Ok… so this is not technically the birthday cake that Hagrid made for Harry all those years ago in the Sorcerer’s Stone, but it is Harry’s birthday (and the awesome Ms. J.K. Rowling) and that gives us reason to celebrate!

Harry turns a whooping 32 today…only 1 year younger than me.

I was hoping in my small backwoods town that there might have been a Harry Potter fan club getting together tonight in Harry’s honor, but to my knowledge I don’t believe they exist outside of Charlotte…well, at least not in my age group. So I planned to have my own little cyber birthday party right here for “the boy who lived”.

To prepare for the party, I bewitched the vacuum (Roomba) to sweep up around the “the burrow”, hung banners over the fireplace that sparkle, and recreated this amazing 4 layer Hogwarts Spice cake without magic thanks to Bakingdom…one layer to represent each house at Hogwarts.

Speaking of houses, if I had ever received my letter to Hogwarts and had the opportunity to try on the Sorting Hat, I am confident that it might have been confused on where to put me. I believe my geeky side might have persuaded the hat to put me in Ravenclaw, but my courage to be who I want to be would place me in Gryffindor. Ultimately, I would prefer to be with Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the Gryffindor house. Oh how I love my fantasy world….

Back to reality…

This cake is a nice segway  back to the real world.

Anyway – Harry,’ said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, ‘a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it’ll taste all right.’
From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing.’

- Chapter Four, The Keeper of the Keys, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Number 2 on our countdown is Harry’s favorite treat…Treacle Tarts!! They would have been higher on the list, but I have had some difficulty with the various treacle tart recipes that are floating around on all the baking blogs. I adapted the one below from Bakingdom (I want to be like her when I grow up! Ha!) but I used my Mom’s pastry crust recipe. It has never let me down and I have it practically memorized. Treacle is a sweet syrup that is derived during the processing of cane sugar and I was fortunate to find a light treacle, otherwise known as golden syrup at World Market. Unfortunately, I used a new mini tart pan to make the treacle tarts and I just haven’t got it perfected yet. They tasted pretty yummy, but I would have preferred more treacle and less crust. Either way I ran out of time and couldn’t make them again in time for this post, so here you go! (I promise to keep trying for Harry’s sake and post when I finally get it!)

The clip of the day comes from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I. It is the scene where Harry, Ron, and Hermione are attacked in the cafe…and Hermione…like always, is prepared in more ways than one!
 

Treacle Tart
Makes one 9 inch tart, or 2 dozen tartlets

Ingredients

FOR THE CRUST
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold, unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
3-4 tablespoons ice water

FOR THE FILLING
14 oz. golden syrup
2 eggs
finely grated zest and juice of 1 small lemon
3/4 teaspoon all spice
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup fresh bread crumbs

For the crust: In the food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt with 2 or 3 pulses. Evenly distribute the cold butter over the flour mixture and and pulse 10 to 15 times, until the mixture resembles coarse corn meal. Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of the cold water over the flour mixture, and process with 4 to 5 pulses. After processing, the mixture should look sandy. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Sprinkle another tablespoon of the water over the mixture and use a rubber spatula to press the dough together. When the dough looks shaggy and a bit dry, but holds together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 3 or 4 times until the dough comes together completely. Add more water, up to 1 tablespoon, as needed. Handle the dough as little as possible to prevent melting the butter.

Continuing to handle the dough lightly, shape it into a disk six to seven inches across. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes, or the refrigerator for at least two hours.

Once chilled, Place the dough on a lightly floured surface. If making many small tartlets, work with half of the dough at a time. Roll the dough to about one-eighth of an inch thick. Line tart pans as directed above.

Place the tartlets on a baking sheet and chill for at least 30 minutes, preferably in the freezer.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Once chilled, line the tarts with bits of foil or parchment and fill each one with a small amount of pie weights or dry beans. Bake mini tartlets for 15 minutes. Bake a full size tart for 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely before filling.

For the filling: Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and pour into the cooled tart crust.

Bake for 20 minutes (for tartlets), or about 30 minutes (for a standard tart), or until the filling has set.

Allow to cool completely before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

Who doesn’t love Hagrid and his infamous Rock Cakes? J.K. Rowling made it a point to mention these lovely treats no less than 3 times in the Harry Potter series. Once in the Sorcerer’s Stone, another in the Goblet of Fire, and finally in the Half  Blood Prince. The Unofficial Harry Potter cookbook says this about these raisin filled desserts: “Rock cakes, standard with tea, look like but don’t taste like rocks, unless of course you leave them out for several days, which is probably what Hagrid did. Rock cakes have a short history and seem to have been invented by the Victorians.”

