Lemon Drop Recipe

Ingredients- Serving size 1 drink

2 oz of vodka

1 oz of lemon juice

1 oz of simple syrup

Instructions–

Add all ingredients to a container with a lid and shake to combine. Multiply the ingredients depending on how many people you’re serving. Store the container in your refrigerator, and when it’s time to serve, shake it again and evenly pour into each glass with or without ice.

Lightning Scar Garnish-

To make the lightning garnish, I used lemon peel. Start by washing your lemon and then use a potato peeler to peel the lemon skin. You want the part you peel to be as wide as possible, so you have room to carve out the lighting shape.

I recommend having a few lemons on hand because it took me a few tries to get the right shape for the lightning. Carve out the shape using a knife. I premade these and stored them wrapped in a wet paper towel so they stayed fresh. This is the first dish served for this movie night, so right before you’re ready to start the movie, you can set up the cups by using these mini clothespins to pin the garnish.

What you’ll need:

Pie crust (Usually found in the dairy section by the canned biscuits)

Jam (I used Bacon Jam- Click here for recipe)

Egg wash (whisked egg yolk)

Sugar (to sprinkle on top)

Red writing gel (you can usually find this in the baking section by the birthday candles)

How to make:

Start by letting your pie crust soften on your kitchen counter for about 10 minutes, and then unroll it (usually comes rolled up). Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut large diamond shapes into the dough. Each diamond shape equals one letter. You can roll out the dough scraps to make more diamonds. Also, cut out little circles from the dough scraps. The little circles will be the seal of the letter.

Add your jam to the center of the diamond-shaped pastry, and fold all corners except one to the center. Pinch them together so they don’t come apart when they bake.

Press a little pastry circle on each letter. Brush your egg wash on top (this will make the pastry nice a glossy when it bakes). Sprinkle sugar on top of the egg-washed pastry.

Bake the letters for 10-12 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Let cool for about 20 minutes. Then add red writing gel to each seal.

These pastries can be made in advance to save time. Just make sure to store them in an air-tight container. Before I started the movie, I made sure to plate these letters, so they were easy to grab and serve.

Two mistakes I made so you don’t:

1. The green writing frosting I used from the grocery store was very runny, so when I wrote on the cake, it started blending together and dripping. If you buy the writing frosting like I did, I recommend testing the consistency before touching the cake. If it’s too runny, add powdered sugar to thicken it up. Also, make sure to massage the bag because it could be an issue with the ingredients clumping inside.
2. I got cocky and tried to save time by freehanding the writing. That didn’t turn out very well. I made it work, but I wish I had used a toothpick to trace out the writing beforehand.

You can make any flavored cake you want because the most important thing about this dish is the decoration. The flavors I chose were chocolate cake with a rum raisin buttercream. IDK… Hagrid just screams rum raisin to me.

Chocolate Cake Recipe

Rum Raisin Buttercream Filling Recipe – (You can also soak your raisins in rum for an extra zing LOL!)

Pink Butter Cream Frosting Recipe

When decorating the cake, make sure to add that curvy line using a toothpick or knife. To save time on the day of the movie night, I baked the cake the day before, wrapped it in plastic wrap, and stored the in the freezer. Freezing cake keeps it fresh and makes it easier to decorate because the cake won’t crumble when you’re spreading the buttercream.

I also suggest poking holes in the cake with a toothpick and drizzling simple syrup on the cake before freezing. This is an optional step, but it’s a pro tip bakers use to make their cakes extra moist. Trust me… it makes a huge difference!

I decorated the cake the morning of movie night and let it sit out on my counter to thaw for the rest of the day. By movie time, it was moist and ready to serve!

The Trolley Scene!

For this scene, I wanted to replicate the boy’s mess as they tear through all the candy packages. I scattered the candy wrappers on the tray and added gummy worms and chocolate frogs that I made from a silicone chocolate frog mold. I also saw these orange wrapped candies on a stick, so I used Ferrero Rochers and wrapped them in orange foil. You also can’t forget Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. They mean EVERY FLAVOUR! To complete the assortment of candy, I also added gummy worms, nerd clusters, and Ferrero Rochers to a mason jar. You can pick whichever candies are your favorite to add to this. The important thing is quantity and variety.

