The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook – Dinah Bucholz

★★★★★

Honestly, one of my favorite books ever.

Dinah Bucholz, a huge Harry Potter fan and food lover, has always been interested in what the characters are eating.

So much of Hogwarts’s magic revolves around food – from the Great Hall tables to home-cooked recipes a la Mrs. Weasley’s wandwork.

And yet, where does one go if they want to try Hagrid’s rock cakes or Mrs. Weasley’s muffins? What the heck is treacle?? The answer has finally come. 

Bucholz went through the entire series and found all of the food references by Harry and the gang, then found traditional recipes according to the time era and the country of origin – and packaged it all in this wondrous little book.

Each recipe is accompanied with a little quote, page number and blurbabout where the item originated. The recipes are well laid out and easy to follow, with helpful hints for the more difficult ones!

In short – I freaking love it.

Since reading this book, I’ve kindled a huge passion for cooking and baking . I’ve found excuses to try recipes out on anyone and everyone I know.

So many recipes within Harry Potter are normal, everyday items in England and, like Bulchoz, always wondered what does the food taste like?

Is spotted dick gross? It’s not!

Does Hagrid’s Rock Cakes actually contain rocks? They don’t!

And what in the world is black pudding? It’s better not to know…

I’ve paged through this book so many times that I’ve memorized the recipe locations. Here are some easy, personal favorites:

Breakfasts 
Hagrid’s rock cakes (finally figured out scones. So many toppings and varieties at my fingertips)
Breakfast Before Class: herbed and spiced sausage patties
Treats from the Train’s cauldron cakes
Mrs Weasley’s oversized blueberry muffins (below)

Meals 
Aunt Petunia’s pork tenderloin (either the regular or the bourbon glaze)
Molly Weasley’s onion meatballs with onion sauce
All of the savory pies (except for the kidney and pork ones, haven’t made those yet)

Desserts 
Molly Weasley’s apple pie (quote from co-worker: “Miranda, you make some bomb-a** pie”)
Hagrid’s sugar biscuits (great for cut out cookies)
Molly Weasley’s Vol-a-vents (huge hit for mother’s day breakfast)

Interested in this one from Dinah Bucholz? Buy it here:  Amazon