Our clip today actually comes from the Half Blood Prince and features ‘ol Hagrid himself at the funeral of Aragog, the spider.

My favorite part of this scene, as sad as it is, is when Harry mentions the pincers as another reason why spiders are misunderstood creatures.

Now on to the Rock Cakes…

Rock Cakes

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into chunks
1 large egg
1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease and flour a large cookie sheet. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl. With your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture reaches the consistency of wet sand.

2. Beat the egg together with the milk and pour it into the flour-butter mixture. Fold it together using a spatula to form a stiff dough. Fold in the raisins. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.

3. Bake for 25 minutes or until the bottoms are golden, rotating the pan midway through baking.

Makes 12 Rock Cakes

Recipe adapted by The Unofficial Harry Potter cookbook.

FYI: If you truly want them to be like Hagrid’s Rock Cakes, you will need to bake them way too long and sit out for days…

“You’re a wizard Harry!”~Hagrid

“‘How about these?’ said Ron, shoving a jar of Cockroach Clusters under Hermione’s nose. ‘Definitely not,’ said Harry” (Prisoner of Azkaban).

Normally if you asked me anything that had the word, cockroach, in it, I would be running for the hills. Palmetto bugs (as they are commonly referred to in Florida) are big, brown, and downright nasty little creatures. I am petrified that they will come in my bed in the dead of night and chew off my eyebrows….I digress…

But these cockroach clusters however, are made of chocolatey caramel goodness with a crunch of  pecans! I have also heard them called “the poor man’s turtles”, but I prefer to think of them as just another treat from Honeydukes! They were super easy to make and with just 3 ingredients, it won’t break the Gringotts bank!

The clip of the day comes from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It is where Harry and Professor  Dolores Umbridge face off about Lord Voldemort’s existence and Harry gets detention(torture). As a teacher, I pride myself on being more of a fun Professor Lupin type of teacher rather than scary, rule enforcing Umbridge. She takes the fun out of learning  everything! Not to mention, she slightly reminds me of my grandmother!

Cockroach Clusters

Ingredients:

Rollos, unwrapped

Pecan pieces

Melting Chocolate

Directions:
1. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Arrange the unwrapped Rollos on the parchment, at least 1.5″ away from each other.

2. Place the cookie sheet in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for about 3 minutes, until the Rollos are soft but not melted out of shape.

3. Press  pecan pieces on top of each Rollo, smashing them into the Rollo (so that it looks like you stepped on the little critter). Let the Rollos harden.

4. Melt more chocolate over top of the pecans, and smooth with a tooth pick or your finger. This is when you get to be extra creative. Use the chocolate to create antennae, legs, wings, whatever you’d like!

We are at the half way mark of our countdown and I cannot wait to share the awesome Harry Potter news that I have! My amazing  hubster, the man of my dreams, my love, my best friend…in short, the greatest man in the world….has pre-ordered me this!

That’s right fellow Potterheads…On September 7th I will have my very own limited and numbered edition of the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection.  Amazon says this about the vast collection,”The most comprehensive Harry Potter movie collection yet features all eight films, exclusive never-before-seen content and must-have memorabilia. This new limited and numbered 31-disc collection contains all eight Harry Potter movies on Blu-ray, DVD and UltraViolet Digital Copy and more than 37 hours of special features including all previously released materials and more than 10 hours of new to disc bonus content, and 5 hours of never-before-seen material. In addition to the theatrical release of every film, the collection also includes the extended versions of  Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; and the 3D versions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows –- Parts 1 and 2.”

I don’t mean to brag, but I am super excited about it. Anybody else out there planning on getting one?

I first saw these cupcakes over at Bakingdom. Darla is so very creative and I absolutely love how she came up with these cupcakes from the store window of Honeydukes over at the WWOHP.

I tweaked the recipe just a bit by adding cotton candy spinning sugar instead of cotton candy and I also used the cotton candy flavoring that I had just ordered from Layer Cake Shop. Be careful when you are using flavoring oils….a little goes a long way!!

Honeydukes Candyfloss (Cotton Candy) Cupcakes
Makes about 1 dozen

Ingredients

FOR THE CUPCAKES
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg, plus 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup cotton candy spinning sugar (I used strawberry flavor)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter, sour cream, egg, yolks, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Scrape the bowl to make sure it’s combined, then stir in the cotton candy sugar until evenly distributed.

