Round and square buildings, towers, turrets and surrounding walls make up the castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The castle sitting atop a waterside cliff is a favorite scene for a cake with a Harry Potter theme. You can make a smaller version of the massive set of buildings with cake that is embellished with candy and decorative piped frosting. Refer to a drawing or photo of the movie castle as a guide when making a Hogwarts castle cake.

Bake a large rectangular cake and two nine-inch round or square cakes. Cool thoroughly.

Set the rectangular cake onto the cake board or tray.

Frost the rectangular cake with flavored frosting that is tinted a light rock gray color. Spread some brown or tan frosting into the gray and smooth it out with the spatula to add a variation in color.

Set one circular or square layer onto one end of the rectangular cake. Frost the top of the round or square cake. Set the remaining round or square cake on top of the first one. Frost the layered cakes with the gray frosting.

Coat the cardboard tubes with frosting. These are the towers of Hogwarts castle. Set the tubes down into the rectangular cake next to the layered cakes. Make sure the tubes are snug against the round or square cakes.

Pipe dark brown windows on to the layered cakes and the towers for detail. Use a round writing tip to add the lined details of castle stonework with dark gray frosting for a more realistic look.

Smooth frosting over the ice cream cones. Top each of the towers with a pointed ice cream cone.

Add pieces of candy to the ground on the rectangular cake to create the appearance of rocks.

Pipe tufts of grass with green frosting around the rectangular base of the grounds. The castle of Hogwarts is built upon a cliff, so add sporadic tufts of grass along the frosted ground of the cake.

Pipe a beaded border around the bottom of the rectangular cake with a round piping tip.