The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook - Dinah Bucholz [26]
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 ¾ 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.
Serves 16
Instead of a pastry bag, you can use a sandwich bag. Snip off a small hole in one corner, fill it with the icing, and squeeze it through the hole.
Bath Buns
When Hagrid invites Harry and Ron to tea in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Chapter 14), Ron thinks Hagrid wants to hear all about how he was almost attacked by Sirius Black. But Hagrid wants to talk to them about… Hermione. So they sit down, feeling guilty on two counts: they've forgotten about helping Hagrid with Buckbeak's trial and they haven't been good friends to Hermione. But their guilty feelings don't stop them from refusing Hagrid's Bath buns; they know only too well what to expect.
The city of Bath in the southwest of England is famous not only for its hot springs and Roman baths but also for a delightful pastry known as the Bath bun. The creation of this little cake is attributed, probably incorrectly, to eighteenth-century physician William Oliver. Historians question why a doctor who developed food (such as the Bath Oliver biscuit) to aid the digestion of his patients would prescribe such a rich pastry.
¼ cup warm water
2¼ teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ cup whole milk
2 tablespoons (¼ stick) butter
2½ cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
Grated zest of 1 lemon
Grated zest of 1 orange
¾ cup dried currants or dried sweetened cranberries
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for brushing over the buns
Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling (Introduction)
Grease and flour a cookie sheet and set aside. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray and set aside. Combine the water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a mixing bowl and set aside until the yeast is puffy, about 10 minutes. Heat the milk, water, and butter in a saucepan until the butter is melted. Set aside but keep warm (not hot; if it's too hot it will kill the yeast).
Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Whisk the eggs, lemon zest, and orange zest into the milk mixture. Add the yeast mixture, milk mixture, currants or cranberries, and caraway seeds to the flour mixture; mix to combine. Knead the dough in the bowl or on a lightly floured work surface 10 to 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will be sticky and you will be tempted to add flour as you knead. Resist the temptation. The dough will gradually become less sticky as you knead. However, if it does not become less sticky as you knead, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time. If you have a stand mixer you can knead the dough with the dough hook; it will be a lot easier.
Place the dough in the oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat (or spray the top with cooking spray). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set to rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and divide in half. Divide in half