Celebrate the wizarding world heroes with MuggleNet’s latest contest

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July is a month full of big birthdays – and not only within the “fictional” Potter universe! Our fearless, and genius, leader J.K. Rowling also celebrates her birthday this month… coincidentally, the same day as Harry! Neville, the “could have been” hero of the Harry Potter series, celebrates his birthday on July 30, just one day before Harry! What “batter” way to celebrate the wizarding world heroes than to team up with Dinah Bucholz, the author of The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, and bring you our “sweetest” contest to date…

“‘Anyway, Harry,’ said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, ‘a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here. I mighta sat on it at some point, but it’ll taste all right.’ From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with ‘Happy Birthday Harry’ written on it in green icing.” – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

… that’s right! We want to see your birthday cake creations! Whether you have the skill level of Hagrid or can create something worthy of sitting in the window of Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop, we want to see it! There are few rules though, so read on to find out how you can enter.

Official Rules:

1) Contest is open worldwide to ages 9 and up.
2) There are three age groups, abd each will have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners, as well as honorable mentions: 9-12, 13-16, and 17+.
3) Competition is open to amateur cake decorators only.
4) The contest will be judged using a 1-10 rating system within three categories: Theme, Skill, and Creativity (see below for full explanation).
5) All entries must have a photo of the decorator WITH the cake, a photo of the cake itself, a photo of the cake sliced open, and as a recipe.
6) Entries must be received by July 24. Winners will be announced shortly afterward and will be available for viewing in our galleries.
7) Submissions, along with your name and address, can be sent to mncakecontest2012 at gmail dot com – be sure to include your age group in the subject line.

Judging Categories

1) Theme: Decorate a birthday cake to celebrate one of the wizarding world heroes: J.K. Rowling, Neville Longbottom, or Harry Potter himself.
2) Skill: What type of frosting did you make? Did you make a gum paste Snitch? Maybe a blown sugar Time-Turner? Using a variety of techniques earns you high marks in this category.
3) Creativity: We have seen a million cakes with Harry’s glasses on them… so tap into your creative side (radish earrings, anyone?) and do something unexpected!

Prizes

– (5) Signed copies of The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz
– (1) Set of cake decorating tools

If you made it through this whole post, you must be interested! So what are you waiting for?! Get decorating! Good luck!

Kat Miller

I am a 40-something Ravenclaw/Slytherin from Massachusetts. I've been lucky in life and can attribute a lot of that to Harry Potter. Without it, I wouldn't have at least 80% of the things I do today, including my career & closest friends. I truly despise Sirius Black.