"harry potter" news and stories

Harry Potter Licorice Wands. Photo: foodistablog, Flickr

• Harry Potter mania is rampant. When there's a magical world full of unusual food, there are foodies who figure out how to make it!
• The ins and outs of summer tomato mania -- the different types, how to store them, and how to prepare them.
• Are grocery brands worth it? The Statesman investigates and finds out which are best for mac and cheese, waffles and orange juice.
• Houston's Max's Wine Dive hits Austin with a super-casual wine and dining experience, while El Chilito snags a second location on Barton Springs Road.
  
• "The Next Food Network Star" held a casting call in Austin, and several hundred food fiends descended upon the city's Hyatt Regency.
• Eggplant rolls from Michal Haines' "The Spice Kitchen."
• Foodie highlights in central Texas.

Cauldron Cakes. Photo: Alex Van Buren

So the new "Harry Potter" movie opened in the wee hours of the morning, and your cravings for Butterbeer, pumpkin juice (here are our recipes), Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and Cauldron Cakes are probably at full tilt.

Thankfully we have discovered that the folks at Brooklyn's renowned shop Baked have been serving these delicious brownie-cookie-cake hybrids to Muggles under the extremely suspicious name of "Black Forest Cookies" for years, but they are well-known to wizards by their real name: Cauldron Cakes.

Easily stackable for that train ride to Hogwarts, these Cakes are utterly worthy of defending via wand-wielding showdowns, sword battles with giant water snakes, etc. The surfaces of the decadent treats become cratered and volcanic after a whirl in the oven, and bubble as if they've emerged straight from a cauldron. Break them apart to reveal a moist, dark-as-night center the texture of a brownie. It must be magic.

Eating one feels slightly wicked. Eating two is downright evil. Ten points to Slytherin, indeed.

Cauldron Cakes recipe courtesy of the magicians at Baked, after the jump.

Unlike Sarah, I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter books, so I'm sure it'll come as little surprise when I tell you that Wednesday night I made my way to the local theater and stood in line (for an hour, no less) buying tickets for opening night of The Order of the Phoenix.

Now to be clear, I like the series, but I'm not obsessed with it like many of my fellow moviegoers were. Yes, there were the requisite number of muggles people dressed up in long flowing robes complete with witch and wizard hats, and their conversations did revolve around everything Hogwarts. In fact, while standing in line, I overheard several groups of ladies discussing various Harry Potter-related recipes they had prepared prior to coming to the show.

After a quick search on the web (really, who doesn't want to know what Butterbeer tastes like?) I found that MuggleNet.com seems to have the most complete listing of food and drink recipes that are mentioned in the books. So, if you are heading out this weekend to catch the movie or have kids at home, you may want to whip up a batch of Madame Rosmerta's Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice, or Mrs. Weasley's Treacle Fudge. Recipes can be found after the jump.

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My friends, I have a confession (bragging rights?) to make.

I am not a fan of Harry Potter like the entire rest of the literate world.

Sure, I read the very first book. I thought it was amusing. Heck, I even made a tortilla espanole in his honor. But after that, I read no more. It just wasn't for me. It is just a novelty.

However, I do know that there are millions of fans of the little wizard who have been expectantly awaiting the release of the newest edition of the book, and if you just can't wait until this July, maybe you can keep yourself occupied with a cake that looks like the book. I'm not even sure what flavor the cake is since it's only a photo, but for some reason, "harry Potter" says "chocolate" to me.

By now, everyone who knows anything about gross candies must have heard of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, the Harry Potter-inspired candy that includes such questionable flavors as earwax and vomit. But what about Harry Potter Cockroach Clusters or the dreaded Chocka-Ca-Ca.

Thanks to the kind folks over at Candy Addict, I now know more about gross candies than I ever wanted to after reading their list of the Top 10 Grossest Candies. Some of these stomach-curdling confections are bug-focused as in the Cockroach Clusters (No. 7) and White Chocolate Maggots (No. 10). And some get their grossness from bodily functions, most notably the Chocka-Ca-Ca (No. 5), Ear Wax Candy (No. 3) and Hose Nose (No. 9). In my book, Hose Nose gets a higher rating. After all, it's a nose-shaped dispenser that you strap to your face, which drips candy slime for you to catch on your tongue.

And just what candy gets the grand prize? Lick Your Wounds, a replica of an adhesive bandage. You stick it to your skin and expose the candy scab, licking whenever you get the urge. Alas, the days of ring pops are long gone.

[via Boing Boing]

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