Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Culinary Movie Night Guide
Difficulty Level: Medium
Table of Contents
Equipment
Here is a list (with links) of all the equipment and decorations I used for my Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Culinary Movie Night. I would be incredibly grateful if you used my links. I will make a little commission, and that would really help with the cost of the website and related expenses. You can find my full Amazon List here!
Ferrero Rocher Snitches– I decorated the serving tray and my entertainment center with homemade Ferrero Rocher Snitches. To make these simple decorations, you can either draw the wings and cut them out yourself (that’s what I did), or you can use these golden snitch wings from Amazon. I made the wings myself to make this movie night more affordable, but if your budget permits, the golden wings are a great option.
To stick the wings on the chocolate, I used the sticker that is already on top of the chocolate. You can use additional tape if it has trouble sticking. The copier paper I used stuck fine, but the glittery wings may give you trouble.
Living Room Decorations
Aunt Petunia’s Pudding Cake
Pottah!
Mandrake Root Bread
Tips
- Personalizing the Menu– When planning your menu for your movie night, don’t feel pressured to serve exactly what I chose to serve. Feel free to remove/add/replace dishes so it makes sense for you and your guests. I’ve included an editable menu in this guide to make it your own!
- Managing Your Time– These movie nights can take a lot of time to prepare, especially if you plan on doing everything yourself. If you are planning a culinary movie night with a group, I suggest doing a potluck style. Have each person contribute a dish or two, and it’ll be very manageable. If you are planning on preparing everything yourself, here are some things I’ve learned while doing these often:
- Make A To-Do List– I can’t stress this enough! It’s very easy to forget simple things like opening a bottle of prosecco before you start the movie so you aren’t fumbling with the seal before serving. I have done this so many times! Your to-do list should include absolutely everything you need to do leading up to pressing play.
- Start Early– I learned this after a few very long days of trying to cook, prepare, and host all on the same day. Anything that can be done in advance should be done during the days leading up to the movie night. Some examples include pre-mixing cocktails, making desserts and other foods like soup that hold up well in the refrigerator, and pre-making any handmade decorations. Hosting is stressful enough without having to make a multi-course meal in one day, so get as much done as possible before.
- No Pausing– The question I get asked the most is “Do you pause the movie to bring out the next dish?”. It’s important to me that I don’t disrupt the flow of the movie, so I do not pause. It’s also important to me to enjoy the movie with my guests. Setting up everything I need before the movie helps me bring out each dish efficiently. The setup usually includes plating each dish and storing it in the refrigerator, so all I have to do is quickly microwave it before serving. I set out any garnish or decoration on my kitchen counter so it’s easily accessible. I even pour the cocktails into their cups and store them in the refrigerator, so all I have to do is add ice and any finishing touches before serving. Always think about how you can do the bare minimum during the film. I always include the setup in my to-do list as well, so I don’t forget about any aspect of the preparation.
- Optional– If your budget permits, I recommend ordering food that you may not be confident in cooking or food that may take a lot of time to cook. I do this occasionally, and it helps cut down the preparation time and supports local businesses. Win Win!
- Decorations- Have fun and decorate your space and serving tray! Add elements from the theme of the movie, but make a budget and stick to it! I usually use things I already own because these movie nights are DIY, and I don’t need to spend a fortune to make it fun. If I do buy decorations for the movie night, I try to find cheap or reusable things. If you are curious about some of the things I’ve used during the movie nights, here is a link to my Amazon List. All these items are things I bought with my own money and enjoyed using.
- Manage Stress- Culinary Movie Nights are fun and a great way to show your friends and family you love them. Sometimes, things you envision in your head will not come out perfectly. When this happens to me, it can be discouraging and stressful, but the people I do these for have NEVER expressed anything but appreciation. Go easy on yourself and remember that your guests are just happy to be there and to experience something you put so much thought and time into making.
Menu
I have created a free, editable, and printable menu for all the dishes I served for this Culinary Movie Night! Feel free to change it to what will work for you and your guests.
Cues
These are the cues I used during the movie night so I knew when I had to get the next dish ready to serve.
Please note: Each cue describes a scene that happens a few minutes before I have to serve the dish. It does not describe the scene the dish is based on. Some people get confused with that, so I thought I should specify. Because the cues only give you a few minutes to prepare the dish, it’s very important to have everything cooked and set up before the film starts. Review the “Tips” section above for ways to make this seamless.
I often get asked why I don’t use time stamps to keep track of when to serve the next dish and the simple answer is, I don’t find those helpful. If I used timestamps, I would have to have a separate timer going or keep disrupting the movie to check the timestamp. It makes much more sense to have cues to indicate when the next scene is about to happen. This allows me to enjoy watching the film with my guests.
Below is the link to the cues I used. This document is editable, so you can make updates if you decide to take out or change dishes.
Recipes
Aunt Petunia’s Pudding Cake
Now, I don’t imagine Aunt Petunia was baking with Ube and Pandan…. But when I see green and purple together, I’m always reminded of how well those flavors go together. They also go great with coconut, which is why I made that the cake flavor. I then split the cake batter in two and added Pandan flavoring (green) to one half and Ube flavoring (purple) to the other half.
Note: If you are also making Hermione’s Sleeping Drought Cupcakes, I recommend making double the cake batter and setting aside half for the cupcakes and half for the Pandan and Ube batter.
All the frosting I used is vanilla, but then I separated some to mix Pandan flavoring (green), and some to mix Ube flavoring (purple). To the center, I added ube pudding. To decorate the cake, I used this cake decorating kit to pipe all the different layers. I also used cherries I already had, so they were darker than the bright red maraschino cherries. I always try to use what I already have to save money and avoid overconsuming. If you want to be more accurate to the movie though, I recommend you use the bright red maraschino cherries.