Cute Touches: These are optional, but I wanted to add some cute touches to this trolley candy tray that reference this scene from the movie. One thing I did was have a stuffed rat as Scabbers with his head stuck in a Bertie Bott’s box. The second thing I did was tape an empty picture frame with a plastic cover to the tray to look like the train window. I then used some of the pink buttercream frosting from Hagrid’s cake to stick a chocolate frog to that picture frame to make it look like the frog that jumped out of the train window. Rotten Luck!

How to Make Chocolate Frogs– You will need 2 cups of chocolate chips and 2 tbsp of coconut oil. (Save half of the melted chocolate to make the sprinkle-covered cones from the Halloween feast). Add these ingredients to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well and microwave for another 15 seconds. Stir well again and keep microwaving in 15-second increments, stirring in between. It’s important not to expose chocolate to too much heat because it has a high sugar content and will burn easily.

Once your chocolate is melted, fill the silicone frog mold with the chocolate. Wiggle the mold a bit to make sure the chocolate is evenly distributed. Place the filled mold in the refrigerator for about 30-40 minutes. When the chocolate is completely hardened, gently pop the frogs out of the mold. I prepped these the day before movie night to save time the day of.

I wanted to go all out with this scene because Hogwarts’ feasts always look incredible! I chose to feature two proteins I saw on the table: A rack of lamb and chicken wings. I also served sides including dinner rolls (store bought), peas, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob.

Lamb Recipe

One thing I did to make the lamb extra tender is brine it overnight. To brine the lamb, you just need to keep it submerged in cold salt water. It’s an easy step and well worth it! I also tied the lamb up after cooking it and stood it up in the mashed potatoes. I used cooking twine to tight it up. It was standing up like this in the movie which is why I chose to serve it like this.

Cajun Wings Recipe

Mashed Potatoes: To make the mashed potatoes, keep it simple to save time. Boil your potatoes, I used Russet Potatoes, and when they are tender, drain the water. Using a potato masher, mash your potatoes. Then, add a few tbsp of butter and heavy cream and mix the potatoes until the butter is melted. Add salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and rosemary powder, and keep tasting and adjusting your seasonings to match your preference.

Peas and Corn on the Cob:

I used the same seasonings for both vegetables. I kept it simple by using salt, black pepper, dried parsley, and garlic powder. I got the small corn on the cob from the frozen vegetable section in the grocery store, as well as the peas.

Start by boiling water in a medium-sized pot. Once it’s boiling, add your frozen corn on the cob. Make sure they are fully submerged in the water. Add more water if necessary. Bring to a boil again and let them boil for 5 minutes.

Drain the water, and while the corn is still hot, add some butter and your seasonings (to your taste). Toss the corn so it is evenly coated with butter and seasonings. Remove the finished corn and in the same pot, add your frozen bagged peas. Heat on the stove top at medium heat. Add more butter and seasonings to your taste and stir occasionally. Peas wrinkle when they are overheated, so make sure to only cook them for about five minutes. You can try one pea to test it when you think they are done.

Serving Tips: This scene has a lot of food, so to save time, I recommend having everything plated before you start the movie. You can keep them stored in your refrigerator with plastic wrap covering the top. Microwave to reheat before serving. I microwaved multiple things at once to save time, too.

In this scene, Seamus is trying to turn water into rum, so I made this drink rum-based. They also drink a lot of pumpkin juice in Harry Potter, so I made that a featured flavor too. The cup Seamus had was a silver mug, so I used my Renaissance mug to match. If you don’t have something similar, a small punch bowl will work too!

This recipe is for a large punch bowl, so I quartered all the ingredients to make a smaller batch. I also recommend premixing this drink so it’s quick to serve. I pre-mixed mine the day before movie night and stored it in the refrigerator. Then, when it was time to serve, I just added ice to my mug and poured my premixed drink. It took me only a minute. 😊

Spiced Pumpkin Rum Punch

Another incredible Hogwarts feast! I dreamed about this feast as a kid! I wanted to serve things that had a warm tone to them to signify the time of year, Fall. I also wanted to fill the tray with fall themed treats that would most likely be found on the table at Hogwarts.

