Tonight’s the night – HP and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Who’s going to see it at midnight? I wish I was, but alas. I work at 6:30 tomorrow morning, and it just didn’t seem logical to be THAT tired all day long. So I’m going to see it on Saturday..but that doesn’t mean I’m not celebrating in my own way tonight! I’m watching Deathly Hallows Part 1, having these:
Cauldron Cakes! Insanely chocolatey, sweet, rich cauldron cakes. I had a five hour shift today, so I set to making these right after and spent the afternoon doing that. There’s a lot of steps involved, but it was so much fun! The only thing that made it hard was the fact that I had a little kitty trying to jump on the table and eat them every chance he got.
I got the recipe for these cauldron cakes from Bakingdom, one of my favorite blogs and fellow Harry Potter nerds! She created the recipe after tasting them at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter; I’m so jealous of that! I want to go there soo bad. But anyway. These cauldron cakes are chocolate chip studded chocolate cupcakes, dipped in chocolate, stuffed with a light chocolate filling and topped with chocolate buttercream..and a chocolate handle, of course! I halved the recipe and made mini ones (as usual) and three big ones. I used a standard mini muffin tin and regular muffin tin, which worked out really well!
I’m so in love with these. I don’t care if the books and movies are done, I’m totally making these more often. Maybe I’ll have to celebrate my favorite character’s birthdays from now on (James, Sirius & Lily). James and Lily’s birthdays are right around mine, so maybe my birthday will be a good excuse for these..hmmm! Yum. Definitely try these if you aren’t going to make it out to Universal anytime soon..so worth it!
Cauldron Cakes
makes about 30 mini cakes
For the cakes:
1 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup + 2 T cocoa powder
3/4 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
For the filling:
1/4 cup milk
2 1/4 t flour
2 1/4 t powdered chocolate milk mix
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 t vanilla
For the frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup + 2 T cocoa powder
1/4 t vanilla
2 T to 1/4 cup milk
3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, for dipping and handles
For the cakes:
Grease a mini muffin tin well and set aside. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a stand mixer, mix together the oil and sugar; add in the egg and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated. Add 1/3 of the flour and mix well. Add 1/2 of the milk and mix. Add 1/3 flour. Add the second 1/2 of the milk. Add the last 1/3 of the flour and mix. Fold in the chocolate chips, making sure not to over mix the batter. Spoon about 1 T into each well and bake at 350ºF for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pan with a knife and let cool on a wire rack.
For the filling:
Combine the flour, chocolate milk mix and milk in a small saucepan, and heat until thickened over medium heat. Allow to cool completely (in the freezer speeds this up greatly!). Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer, and add the vanilla. Add the milk mixture and mix until light and fluffy.
For the frosting:
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and cocoa powder and beat together. Add the milk, 1 T at a time, until it reaches the correct consistency for piping.
To assemble:
Melt about 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips in the microwave at 30 second intervals. Using a plastic bag or pastry bag, pipe U shapes onto a cold baking sheet lined with parchment paper for the handles. Allow to set completely (I put it in the fridge to quicken the process).
Melt the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips in the microwave at 30 second intervals. Dip each cake into the chocolate, completely coating the bottom. Place the dipped cakes onto three chocolate chips (a tripod stand) on a wax paper lined baking sheet. Allow to set completely.
Using a paring knife, cut a cone shape into the top of each cake for the filling. Scoop about 1/2 teaspoon of filling into each cake.
Place the frosting into a piping bag with a large round tip and pipe a wide ring around the edges of the filling. Pipe more frosting on top to cover the light chocolate filling.
Once the handles are set, gently remove them from the parchment paper and place them onto the top of the cakes.
Serve and enjoy!!