Kids love Harry Potter. Kids love food. And kids love parties. What better way to combine everything your child loves then with a Harry Potter-themed cooking party for their next birthday? Start off by making birthday cake similar to the cake Hagrid made for Harry.
Then set off to transform the kitchen for the kids’ cooking stations with separate areas for Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor, Soda Potions Creation Station and Sugar Mice. Finally, leave the Muggle world behind by decorating every room in your home to resemble a different magical Harry Potter location.
Harry’s First Birthday Cake: Chocolate Layer Cake*
Harry’s first birthday cake was made by Hagrid when Harry turned 11 years old. This chocolate cake is intended to resemble the cake Hagrid made and is sure to delight guests of all ages. Display the cake and other treats on a table, decorated to resemble Honeydukes Sweet Shop.
Ingredients:
Chocolate Cake:
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon instant coffee
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze:
- 8 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 stick (2 tablespoons) butter
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
Chocolate Frosting:
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 of the above Chocolate Glaze recipe
Green Icing:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- Water to form a paste
- Green food coloring
Directions:
- To make the cake layers, preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Whisk together the boiling water, cocoa powder, and instant coffee in a measuring cup or small bowl until smooth; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each until incorporated and scraping down the sides as needed. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the hot cocoa mixture and beat until combined, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the flour mixture and stir on the slowest speed until combined. Finish by scraping the bottom of the bowl with a spatula and folding it in. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 20 minutes, until the cakes feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached. Be careful, as this cake overbakes easily. Cool the layers in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack and cool completely.
- To prepare the glaze, place the chocolate, heavy cream, butter, and corn syrup in a bowl and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Cool the glaze until it is thick but still pourable.
- To prepare the frosting, place the butter, confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed, about 7 minutes. Add half of the cooled glaze and beat until combined. If the frosting is too soft to spread, chill for 10 minutes and beat again. Chill another 10 minutes and beat again if necessary.
- To make the icing, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time to the confectioners’ sugar and mix to form a thick paste. Work in the food coloring to tint it to the desired shade of green.
- To assemble the cake, place one layer top-side down on a cardboard round. Spread 3/4 cup of the frosting over the cake and smooth it to the edges. Place the second layer top-side up over the first and spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides. Pour the remaining glaze over the cake and smooth it to the edges, allowing it to drip unevenly over the sides. (If the glaze is too stiff, warm briefly in the microwave and whisk to distribute the heat evenly. You may need to wait again for the glaze to cool.) If you have any frosting left, use it to pipe a decorative border around the bottom of the cake. Place the icing in a pastry bag fitted with a #3 round tip and write “Happy Birthday Harry” on top of the cake. The cake will look homemade. It’s supposed to; Hagrid made it.
Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor
Set up a section of the kitchen to resemble Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor. Provide an array of ice cream, sherbet and sorbet flavors – vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, raspberry, cherry, pistachio, lemon, lime, orange, peanut butter, mint, green tea.
Set out small bowls with different sprinkles, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, M&Ms, Skittles, toffee chunks, marshmallows and other small candy pieces. Have the kids make miniature chocolate chip cookies and brownie bites prior to the party and set these out as well.
Include an assortment of syrup flavorings – chocolate, strawberry, caramel, butterscotch, maple, honey, molasses. Don’t forget extra cans of whipped cream! Rather than serve ice cream with the cake, let the kids make their own sundaes.
Soda Potions Creation Station
Pre-make several trays of colored ice cubes. Add one or two drops of liquid food coloring to each section of the ice cube tray. After they freeze, transfer the colored cubes to gallon-sized storage bags. Create as many different colored cubes as possible so children have a wide range to choose from.
Alongside or opposite the Ice Cream Parlor, set up a soda potions creation station. Rather than making punch to serve, the children can create their own magic potion drinks. Label the cups with the names of either real Harry Potter potions or made up potions.
