File this under #nailedit.
The 11th birthday is a very Harry Potter one in our house. That was when the story began for the Boy Who Lived. So while my son didn’t want a full-on Harry Potter party for his 11th birthday (we got that more than covered with Camp Mama,) he did want a Harry Potter cake.
A Harry Potter birthday cake is easy enough. Messy is even a plus, assuming you’ve read the books or watched the movies.
For his party he had said “something fun. You decide. Like a sorting hat or something.” You want a sorting hat? I’ll give you a sorting hat, son. Because I love you. I have no idea what I’m doing but with this bathroom remodel now is not the time for restraint just because I don’t know what I’m doing. Cupcake toppers seemed easier than learning how to mold a big cake and work with fondant for the first time.
I used chocolate rice crispy cereal to make treats which I molded into sorting hats. If I were to do it again I’d also use chocolate marshmallows so that there isn’t white to cover later.
Once the hats had cooled I attached brims and dipped the whole thing in chocolate. Since melted chocolate can have a gloss I dusted them with cocoa powder so they would look like the old mottled sorting hat.
At some point during this process I realized that making it up as I went along wasn’t a good plan. Yes, they might look like sorting hats. They might also look like turds. It was midnight the night before the party and I was also hosting a baby shower in the morning before my son’s party. I didn’t have time for a new plan.
11 year old boys think bodily functions are funny so I crossed my fingers and hoped I didn’t ruin his birthday.
I decided faces on the hats would make them look less like feces. Using green decorators sugar, I concluded the face would stand out and look decided NOT like a turd.
So now instead of the cupcake toppers looking perhaps maybe a little like turds, they look like demonic poop emojis. Or maybe they do look like sorting hats. You decide. Regardless, they tasted good and the party-goers enjoyed them. When my youngest turns 11 I’ll try something different. I’ve clearly mastered this. *snort*
