Happy Birthday, Harry Potter!

Today, we celebrate the birthday of one of our favorite book character! Harry Potter did not have many happy birthdays growing up, so we like to celebrate in his honor to make up for that lack...

"Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday -- and you could count on Dudley to know the days of the week, because of television -- then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday. Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun -- last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. Still, you weren't eleven every day."
--Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 3: "The Letters from No One"

"The Dursleys hadn't even remembered that today happened to be Harry's twelfth birthday. Of course, his hopes hadn't been high; they'd never given him a real present, let alone a cake -- but to ignore it completely...
At that moment, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat importantly and said, "Now, as we all know, today is a very important day."
Harry looked up, hardly daring to believe it.
"This could very well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career," said Uncle Vernon.
Harry went back to his toast."
--Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 1: "The Worst Birthday"

"...Harry got back into bed and reached up to cross off another day on the chart he'd made himself, counting down the days left until his return to Hogwarts. Then he took off his glasses and lay down, eyes open, facing his three birthday cards.
Extremely unusual though he was, at that moment Harry Potter felt just like everyone else -- glad, for the first time in his life, that it was his birthday."
--Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 1: "Owl Post"

Harry Potter fans love a reason to party! There is no shortage of fabulous HP party ideas online. A new book released? Let's celebrate! A new movie coming out? Get out your robes and wands! Squeeze some pumpkin juice! Drink some butterbeer!

We're celebrating simply today. First, we read all the birthday parts in the first three books. And then we made chocolate cauldron cakes!

Chocolate Cauldron Cakes

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa, sifted
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp vinegar
2 cups water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients, and add to dry. Don't overmix. Grease your cupcake pan well -- don't use liners! -- and fill the cups 2/3 full. Bake for 14 minutes.

Gently slide a butter knife around the sides of each cupcake. Let them cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Turn each cake round side down onto a cooling rack, and press them level. Let cool completely before frosting.

Cauldron Glaze Potion

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1Tbs milk (more if necessary)
2 tsp corn syrup

When the cauldrons are cool, drizzle a teaspoon of potion onto the flat part of the cauldron, leaving a small amount of cake edge for the rim.

Let set -- and sing "Happy Birthday" to Harry!