Below are all the links to the recipes I used:
Coconut Cake Recipe (Ignore the frosting part of the recipe)
Ube Pudding Mix– For the Ube pudding, I used a prepackaged pudding mix. This is the exact one I used. Make sure you make this pudding when you are ready to assemble your cake layers. I like to add a layer of frosting to the perimeter of the cake to keep the pudding in the center. Make sure your pudding has cooled for a bit before putting it on your cake. You don’t want it to be boiling hot. Once you add the pudding, add your second cake layer on top and put your cake in the refrigerator to set.
Breakfast at the Burrow
For this scene, the boys looked like they grabbed some type of pastry when sneaking in. I ended up serving an almond croissant that I got from a bakery, but anything will work.
Later in the scene, when they are eating as a family, they look to be eating a full breakfast. Probably a full English breakfast. I made my life easy by just serving sausage, egg, and bacon, but if I did it over again, I would definitely want to try serving a full English breakfast. I cooked the bacon, sausage, and eggs before starting the movie, and then microwaved the plate before serving.
Pottah!
Prickly Pear Spritz & Spitz
I had to make a little fun of Malfoy here. LOL! The way he says Potter and spits out every word!
This was a very quick and easy one to serve. The drink itself is just a little bit of prickly pear syrup at the bottom of the glass, and then top the glass with the same champagne used for the first scene, “Popping Craniums”.
I had the glass decorated before I started the movie, and left them on my kitchen counter so I could easily access them. Malfoy ripped a piece of paper out of a book in the bookshop, so I had a ripped piece of paper as the decoration with “Pottah” written on it. I attached the paper with a mini clothespin.
To make the cocktail non-alcoholic, replace the champagne with sparkling cider or Sprite.
Mandrake Root Bread with Herb Butter
I got the idea for doing these mini mandrake breads when I saw this video of someone doing a big mandrake loaf. The woman uses sourdough, but I just used regular bread dough. You can get it premade at the grocery store or use the bread recipe.
To make them look like roots, she painted the baked bread with a water and cocoa powder mixture. I smeared black garlic on them to make the eyes and mouth as well. I made them as mini versions of hers so we could each have our own.
I baked the mandrake roots and decorated them earlier in the day and kept them in an airtight container. Then, as I was setting up to begin the movie night, I put them in these little planters to resemble the movie. I also served them with an herb butter. You can buy one premade at the store or make it yourself using this herb butter recipe.
This is definitely a more advanced dish to make for movie night, but I recommend giving it a try because the results will impress your guests!
Eat Slugs!
For this eat slugs scene, I decided to serve escargot (snails) from my favorite local Italian restaurant. They serve it with this delicious buttery sauce and a flaky pastry. SO GOOD!
If you don’t want to order from a restaurant, here is a similar Escargot on a puff pastry recipe you can try!
I recommend having the dish plated before you start the movie, then you just have to reheat it in the microwave before serving.
Bludgers and Spaghetti Arms
For this scene, the first dish that came to my mind is spaghetti and meatballs. Meatballs for the killer bludger, and spaghetti for Harry’s arm after Lockhart was done with it. Also red sauce for Gryffindor!
Here is a good recipe to follow for Spaghetti and Meatballs if you want to make the dish from scratch. I made this dish the day before to save time. I then plated it before I started the movie, and just had to reheat it in the microwave before serving.
Hermione’s Sleeping Drought Cupcakes
Is it just me or can Hermione be really scary sometimes? LOL!
I wanted to be as efficient with my time as possible, so I ended up making double the coconut cake batter from “Aunt Petunia’s Pudding Cake” and used that as the cupcake batter. Here is the coconut cake recipe. Add the batter to cupcake sleeves in a cupcake tin and bake for about 18-20 minutes. I baked it at the same time as I baked the cake.
Coconut Cake Recipe (Ignore the frosting part of the recipe)
For the frosting, I made this Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. Add a dollop of frosting on the cupcake. It doesn’t have to be pretty. Then, to decorate with sprinkles, I added chocolate sprinkles to a bowl and pressed the frosted cupcake into the sprinkles to coat the frosting fully. This flattens the frosting out and gives it that movie look.
I recommend making these the day before and storing them in an airtight container. Then, make sure to plate your cupcakes and store them on your kitchen counter before starting the film. This way, it’s quick to serve.
Polyjuice Potion
Let’s be honest… the Polyjuice potion in the film looks gross so I see why a lot of people make cocktails and then call it “Polyjuice Potion”. I wanted to make it look movie accurate though, so I had the idea of making these shakes my mom used to make for me growing up. It always had this clumpy consistency and looked gross, but tasted amazing. I went with a banana and chocolate shake. The banana gives that clumpy texture because I did not completely blend it. I used the ‘pulse’ function on my blender so it mixed the ingredients but didn’t make them completely smooth.
It’s really simple to make. I don’t really have a recipe for it. I just add milk, banana, and chocolate syrup to a blender and pulse it. If you want to follow a recipe, here is one that sounds healthier.
You can either have the ingredients in the blender and store it in your refrigerator to blend fresh during the movie. Or, you can make the shakes before, and keep them in an airtight container in your refrigerator. Then just pour and serve when it’s time.
Basilisk Venom
I wanted the perfect dish to close out this movie night, and what better way to conclude the movie than with some Basilisk Venom!?
Here is the Basilisk Venom Recipe.
I premixed the drink the day before to save time. When it was time to serve, I poured the premixed cocktail into my cup with ice and added the gummy worms before serving.
To make this non-alcoholic, omit the vodka and change the blue curacao to the non-alcoholic blue curacao syrup.
