#fcawtft extras

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As a (belated) birthday gift for the ever-amazing @o0o-chibaken-o0o, here are some Ron Weasley cupcakes inspired by (probably) the first time that she and I ever actually talked! Chibi, keep breaking all the rules and generally being fucking awesome!

I make a lot of cupcakes, and I've definitely done lots of cupcakes that lean savory but I was really worried that I was going to fuck these up for some reason? But these were super easy to make (probably because there's no icing) and packed with lots of fun flavors which is honestly so Ron - unconcerned with looking fashionable but full of the best kind of goodness on the inside. Also stuffed with just... lots of food.

These are a tomato-based muffin and they have carrots (because @h-holy was also totally right that these needed carrots), green onions (because I definitely thought chives were the same as green onions, and they are definitely a different thing... but they are often used interchangeably ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), goat cheese, more tomato and pancetta (which is just fancy bacon mostly). I used King Arthur Flour's basic muffin recipe as a sort of starting point.

I was worried that these flavors might not all work together, and even more concerned that I would hate them because I hate tomatoes, but they were actually delicious - not tomato-y enough to be off-putting to someone like me, only very subtly sweet, a good balance of flavor and the pancetta adds the perfect amount of salt (which is why there is no other salt in the recipe).

Ron Weasley muffins (or What Happens When You Raid the Hogwarts Kitchens Muffins) (makes ~12 muffins)

280 g flour 2 1/2 tsp powder 1/2 tsp soda pinch black pepper 42g (3 tbsp) butter 38 g (3 tbsp) sugar 1 fl oz (2 tbsp) olive oil 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste 2 eggs 6 fl oz milk 2 fl oz sour cream 70 g shredded carrot 60 g chopped cherry tomatoes 20 g (2 tbsp) chopped green onion 1 tbsp chopped and sautéed green onion 50 g goat cheese 20 g crispy pancetta

Preheat oven to 400.

Prepare all the ingredients you'll mix in first.

Cook the pancetta so it's nice and crispy - I bought thinly sliced pancetta because it's all I could find, but I'm sure you could also buy a thicker piece and cube it. I saved some of pancetta pieces to put a larger slice on top of the muffin while it baked, and rough chopped the remaining pieces.

Grate your carrot. I bought smaller organic carrots because I wanted carrots with the stems (for the aesthetic), but 70 g is probs the equivalent of one large carrot?

Chop your tomatoes; I used cherry tomatoes that were pretty fall colors (also because HGD likes cherry tomatoes), but I imagine you could probably use any kind of tomato you like... just remember you’re still a monster because tomatoes are gross. I also thinly sliced some of them to place on top of muffins while they baked.

Slice your green onions - I did 20 g of the green part of the onion, and then chopped some of the white end and sauted it in the pancetta fat until browned and semi-translucent.

Whisk together the flour, powder, soda and pepper.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Once combined, add the olive oil and tomato paste, beating until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined. Add the milk.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until nearly combined.

Fold in carrots, tomatoes, green onions, goat cheese, pancetta and sour cream. Mix until just combined.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out covered with only a few crumbs.

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Harry Potter cupcakes inspired by the truly incomparable @dictacontrion - these are gingerbread-ish cupcakes, filled with pumpkin pastry cream and topped with salted caramel cream cheese frosting.

Dicta had originally suggested a pumpkin cake and I played around with that idea for ages and couldn't seem to make it work in my head - I wanted to include pumpkin but it didn't feel like it should be the most stand out flavor (because I think pumpkin is kinda boring, and basic, I guess? And that's not Harry to me) - and Dicta had also mentioned ginger and I really liked how that sounded, then I thought... well, I'll put the pumpkin in the pastry cream! And then this happened!

Recipe below the cut, and as always, if you just like the photo, it's totally fine with me if you remove the caption.

Oh, and one more thing. You have to know that I'm not super into decorating the stuff I make - I'll pipe some frosting, maybe add a little something or another, but I don't usually do crazy colors or way beautiful fondant decorations or whatever. But Harry Potter is special, so I felt like I needed to try to do something... and this happened:

I made a spun sugar snitch!