Let the children choose between a wide variety of soda flavors – orange, grape, strawberry, fruit punch, lemon-lime, cola, root beer, cream soda. You can even add alternative labels to the soda bottles to create potion ingredients. Let the children pour, mix, create and taste their concoctions.
Alternatively, purchase several bottles of club soda and different flavors of soda or snow cone syrup. These come in a wide range of flavors including typical soda flavors, watermelon, bubble gum, blue raspberry, vanilla, caramel and more. Use the premade colored ice cubes for added fun.
Sugar Mice*
Dinah Bucholz’s Sugar Mice, from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, provide a fun, hands-on treat and allow children to create their own candy, in any shape of form they choose. Ideally, the creations should sit out and dry overnight; however, the kids can make them and eat them immediately or wrap them up and take them home for later.
Make the fondant dough ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator until the guests arrive. When it's time, send them over to Honeydukes to make a special treat.
Ingredients:
- ¾ stick (6 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
- ¼ cup light corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Directions:
- Combine the butter, corn syrup, and vanilla and beat until thoroughly combined. Add the confectioners’ sugar slowly on the lowest speed until it forms a dough-like consistency. Add more confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the mixture is sticky. Wrap the fondant in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. It will keep for several months in the refrigerator.
- To make the sugar mice, pinch off a small piece of fondant and roll into a ½-inch ball. Roll the ball into an oval and pinch one end for the nose and two ends to make pointed ears. You can make two indentations for eyes with a toothpick. Pinch off another piece of dough to form a 1 ½-inch ball and shape into an oval for the body. Attach the body to the head. You can stick a piece of licorice into the back for the tail. If the fondant gets too soft to work with, put it back in the refrigerator to firm up again.
- Repeat until all the fondant is used up. Line up the mice on parchment paper and leave out overnight to dry. Makes about 20 Sugar Mice.
Leaving the Muggle World Behind – At Least for a Day
Leave the Muggle world behind and transform your home into Hogwarts. You could go with traditional birthday decorations such as banners, streamers and balloons or, for a real surprise, recreate the world of Harry Potter.
You’ve already transformed the kitchen into Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor and the desert and treat table into Honeydukes Sweet Shop, now it’s time to transform the rest of the house.
Decorate the outdoor entrance to your home to reflect the train station, particularly Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Transform the indoor entrance to look like a red steam engine, Hogwarts Express. Make signs and posters welcoming guests to each location. For example, clearly mark the outside of the door as Platform Nine and Three Quarters and the inside of the home with a banner or sign welcoming guests to Hogwarts Express.
The dining room is the perfect place to create the Great Hall. Hang a sheet or poster boards, decorated to represent the sky, sun and clouds or moon and stars, on the ceiling over the dining room table. You can hang additional star or cloud cutouts from strings to dangle over the table. Don’t forget to create posters representing each of the four House’s to hang on the dining room walls.
With a little imagination and creativity, you can turn the living room into Hagrid’s place or the Forbidden Forest. Mark off areas where children are not allowed (such as an adult’s bedroom) by reminding them to “Beware the Three-Headed Dog,” complete with poster and appropriate decorations. Designate the bathroom as “Hedwig’s Hideout” and don’t forget to set up the front lawn as a Quidditch field.
For additional ideas on decorating for a Harry Potter party and more magical recipes, see Cooking with Kids: Harry Potter Halloween Party at Hogwarts.
*The recipes ‘Harry’s First Birthday Cake’ (page 54) and ‘Sugar Mice’ (page 224) reprinted from “The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook” with permission from the author via Smith Publicity and are otherwise subject to the author and publisher’s copyright.
Photos ©Malysa Stratton Louk. All rights reserved. Photos may not be copied, borrowed, altered or reproduced in any way, either electronically or in print without prior written permission from the copyright holder.
Sources:
- “The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook"; Dinah Bucholz; Adams Media; 2010; ISBN 978-1-4405-0325-2
Malysa Stratton Louk - Malysa Stratton Louk is a freelance writer, journalist & photographer in the Pacific Northwest. View her full profile for more ...
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