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While working on PotterParties.com, I saw Lexicon_Bel~'s version of Cauldron Cakes, which sounded yummy, especially since my clever idea of cotton candy smoke ended up failing last summer (the cakes are so moist that the cotton candy melts as soon as it comes in contact with the cauldron - doh!). My full-size cupcake Cauldron Cakes were not eaten as much at previous parties, probably because they were that large. Since it's already looking like 75 people are coming, maybe more (ack!) I'm trying to stretch my food as far as possible! I found mini-Reeses peanut butter cups and used my mini-muffin pans last night with a Betty Crocker devils food cake mix, so these are bite-sized, which also means one cake mix gives you around 11 dozen adorably cute Cauldron Cakes...hooray!

By filling the muffin cups about half-full, then gently setting the peanut butter cup in the center, the cake batter rises around the edge of the candy and over the top edge of the muffin cup, making a cute little rolled edge to the cauldron. The chocolate of the peanut butter cup nicely bubbles on the top, too. I think these came out so cute! :)


New Mini Cauldron Cake - side view


Bel's original recipe calls for marshmallows, which I knew would bubble perfectly, but they contain gelatin and I have some hardline vegetarians coming, so I wanted to use something else. A blob of cream cheese was yummy, and one drop of green food coloring made a nice swirled potion effect, but the blob was too irregular, so it just looked like a cream cheese brownie. The caramel Hershey's kisses upside-down just made a caramel volcano that glued too well to the bottom of the pan, albeit tasty, and the white/milk kisses right side up to have the white show were just engulfed by the cake batter. The mini peanut butter cups were the perfect size, but if they were pressed down into the batter too far, there was risk of the chocolate gluing to the bottom of the pan, making it a mess to get out of the pan! Two bags of mini-Reeses only lasted for 7 dozen, so the last 2 dozen were the white/milk Hershey's kisses turned upside down for the milk chocolate to show and bubble. The cauldron edge is larger, so not as cute, but if people get really hungry to plow through all 7 dozen, I don't think they'll be complaining... ;)


View of the bubbling chocolate potion on top


Cauldron Cake Cross-Section


A Cornucopia of Cauldron Cakes! ;)


These are now safely in my freezer with the 9 dozen Pumpkin Pasties, to be thawed two weeks from tonight, the night before the party...I can't believe it's so close!