It sort of... uh... started to fall apart when I tried to take photos with it (I have some shit photos right after I made it, where the wings are bigger/look a little better), and I know it's not perfect, but it was fun to make! And I got to eat it afterwards... and there's a certain other someone I can think of that definitely ate a snitch once, too...

Pumpkin pastry cream (makes about a 1 1/2 cups) - this stuff is seriously delicious and tastes just like pumpkin pie.

135 g/4 oz pumpkin puree 20 g light brown sugar 8 fl oz whole milk 80 g light brown sugar 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp clove pinch of salt 3 egg yolks 14 g cornstarch 1 1/2 tsp flour 2 fl oz heavy whipping cream 2 tbsp/28 g butter 1 tsp vanilla

1. Combine the pumpkin puree and light brown sugar in a small saucepan. Cook until bubbling, stirring often. Cook for an additional 5 minutes after the mixture begins to boil. Allow to cool. ** This step is supposed to reduce some the extra moisture in the pumpkin puree, but, honestly, you could probably skip it. 2. In a medium saucepan, combine the whole milk, light brown sugar, cinnamon, clove and salt. Bring to a bare simmer. 3. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, cornstarch, flour and heavy whipping cream together. Whisk in the cooled pumpkin puree. 4. Slowly temper the milk mixture into the pumpkin/egg mixture. Once combined, strain through a sieve back into the medium saucepan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. The mixture will thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon. 5. Strain again through a sieve into a clean bowl. Stir in the butter and vanilla until completely combined.

Gingerbread(ish) cupcakes (makes 12) - I wanted these to be super ginger-y and not very heavy on the molasses taste, so I used fresh ginger and a mild molasses.

190 g flour 1 tsp powder 1/2 tsp soda 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp clove 1/4 tsp nutmeg pinch of black pepper pinch of salt 113 g butter 1 fl oz mild molasses 100 g light brown sugar 40 g fresh grated ginger 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 4 fl oz milk 2 fl oz sour cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350. 2. Cream the butter, molasses and light brown sugar together until well combined/light in color and fluffy. Beat in the egg, ginger and vanilla until well combined. 3. Sift together the flour, powder, soda, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, black pepper and salt. 4. Add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, then add the milk. Beat until just combined. Add in the second half of the flour mixture and beat until just combined. 5. Fold in the sour cream until just combined. 6. Fill cupcakes tins 3/4th of the way full and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with only a few crumbs.

Salted Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting (makes enough for 12 cupcakes) - cream cheese frosting… my one true weakness!

226 g cream cheese, just out of the refrigerator 113 g butter, room temperature 454 g powdered sugar 2 hefty pinches of kosher! salt 5 fl oz caramel sauce, or to taste

(I made my caramel sauce using the Food Lab/Serious Eats recipe here… you would only need half of this recipe but I made the whole thing to use some of the caramel sauce for cupcake decorating and the rest to put on other delicious things.) 1. Cream the butter and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy. 2. Beat in the (cooled) caramel sauce and salt. 3. Beat in the cream cheese, mixing until well combined. (This method will make a really easily pipable cream cheese frosting - sugar is hydrophilic and will look for water to bind to, which it will find in the cream cheese and that tends to make cream cheese frostings running or difficult to pipe. But beating the butter and sugar together first allows the fats in the butter to get all up in the sugar molecule’s business, which prevents it from binding to the water in the cream cheese. Science!)

Spun sugar decorations

1) Watch this YouTube video 2) Save yourself the headache if you hate cooking sugar (like me) and always end up knocking crystals back into your cooked sugar causing it to crystalize (grrr… science) and just add some corn syrup to your cooked sugar (yay, science!). I, of course, only did this after I fucked up 3 other batches of caramel because, you know… I’m very stubborn (and dumb). 3) This will make a very big mess. There will be sugar everywhere. Seriously. (But it is lots of fun!)

