Have you ever seen a film and wanted to eat the food that was shown? Did you yearned one of those appetizing desserts that was enjoyed by a movie character? Even more specific, did you wish you could have a slice of a fluffy cake that appeared during a scene?
Well, you can now satiate your moviegoer cravings related to this sweet bread! Here are some incredible recipes that will help you recreate delicious cakes from iconic films.
Matilda: Miss Trunchbull’s chocolate cake
[Image: Sony Pictures, TriStar Pictures]
Yes, I’m talking about Miss Trunchbull’s personal snack, who described it as “the most scrumptious cake in the entire world”. Well, except the one made by Bruce’s mom. Anyways, every time I watch this film, I always wanted a little bite from that humongous chocolate cake. And don’t worry, you can leave the room if you don’t finish it.
Out of all the recipes that I found, the one from Rachel Farnsworth turned out to be one of the most appetizing. Here it is!
Ingredients
The Most Scrumptious Chocolate Cake
butter and flour for coating and dusting the cake pan
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting
1 1/2 cups butter softened
8 oz cream cheese softened
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
7-8 cups powdered sugar
about 1/4 cup milk as needed
Directions
For the chocolate cream cheese buttercream frosting
In a large bowl, beat together butter and cream cheese until fluffy. Use a hand mixer or stand mixer for best results
Add in cocoa powder and vanilla extract. Beat until combined.
Beat in powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time. Add milk as necessary to make a spreadable consistency. The frosting should be very thick and will thicken even more if refrigerated.
For the cake
Preheat oven to 350º F. Butter three 9-inch cake rounds. Dust with flour and tap out the excess.
Mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a stand mixer using a low speed until combined.
Add eggs, buttermilk, warm water, oil, and vanilla. Beat on a medium speed until smooth. This should take just a couple of minutes.
Divide batter among the three pans. I found that it took just over 3 cups of the batter to divide it evenly.
Bake for 30-35 minutes in a 350 degree oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool on wire racks for 15 minutes and then turn out the cakes onto the racks and allow to cool completely.
Frost with your favorite frosting and enjoy!
Notes
Bake at 348º F in three 23 centimeter (9 inch approx.) pans.
Coffee can be used in place of the warm water.
And now, the final touch…. ¡Bruce, Bruce, Bruce!
Harry Potter: Harry’s 11th birthday cake
[Image: Warner Bros. Pictures]
How can we forget this present baked by the lovely Hagrid? Whether you’re a wizard or a muggle, you can recreate this enchanting cake without magic! Jesseca’s formula reminds us to write “Happee Birthdae Harry” with the green icing.
Accio recipe!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake:
All-Purpose Flour
Granulated Sugar
Cocoa Powder
Baking Soda and Baking Powder
Salt
Eggs
Buttermilk
Coffee
Oil
Vanilla
Tip: Make sure your leavening agents, baking soda and baking powder, are fresh. This will ensure a light and fluffy cake!
Vanilla Buttercream Ingredients:
Butter
Powdered Sugar
Heavy Cream
Vanilla
Tip: You can optionally use unsalted butter with a pinch of salt instead of salted butter for the frosting.
Directions
For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350º. Prep 3-8″ round pans pans with flour or parchment paper and set aside.
Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Add the sugar with the eggs in a mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until combined and fluffy. Stir in the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla until combined.
Alternate mixing in the dry ingredients with the coffee. Scrape the sides of the bowl and stir 1 minute more.
Divide evenly between the three pans, approximately 16 oz per pan.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the middle.
Let the cakes cool for 20 minutes. Turn out onto a cooling rack and continue cooling.
For the frosting:
Add the butter into the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat for 2 to 3 minutes or until the butter is smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
Add the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and continue to mix until incorporated.
Stir in the cream and vanilla.
Scrape the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Scoop out 1/2 cup of the frosting and place in a small bowl.
Use a pink food coloring for the larger amount of frosting and green for the 1/2 cup.
Assembly:
Place one cooled cake onto a cake plate.
Top with 1 cup frosting or chocolate ganache. Spread evenly.
Add the second cake. Now, you can stop here or add a third layer.
Frost the outside of the cake with a spatula, making sure to leave it roughly finished.
Using the spatula, run it across the top creating the swirl line.
Place the green frosting into a piping bag. Snip a small hole in the end.
Carefully write your Happy Birthday greeting with the frosting across the top of the cake.
Recipe Tips
This Harry Potter Chocolate Birthday Cake is supposed to look rough. Don’t worry about making it perfect. Imperfections are what you’re aiming for!
Be sure to use room temperature ingredients. This helps everything to mix together evenly.
If you make the cakes in advance, freeze them by wrapping them in plastic wrap tightly and placing them into a zip-top container.
OPTIONAL: Instead of filling the cake with frosting, try chocolate ganache!
Sleeping Beauty: Aurora’s 16th birthday cake
[Image: Walt Disney Productions, Buena Vista Distribution]
Another cake that was created by magical creatures without their powers! This time, we can celebrate princess Aurora’s birthday alongside her fairy godmothers. Don’t worry! Rosanna’s recipe has made sure that this cake won’t need a broom to prevent it from falling. Unless you want to place a mini broom at the side just to make sure that your cake is authentic!
Note: You’ll have a friendly sized layer cake, since it’s stacked with 15 small cakes!
