as necessary. 
14. Add the cocoa/malted milk mixture until it is just combined.
15. Add the melted chocolate and mix it all together until is smooth scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. 
16. Add the heavy cream and mix it until just combined.
17. To assemble the cake place one cake on a large plate.  Using a serrated knife cut off the rounded top part of the cake to make a flat and even layer.  
18. With a spatula spread about 1/2 of a cup of frosting, or more if you really like frosting, on top of the layer being sure to reach the edges of the cake layer.  
19. Place the second layer on top and apply a thin layer of frosting to the sides and top of the cake.  This is for the crumb layer, to lock in the crumbs, so be sure it is a thin layer. 
20. Place the cake in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set the frosting crumb layer.  This steps allows you to have a neater frosting job and not have to battle with crumb pieces popping up on your final product.
21. Leave your extra frosting out on the counter while you wait 30 minutes.  
22. Finally, apply as much frosting as you would like to the sides and top of the cake. 
23. Use Wilton Sparkle Gel to write your Harry Potter birthday message. 
24. Serve at room temperature.
25. Enjoy with milk! 
26. Store leftovers in a covered cake dish on the counter.  You can store the cake in the fridge if you like your cake cold, but it will make the frosting hard. 

Happy Birthday Harry Potter, and happy Dark Chocolate Birthday Cake with Malted Double Chocolate Frosting eating!