And here's a bonus picture of the snitch I took when I was playing with the lighting that I really liked:

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Pansy Parkinson cupcakes inspired by @femmequixotic​: (very) dark chocolate-clove cake, filled with pomegranate curd, topped with pomegranate frosting, dark chocolate ganache and pomegranate seeds. Recipe below the cut. Also, because I used my brain before posting this time, if anyone wants to just remove the caption and use the pictures as an aesthetic look for whatever, that’s totally fine with me.

Dark chocolate-clove cake (makes ~12 cupcakes): I used half 60% cocoa and 100% cocoa (which definitely tastes like dirt on its own, do not recommend) to give these a really deep chocolate taste.

140 g flour 40 g dark cocoa 3/4 tsp powder 1/2 tsp soda 1/2 tsp fresh ground cloves pinch of salt 1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter 1 oz. 100% cocoa chocolate bar 1 oz. 60% cocoa chocoalte bar (or any percentage dark chocolate) 2 eggs 150 g sugar 1 tsp vanilla 2 fl. oz. milk 4 fl. oz. sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine the flour, cocoa, powder, soda and salt in a bowl. 2. Rough chop chocolate, combine with butter and stir over a bain marie until smoothly melted together (or, if you're lazy (like me), put it all in the microwave and melt it in 10 second bursts). Allow to cool to room temperature. 3. Beat eggs and sugar together until well combined. Add the room temperature chocolate/butter mixture. 4. Combine the milk and vanilla. Add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until almost combined. Add the milk/vanilla. Add the remaining flour mixture, beating until just combined. 5. Fold in the sour cream. 6. Divide into cupcake tins and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with only a few crumbs.

Pomegranate curd: I used this recipe, so I'm just going to link to their page!

Pomegranate frosting (makes enough to frost 12 cupcakes): pretty much the only kind of frosting that I even half-enjoy is swiss merginue buttercream, which is (get this) meringue-based. I won't lie to you, though, this is really easy to make in a stand mixer but kind of a massive pain to make without one.

4 egg whites 200 g sugar 1 cup (227 g) slightly below room temperature butter, cut into tbsp 1 tsp cream of tartar 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses 3 tbsp pomegranate juice

1. Combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a bain marie (or, if you’re like me and don’t have a bain marie, fill a sauce pan with water, bring the water to a simmer and place your bowl on top of it). Whisk constantly until mixture is above 160. 2. Remove from bain marie and whisk until stiff peaks are formed. 3. Remove whisk attachment and switch to beater attachment. On a slow speed setting, add 1 tbsp of butter at a time until all the butter has been incorporated. Slowly increase the speed until you're at the highest speed setting. The meringue/butter mixture will look like it's curdling, but it will come back together shortly afterwards to a smooth, silky frosting. 4. Add 1 tbsp of pomegranate molasses, beating to combine completely. Add the pomegranate juice, one tbsp at a time, until completely incorporated.

Dark chocolate ganache (makes ~1/2 a cup): I only used a little bit for the tops of the cupcakes.

1 oz. 100% cocoa chocolate bar 2 oz. 60% cocoa chocolate bar 1/3 cup (2 1/3 fl oz.) heavy whipping cream

A warning here: I had to make this three times because the ganache ended up separated or broken each time - I thought it was because I was using some heavy whipping cream that was about to expire, but it could have been because of the fat content of the 100% cocoa, I still don't know and haven't done enough research to know for sure yet... I used the solution mentioned here to bring it back together on the third attempt. Nothing like fucking up ganache 3 times in a row to really ground you, tho. 1. Finely chop the chocolate bars and place them into a bowl. 2. Heat heavy whipping cream to simmering, but not boiling. 3. Pour the heavy whipping cream over the chocolate AND LET IT SIT FOR FIVE MINUTES without touching it. 4. Starting in the center of the bowl, using a spatula or a whisk, stir the chocolate and heavy whipping cream together until completely combined, smooth and glossy.

