People have mixed feelings about the character of Harry Potter. Some, of course, revere him as The Chosen One and a hero. Others think he’s moody and selfish. No matter what your opinions are about him, you have to give him one thing: he loves his friends. During one of his first ever interactions with Ron, he realizes he’s in the position to make Ron happy, and he does it. As a kid with such a negative, deprived first 11 years of his life, he is overwhelmingly generous when he buys one of everything on the sweet trolley for his train car. And as tomorrow (July 31) is his birthday, I decided to bake one of those treats he enjoyed on his first Hogwarts Express journey- a cauldron cake.
Cauldron cakes aren’t really described in detail in the books, but it’s mentioned that they can be bought in “stacks.” Ron also is able to squish one in his hand when he becomes angry. Those two things together, plus the idea of cauldrons being black, inspired this recipe. A cupcake is both stackable and squishable, so they’ll do!
These are actually way simpler than you might think. It is comprised of four parts: the cake, the frosting, the ganache, and the decorations. Each one is super simple and definitely something novice bakers can handle!
I started off with a boxed cake baked in cupcake tins. While those were cooling, I quickly whipped up the buttercream and the ganache. After a little trial and error, I found that I preferred the look of green frosting, but white works just fine if that’s more your style. Once the cakes were cool, I did a little bit of minor cupcake surgery. Cauldrons are round at the bottom with a sort of lip at the top. You can actually get pretty close to this shape simply by flipping the cupcakes upside-down! I trimmed a little off the bottom (which used to be the top) to get it to stand up straight, and then scooped out a little bit from the middle.
To decorate, fill the hole in the cupcake with buttercream. I used a Wilton 2A piping tip, but you can just as easily squeeze it in out of a plastic bag with a hole cut in the corner. You don’t need to be too precise here. After that, I drizzled the ganache over the top, and then sprinkled some white nonpareils for bubbles. And that’s it! I experimented with both green and white frosting, and made both regular-size and bite-size versions.
While we’re on the topic of Harry Potter, I got to do a super cool thing the other day. The Stabler-Leadbetter Apothecary Museum in Old Town Alexandria put on a Harry Potter Geek Tour, and it was amazing. This authentic 19th century apothecary contains the store’s original bottles, some of which still have products in them! We learned which of the ingredients in Professor Snape’s potions are real, and some of them (like mandrake and aconite) are in the apothecary.
Afterwards we got to whip up a potion of our own. I made a love potion, aka bath salts, and I can’t wait to try them out! It was a super fun experience for a Harry Potter fan, and I definitely need to go back for another tour soon.
Ingredients:
-1 box Devil’s Food chocolate cake
-1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
-3 cups powdered sugar
-pinch of salt
-2 tsp vanilla extract
-3 tbsp + 1/2 cup heavy cream
-1 cup green chocolate candy melts
-white nonpareils
Cupcake directions:
-Butter and flour a cupcake tin.
-Make 1 box of Devil’s Food chocolate cake in cupcake tin, without liners!
-Once cool, trim tiny bit off of top and flip upside-down. The cupcake should rest flat now that you’ve trimmed it.
-Use a small knife or a teaspoon to scoop out a little divot in the body of the cupcake, from the bottom (which is now the top).
Buttercream directions:
-Add one cup of unsalted butter (room temperature) to a mixer and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
-Add a pinch of salt, 2-3 tablespoons of heavy cream, and 2 tsp of vanilla extract. Combine.
-Gradually add 3 cups of powdered sugar until incorporated. You want your frosting to be fluffy, but also able to hold a shape.
-If you want, add green food coloring to your frosting until the desired color is reached.
Ganache directions:
-In a microwave-safe bowl, heat 1 cup of green chocolate candy melts and 1/2 cup of heavy cream in 30 second increments, stirring occasionally, until melted, combined, and smooth. Allow to cool slightly before using for decoration.
Assembly directions:
-In either a piping bag fit with a Wilton 2A tip or a plastic bag with the corner snipped, fill the divot in the cupcake with your frosting. Drizzle the ganache over the top, and sprinkle nonpareils on top to look like bubbles.
Happy birthday, Harry Potter! (P.S. he’s 38 this year… blimey)