Ingredients
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter
½ cup shortening
3 cups sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
10 egg whites
1 ½ cup milk
Yellow, blue, white frosting
Yellow fondant
Pan spray
Equipment
Large mixing bowl
Medium mixing bowl
Hand mixer
Decorating bags
Tips (small star and small round)
Small offset spatula
Rubber spatula
15 small cake pans
Pink candles
Rolling pin
Star cutter
Styrofoam cake board
Wooden dowel
Directions
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, use a hand mixer to beat butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg whites one at a time, mixing and scraping after each addition. Mix in extracts.
At low speed, alternate adding the four mixture and milk to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
Spray all 15 pans and divide batter evenly between them. Bake for 20 minutes.
Decoration
Roll out yellow fondant and cut out stars.
Frost and stack 3 cakes on top of a cake board. Make sure to pipe a few dollops of frosting on the cake board before placing the first cake.
Repeat step 2 three more times so that you have 4 frosted stacks on their own cake boards.
Use 2 of the 3 remaining cakes to make a small frosted stack on a cake board. Place the last cake on its own cake board and then frost it with blue frosting.
Press a dowel into a round Styrofoam base to create a foundation for the cakes.
Position a cake stack so that the hole in the middle of the cake board is lined up with the dowel and then guide the cake down to the base. Cut and place 4 large straws into the cake to create more support.
Continue stacking cakes, ending with the small stack and the blue cake.
Use a #10 tip to pipe blue frosting in thick wavy lines. Place fondant stars onto the sides of the blue cake.
Use a star tip to pipe yellow frosting into draping “U” shapes connecting each star.
Pipe 15 small yellow dollops around the outside of the blue cake and then stick a candle into each dollop.
Enjoy!
Lilo & Stitch: Stitch’s black forest cake
[Image: Walt Disney Pictures, Buena Vista Distribution]
Once you’ve baked this delicious treat from Linda Greer’s recipe, you’ll want to hide it from Experiment 626, a-k.a. Lilo’s furry blue friend!
Ingredients
2 ⅛ cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 (20 ounces) cans pitted sour cherries
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups heavy whipping cream
⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar
Directions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350º F. Grease and flour two 9 inch, round, cake pans; cover bottoms with waxed paper.
Step 2: In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 cups sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, and 1 tablespoon vanilla; beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pans.
Step 3: Bake for 35 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool layers in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Loosen edges, and remove to racks to cool completely.
Step 4: Drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Combine reserved juice, cherries, 1 cup sugar, and cornstarch in a 2-quart saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool before using.
Step 5: Combine whipping cream and confectioner’s sugar in a chilled medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form.
Step 6: With a long serrated knife, split each cake layer horizontally in half. Tear one split layer into crumbs; set aside. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of frosting for decorating cake; set aside. Gently brush loose crumbs off top and side of each cake layer with a pasty brush or hands. To assemble, place one cake layer on a cake plate. Spread with 1 cup frosting; top with 3/4 cup cherry topping. Top with second cake layer; repeat layers of frosting and cherry topping. Top with a third cake layer. Frost side of the cake. Pat reserved crumbs onto frosting on side of the cake. Spoon reserved frosting into a pastry bag fitted with a star decorator tip. Pipe around the top and bottom edges of the cake. Spoon remaining cherry topping onto top of cake.
Kiki’s Delivery Service: Kiki’s chocolate cake
[Image: Studio Ghibli, Toei Company]
There’s something about anime that portrays food as a piece of art. And when it comes to the sweet stuff, they definitely know how to tempt the audience! So why not try Alison’s cooking formula inspired by the cake that Madame gives to Kiki?
Ingredients
For the Cake:
1 cups sugar
¾ cup flour (plus 2 tbsp)
¼ cup cocoa powder (plus 2 tbsp)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup cooled coffee
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Frosting:
½ bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (or regular-sized chips, finely chopped)
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
4 tbsp salted butter
For the Decorations:
1 cup white frosting
1 green icing pen
1 red icing pen
Makes a 9-inch round, single layer chocolate cake
Directions
You’ll actually want to start with your frosting, since it needs extra time to chill (in fact, you can make the frosting a day ahead of time if you want). First, place your chocolate chips in a large bowl and set aside.
Cook the whipping cream and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until just boiling, stirring frequently. Pour the cream mix over the chocolate and whisk briskly until completely smooth.
Place some plastic wrap over the bowl and put it in the fridge to chill. After 1 hour, stir the mix thoroughly. Replace the cover and put the mix back in the fridge for another hour or until it reaches spreading consistency.
While you’re waiting for the frosting to chill, you can bake your cake! Preheat your oven to 350°. Thoroughly spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray or grease it with butter and flour. This cake likes to stick, so be sure to thoroughly coat every nook and cranny.
Dump the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk it all up!
Whisk in the egg, buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla. Beat the mix briskly for 2 minutes.
Pour the batter into your pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
When fully baked, set the cake pan on a wire rack to cool for 1o minutes. Then flip the cake out of the pan and allow it to cool completely on the rack.
When the cake is cool, spread on a layer of chocolate frosting. Let it set for 5-10 minutes.
Use a toothpick to draw out where you’ll put the decorative icing. This makes it easier to replicate the look of the cake in the movie. If you make a mistake, just use an icing knife or butter knife to smooth it out.
Pipe your decorative icing over the toothpick drawing and allow it to set for another 5-10 minutes.
Serve to your favorite little witch to congratulate her on all her hard work!
Cover photo: Sony Pictures, TriStar Pictures