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Here is a picture of the snitch right after I made it. Its wings sort of melted/fell apart when I took the pictures in the other post.

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Okay, so first attempt complete!

Here’s some Draco Malfoy-inspired cupcakes (credit goes to @bixgirl1 for the bomb af flavor profile idea): champagne-chiffon cupcakes filled with strawberry pastry cream topped with champagne-rose meringue!

Forgive the terrible quality of the photos, please… I’m still looking for my camera, and when I find it, I will post something better. :’(

I’m taking them to some frands, so I will report back on if they taste like Draco (… or at least if they taste good, because I’m pretty sure there’s only one person that actually knows what Draco *tastes* like, if you know what I mean).

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Your baking tag is incredible. Please bake things so that you may fill it. Drarry cupcakes. This is a formal request for drarry cupcakes, if at all possible in your lifetime.

omg thank you, this was like… so sweet?!!! I’m certainly working on trying to fill it up with wonderful things!And yes! Drarry cupcakes! There’s definitely the beginning of a plan in place for Drarry cupcakes… like lemony, cinnamon bun-y sort of ideas? (BUT YO IF YOU HAVE MORE IDEAS LIKE LET A GIRL KNOW!) but there’s also, I think, a real life version of the cake mentioned in @o0o-chibaken-o0o‘s (amazing) Cake in the works too!But Hermione is up next! Now if only I could find a way to make the essence of books edible…

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Blaise Zabini cupcakes (inspired by bathtub-gin and the absolutely amazing @o0o-chibaken-o0o: cinnamon-chocolate cake, filled with horchata pastry cream, topped with cinnamon whiskey ganache (sprinkled with some broze edible glitter because why not)!

No aesthetic-y sort of combination for this one... I snapped this picture and just really liked it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ( but if you want the photo for some reason, it’s totally fine to remove the caption).

These are rich, and decadent and pretty (I hope) and they sneak up on you... a lot like Blaise. The ganache has a bite that you don't notice until it's too late. Let these be your encouragement to do all the things you know you shouldn't do, but you want to do them anyway.

Cinnamon-chocolate cake (makes ~12 cupcakes): I... uh... am bad at planning? and so did not have regular cocoa, so I made them with dark cocoa, but I'll leave it as regular cocoa here.

140 g flour 40 g dutch-process cocoa (or dark cocoa, if you're drunk) 1/2 tsp powder 3/4 tsp soda 1 1/2 tbsp (fresh ground) cinnamon pinch of salt 1/2 cup (115 g) unsalted butter 1 tsp vanilla 150 g sugar 2 eggs 2 fl oz whole milk 2 fl oz cinnamon whiskey 2 fl oz sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine the flour, cocoa, powder, soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. 2. Cream sugar and butter together until light and fluffly. Beat in vanilla. 3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. 4. Add half the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing until almost combined. Beat in the cinnamon whiskey, until just combined. Add the remaining flour mixture. Beat in the milk, until just combined. 5. Fold in the sour cream. 6. Divide into cupcake tins and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with only a few crumbs.

Horchata pastry cream (makes ~1 cup): again, this is a variation of King Arthur Flour's pastry cream, but I'm going to type it out this time. Also, please do not tell the baking gods, but I cheated and I used store-bought horchata... I will do better next time. :'(

12 fl oz whole milk 50 g sugar 2 tsp (fresh ground) cinnamon pinch of salt 18 g corn starch 1 1/2 tsp flour 2 egg yolks 2 tbsp butter

1. In a medium saucepan, combine 8 fl oz milk, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Bring to a simmer. 2. In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the remaining milk, corn starch, flour, and egg yolks. 3. Slowly temper the hot milk mixture into the eggs mixture, whisking constantly. 4. Through a sieve, return the mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil, allowing the mixture to thicken enough to cover the back of a wooden spoon. 5. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl (I recommend straining through a sieve in case there are any accidental cooked egg pieces). Stir in the butter until completely combined.

Cinnamon whiskey ganache (makes a little over 1 cup): Good news! My ganache powers have returned! Also this is a kick in the ass... so... consume wisely.