Place three tablespoons of batter in each of the paper liners int he prepared muffin pan. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Honeydukes Candyfloss (Cotton Candy) Buttercream Frosting
Makes 12 ounces

Ingredients

FOR THE FROSTING
5 -7 drops cotton candy flavoring(use sparingly)
1cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups confectioners’ sugar (or more to reach desired consistency)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until thoroughly combined. Stir in the vanilla and cotton candy flavoring. Beat on medium high until light and fluffy, about 45 seconds, adding the remaining cream, if necessary.

Cupcake recipe adapted from Bakingdom.

Two of my favorite quotes from Hermione from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. (I am currently rereading this one!)

“Just because you have the emotional range of a teaspoon doesn’t mean we all have.”

“All those poor elves I haven’t set free yet, having to stay over during Christmas because there aren’t enough hats!” -Hermione Granger”

I am not sure what it is that makes Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire my favorite in the series…the hubster would joke and say it is because of Robert Pattinson, but I am not that crazy about vampires.   I think I adore it so much because Goblet of Fire is the first movie to introduce the true darkness of Lord Voldemort and take the Harry Potter series from tween to young adult.

Okay, so the clip of the day is at the end of the movie when Harry and Lord Voldemort are facing off in the graveyard. Their wands are connected and well…just watch…

Cauldron Cakes anyone?

Cauldron Cakes are actually the wizarding term for big fluffy pancakes, but they typically look like this all over the baking blogosphere. Harry sees them for the first time on the witch’s trolly on board the Hogwarts Express in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Ingredients:

FOR THE CAKES
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

To make the cakes: preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray pan with cooking spray that contains flour.. In a large bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In another large bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the oil and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until thoroughly combined. Sprinkle 1/3 of the flour mixture over the ingredients in the bowl and beat until just combined. Add have the milk and stir until combined, then scrape the bowl. Sprinkle another 1/3 of the flour into the bowl, and again mix until just combined before adding the remaining milk. Beat until just mixed, then add the remaining flour and beat the mixture until thoroughly combined, scraping the bowl, as needed. Stir in the chocolate chips. Fill each cup a little more than 1/2 full. Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean of cake batter. Allow to cool completely before decorating.

FOR THE FROSTING:
3/4 cup Marshmallow Fluff
2 sticks of butter
2 1/2-3 cups confectioners sugar (or until you reach desired consistency)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a medium bowl, beat together the marshmallow fluff, butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.

1 bag of dark cocoa candies

Melt bag according to directions in a glass microwave safe bowl and use to dip the cakes

To assemble:
Using a cupcake corer or sharp knife, cut out a cavity in the bottom of the cupcake. When using a knife, I run it in a circular motion around the cupcake, while always pointing the knife towards the center (this will make the cavity cone shaped).

Dip the bottom of the cupcake into the chocolate candies. Flip the cupcakes right side up and let rest until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes. To speed up the process, place cupcakes in the refrigerator.

To make the cauldron feet, take 4 chocolate chips and form a small square, placing each chocolate chip roughly an inch from the others. Place the top of a cupcake onto the chocolate chips and push down ever so slightly so the chocolate chips will stick into the chocolate glaze. Repeat for the rest of the cupcakes.

Place remaining chocolate glaze into a piping bag and pipe a chocolate rim around the edge of the opening to the cauldron. If chocolate is too thick to pipe, heat chocolate glaze up until warm and allow to sit until glaze thickens slightly. If chocolate glaze is too runny to pipe, wait a few minutes until the glaze thickens to a pipe-able consistency. Alternatively, you could use a knife to spread the glaze around the edge of the cupcake.

Fill a pastry bag with marshmallow filling and pipe into the cavity of the cupcakes. Garnish the top with edible gold glitter or shimmer.

To make cauldron handle, melt the remaining chocolate chips, stir until smooth, and place into a pastry bag. You don’t need a special tip for this step; I simply cut off the very end of the pastry bag which was sufficient. On a non-stick mat or wax paper, pipe out the handles (feel free to use any pattern you’d like). I recommend measuring the cupcakes with a ruler to determine how wide you need to make the handles before piping. Let the chocolate set until hardened, approximately 30 minutes, before very carefully peeling off of the non-stick surface and placing into the top of each cupcake.

Recipe adapted by Pastry Affair.

“I’m going to kill you, Harry Potter. I’m going to destroy you. After tonight, no one will ever again question my power. After tonight if they speak of you, they’ll only speak of how you begged for death. And how I being a merciful Lord… obliged. ” ~Voldemort (Hey, they can’t all be warm and fuzzy!)