Here’s what I served:

• Orange foil wrapped Ferrero Rochers (reused from the trolley scene)

• Pumpkin Mellowcremes (in this pumpkin dish)

• Chocolate-dipped mini cones with sprinkles (see below for how to make)

• Red Apples

• Mini Apple Pies (See below for recipe)

• Apple Fritters (See below for recipe)

If you would like to save time, you could buy fall-baked goods and decorate the tray with those, too.

Chocolate Dipped Mini Cones with Sprinkles–

There were cone-shaped candies covered in sprinkles in this scene, so I wanted to make something similar to match. I purchased the mini cones from Trader Joe’s. They are also filled with chocolate and are so yummy! If you don’t have access to a Trader Joe’s you can also use ice cream cones cut in half to make them shorter.

You will need 2 cups of chocolate chips and 2 tbsp of coconut oil. (Save half of the melted chocolate to make the chocolate frogs from “Rags to Riches”). Add these ingredients to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well and microwave for another 15 seconds. Stir well again and keep microwaving in 15-second increments, stirring in between. It’s important not to expose chocolate to too much heat because it has a high sugar content and will burn easily.

Once the chocolate is melted, dip your mini cones in the chocolate and then roll them around in a bowl full of the sprinkles. Lay out the sprinkled cones on a parchment-lined baking sheet. When they are all dipped, store the baking sheet in the refrigerator so the chocolate can harden. It’ll take about 30 minutes.

Mini Apple Pie Recipe

This recipe folded the pies in half, but I chose to make them circular.

Apple Fritter Recipe

All of the elements on this tray can be made one to two days in advance, so you can save time on prep the day of movie night. Just make sure you store everything in an airtight container. I had this tray set up before I started the movie, so it was easy to grab. I have multiple trays, but if you are limited on trays, you may have to reuse one from a different scene. Be cautious of this and give yourself extra time if you need to reset your tray.

To decorate this drink, I used the handmade snitch wings I made for the Ferrero Rocher chocolates. I attached the wings using these mini clothespins. If you want a more accurate wing, you can also use these golden snitch wings from Amazon. I also wanted to make the cocktail sparkle like the snitch, so I sprinkled a pinch of this edible glitter in the cocktail.

I recommend premixing the cocktail the day before, minus the sparkling water. I also recommend you have the garnish already attached to the glasses before you start the movie so it’s quick to serve.

The Golden Snitch Recipe

“He’s going to sacrifice himself!”

I wanted to feature Wizard’s Chess in this movie night, so I created a charcuterie chessboard with square crackers, fig jam (to represent the black spaces), two different types of goat cheese (herb goat cheese to represent the black chess pieces and honey goat cheese to represent the white pieces), and sword food picks too represent the brutality of Wizard’s Chess.

I set this up right before starting the movie and stored it in the refrigerator. Crackers can get soggy if stored in the refrigerator with jam and cheese. I used whole-grain Triscuit crackers, so they held up okay because they’re more sturdy.

Voldemort Voldies’mores LMAO!

I envisioned s’mores as the perfect way to end this Harry Potter movie night. Fire is a huge element in this climactic scene. Also, the crumbling effect of Harry placing his hands on Voldemort reminds me of a burnt marshmallow. HAHA!

My grocery store had large, flat marshmallows specifically for s’mores, so I used those, but regular ones will work too. I also used cookies and cream Hershey’s chocolate instead of the traditional milk chocolate. Either would work. I just felt the cookies and cream also reminded me of Voldemort crumbling. And of course you need graham crackers to complete the Voldies’mores!

I set these up earlier in the day when preparing for the movie night. You can choose to bake these in the oven at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes before serving. You can also make it interactive, like I did, and toast the marshmallows while watching the scene using a kitchen torch. Here is the butane I used, if this is something you want to do.