16 oz finely chopped chocolate (I went with 60% cocoa, but you do you) 8 fl oz heavy whipping cream 3-5 tbsp cinnamon whiskey

1. Finely chop chocolate then add to a bowl. 2. Heat heavy whipping cream to simmering, but not boiling. 3. Pour the heavy whipping cream over the chocolate AND LET IT SIT FOR FIVE MINUTES without touching it. 4. Starting in the center of the bowl, using a spatula or a whisk, stir the chocolate and heavy whipping cream together until completely combined, smooth and glossy. 5. Let ganache cool (on the counter, don't put it in the refrigerator!), stirring occasionally, until it has the consistently of peanut butter/has thickened. 6. Mix in whiskey on a slow speed. Once combined, mix on high until ganache is fluffy and has lightened in color. (7. If the ganache becomes too soft, put it in the refigerator for a few minutes, then take it back out to whip it again).

Also here's a bonus picture of what this cupcake looks like after you eat too many):

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In an effort to not be hella disorganized, I made a spreadsheet of all the cake responses I’ve gotten (because I’m a nerd, and that’s okay), but I’m also going to summarize them here in case there’s anything I missed (which if there is something I missed, omg please let me know - it’s not because I’m ignoring you, it’s just because I’m a dumbass and don’t know how to use the internet!). I think I’m going to aim for making 1 or 2 a week. Because I already did Draco, I’m going to do Blaise and Pansy next (because they’re my silver trio, and they’re all awesome and I love them). Then Harry, Hermione and Ron, followed by Ginny, Neville and Luna. And then I’ll round it all out with @synonym-for-life’s BOMB af Dumbledore cake (because I’ve gotta find whales that I can use somewhere). (Also I’m super fearful of tagging everyone and being a huge annoyance, so I’m just linking for now, but if you want to be tagged just let me know!)

Pansy Parkinson

femmequixotic suggested dark chocolate and pomegranate!

Blaise Zabini

@o0o-chibaken-o0o and I had a lovely conversation about chocolate, cinnamon, cayenne, bourbon, coffee, fireball and horchata!

Harry Potter

dictacontrion suggested pumpkin, salted caramel, ginger, cinnamon, toffee/treacle!

Hermione Granger

belleslettres suggested dark chocolate and whiskey or beer! and h-holy suggested tea, chocolate and almonds!

(My King) Ron Weasley

h-holy suggested carrot cake! and @o0o-chibaken-o0o suggested a muffin! and I'm so grateful she did! cheese, bacon, chives, tomatoes... literally everything

Ginny Weasley

liilyflower suggested orange and caramel!

Luna Lovegood (a popular lady)

noeon suggested orange blossom, and honey! h-holy suggested vanilla, blueberry, cranberry, walnuts, herby flavors! liilyflower suggested golden toffee! and @o0o-chibaken-o0o and I talked about elderflower and lavender!

Neville Longbottom

liilyflower suggested pistachio! and @o0o-chibaken-o0o and I talked about earthy/floral flavors, elderflower, lavender and rosemary!

Albus Dumbledore

@synonym-for-life suggested THIS AMAZING SOUNDING WHALEING/WAILING, MULTICOLORED DREAM (and dark chocolate and raspberry)!

I also have suggestions for Fleur, Krum and Cedric, but I want to get through these guys first... plus I want to see if there's a way to make lavender croissants. And I'm also keeping track of all your alternate Draco flavor profiles! AND LISTEN, THANK YOU, ALL OF YOU (especially you, bixgirl1), for playing along with me and not being like "mmk, weirdo, get outta my askbox." You have all been so amazing and creative and sweet and I'm going to make the first teleporation breakthrough in history trying to find a way to share these with you irl. (And for any of my followers that are like "wtf is going on? cake?" I KNOW AND I'M SORRY and it's gonna go back to more normal soon. I know you're like "girl, you just finished spamming me with mermaids and now you're on cake?"... hang in there with me. I loooove you.)