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How to make a Harry Potter Sorting Hat Cake Topper (1 Viewer)

I recently made a Harry Potter Slytherin Cake for my daughter's birthday and thought it would be a great idea to put together a tutorial on how to make the Sorting Hat. It's relatively easy to do and looks quite effective too. So if you'd like to make your own, here's a step by step tutorial showing you how I did it.

How to make a Harry Potter Sorting Hat by Help Me Bake.jpg

How to make a Harry Potter Sorting Hat​


Equipment

  • Chocolate or Brown Icing (I used both)
  • Rolling Pin
  • Silicone Mat
  • Dresden Tool
  • Paintbrushes
  • Black Lustre dust
  • Tin/Cling Film (Saran Wrap) (Optional)
  • Water/Edible Glue (Optional)
  • Icing Sugar (For dusting, Optional)

The Hat is made from Chocolate and Brown coloured icing/fondant and was built up in stages to make the most realistic features. You could use either icing/fondant depending on your taste preferences.

Note: You may wish to dust your mat with icing sugar/confectioners sugar or place a piece of cling film/saran wrap underneath it so that it doesn't stick to the mat and can be easily removed. Either that or make it on a cake board.

Method​

1 Place your silicone mat, small rolling pin and desired icing fondant on your table.

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2 Take half the chocolate icing/fondant out of the packet and roll into a cone shape using the palms of your hands.

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3 Then roll small sausages with the chocolate icing/fondant.

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4 Place them around the cone to make the features. If you like, lean the top of the cone against some cling film (saran wrap) and a cake tin. I did this to give the top of the cone some support.

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5 When you roll the sausages you generate heat so they should stick to the cone without any additional edible glue or water. (If they're not sticking then use a little glue or water).

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6 Add the small sausage-shaped pieces to form the eye and mouth sockets. Ensure you have enough room at the bottom for the mouth shape.

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7 Once you're happy with the sausage features, roll out a piece of additional icing/fondant that will cover the cone and give you the brim of the Hat.

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8 This needs to be wrapped around either side of the cone and overlapped at the back.

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9 Snip the excess icing off at the back with scissors, ensuring you have enough for the base of the Hat. To cut of any additional icing/fondant at the bottom use your Dresden tool to score and remove it.

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10 Once your sausage-shaped cone is covered, lightly push the outer icing/fondant into the eye sockets using your thumbs, then use your little finger to push the icing/fondant into the mouth socket. (The more you use your thumbs, the wider the eyes will become).

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11 You will now need a Dresden tool and a soft dry paintbrush.

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12 Use the paintbrush to continually push the outer layer of icing/fondant into all the grooves and crevices you have made underneath. This will start defining the features.

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13 I also used my hands to mould and maintain the cone shape and pushed the icing/fondant further into the grooves.

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14 The more you shape it with your hands and tools, the more defined the features will become.

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15 Edge the Hat by scoring the edge with the Dresden tool.

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16 Continue to score and scribed the icing with the Dresden tool to make indentations and give the Hat more character.

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17 You can see here I have scraped and scratched the front above the face to give the appearance of age on the Hat.

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18 Leave the Hat to dry for a day or so and allow it to firm up before moving on to the dusting. This will stop you from continually messing with the shape of the face.

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19 To add more definition and shadowing to the Hat, I used Sugarflair Edible Midnight Black Lustre Dust. (Please note that this lustre dyed the tips of my paintbrushes, so make sure you don't use your best ones! It also sparkles!)

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20 Using the paintbrush, lightly dust all the crevices on the Sorting Hat; this adds shadow, depth and character.

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21 Remember to do the back. You can see from the picture this is where I cut the excess icing; continue adding black lustre on the back of the Hat and around the brim of the Hat.

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Here is the finished Sorting Hat.

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As you can see, it looked really effective and was relatively easy to put together. If you want the topper to be lightweight, you could make the cone out of marshmallow; Rice Krispie treats and then lightly coat with a layer of chocolate before covering it in fondant.

Either way, good luck making yours!

Enjoy! 👩‍🍳

 
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