The Unofficial Harry Potter Sweet Shoppe Kit by Dinah Bucholz
Review by Keith Hawk
“There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-colored toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolates in neat rows; there was a large barrel of Every Flavor Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizbees, the levitating sherbert balls that Ron had mentioned; along yet another wall were “Special Effects” – sweets: Droobles Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-colored bubbles that refused to pop for days), the strange, splintery Toothflossing Stringmints, tiny black Pepper Imps (“breathe fire for your friends!”), Ice Mice (“hear your teeth chatter and squeak!”), peppermint creams shaped like toads (“hop realistically in your stomach!”), fragile sugar-spun quills, and exploding bonbons.”
– Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 10
The description of Honeydukes Sweet Shoppe by J.K. Rowling in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ensnares all of the senses and the reader begins to salivate as the imagination runs wild with visions of overflowing chocolate, bright colors from both the sweet and sour candies, and the desire to just fall through the pages and be a part of that world is overwhelming.
Not long ago, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida brought that vision to a reality and one can visit the shop they dreamed about and purchase the most delicious offerings found in the world of Harry Potter. But for many, visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is difficult, if not impossible. Why should fans miss out on some of the most wonderful smells and tastes presented in the Wizarding World? Now, you can enjoy those same smells and tastes of Honeydukes sweets right from your own home.
Dinah Bucholz, the New York Times best-selling author of The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook has just made it possible for fans of the Potter series to enjoy the delicious tastes of the sweets found in Honeydukes right from the confines of your own kitchen.
The Unofficial Harry Potter Sweet Shoppe kit comes in a beautifully designed box and includes a chocolate candy mold, lollipop sticks in the shape of broom handles, glassine bags and ties, and the complete recipe book for all of the sweets directly from the original cookbook. Four (4) additional recipes are included: Butterscotch Brew (Butterbeer), Crunchy Roaches (Cockroach Clusters), Chocolate Love Potions (Chocolate Cauldrons), and Chocolate Witchcraft (chocolate molded candies in the shape of owls, brooms, frogs, and lacewing flies).
Personally, I have never made any type of candy product prior to receiving this kit. So with the help of my 13 and 11-year old girls, we took the plunge and made the Chocolate Witchcraft candies using milk chocolate. The first set of instructions was to temper the chocolate, which we found very easy to do by following the detailed instructions in the recipe book. We then poured the chocolate into the candy molds, added the broomstick handle lollipop sticks, and in just a few hours we had successfully made some of the best chocolate candies we ever had. If I can do this with my daughters, I know every other Potter fan can do this as well.
The Unofficial Harry Potter Sweet Shoppe is available today by ordering through Amazon right here. So don’t delay, get your Sweet Shoppe kit now, and begin enjoying the smells and tastes of Honeydukes candied confections today.
