My festive mixed spice biscuits are hand decorated using coloured icing pens. Welcome to my fun and magical way to make easy and delicious biscuits that celebrate the fourth instalment of the Harry Potter franchise!
Contents
The Bake
So far in this series, I’ve conquered cake, meringue and bread. I wanted to change it up again for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so I conjured up this festive recipe for mixed spice biscuits.
Biscuits in the shape of the pieces of paper declaring the champions of the Triwizard Tournament, no less. You know the ones: the varying bits of paper that the Goblet of Fire spits out, each with a name written on.
The very charred bits of paper, I should add. This is important because the shapes of the mixed spice biscuits reflect this. They are scrappy pieces of parchment with charred edges, so I wanted my biscuits to give off a similar vibe… without actually burning the biscuits.
They are edible, I promise.
The biscuit dough is likened to that of my Good Omens sugar cookies as they are similar in texture, though I switched out the sugar for a light brown sugar to provide a deeper, richer taste.
When it came to the flavour, I chose to go with a festive taste.
The reason for this is because the festive season plays an even more prominent part in this film, arguably more so than the others, because of the Yule Ball. So, as a reference to that, I chose to add mixed spice to my biscuit dough.
I know it’s not quite the time of year for it, but the biscuits just feel warm and wholesome when eaten and it’s definitely the season for that! It’s no pumpkin spice, but it is entirely festive and delicious.
You can opt for a standard cinnamon spice rather than the mixed spice if preferred, but the mixed spice gives a really well rounded flavour.
To decorate, I was going to do a royal icing and water mix, as I did for the shortbread elements of my clapperboard cake and my Grogu cake, but I was in the shop and a box of festive icing pens caught my eye. I couldn’t help myself and I knew they’d be great for this mixed spice biscuits recipe.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with using icing pens and the like – they make this sort of bake even easier and far less messy! Ideal if you’re making this with young witches and wizards. If preferred, you can certainly make up a royal icing mix and pipe on the decoration.
If opting for a royal icing mix, I recommend starting with 25g royal icing sugar (normal icing sugar also works) and a tsp of water to mix in with the black food colouring; the same for the blue food colouring, then half of that for the gold food colouring mix.
Remember to use separate piping bags/sandwich bags for each colour.
I also opted for blue fondant to give the blue colour of Fleur’s piece of paper purely because I had some hanging around in the cupboard – and because it’s easy – but I’ve listed the blue in the paragraph above if you’d prefer to do this with a royal icing mix.
The coloured pens I got were black and gold because that is what I assumed the names were written in. The only named piece of paper that we get a glimpse of is Harry’s. All of the others are only seen flying out from the Goblet of Fire and into Dumbledore’s hands.
So, I adopted a little creative freedom with this one. You can certainly choose which colours you want to write the champion’s names in. The other cool thing with this recipe is that you can personalise the biscuits! Write your name and/or the names of your loved ones as if you were all champions of the Triwizard Tournament!
As mentioned earlier, the pieces of paper are either charred or actually on fire as they are spat out of the goblet.
I wanted these spiced biscuits to reflect that so I cut them out in uneven and scrappy shapes, then used some of the black icing/black food colouring to give the edges of some of them that cremated look.
Out of all of them, Cedric’s bit of paper is the most charred, so the biscuits representing his are thinner and scrappier than the rest. Viktor’s and Harry’s are similar in size, just differ mostly in colour. I’m sure you remember Fleur’s pretty blue paper with the gold detailing.
When it came to the handwriting, I adopted more creative freedom and guessed what sort of handwriting each champion was likely to look like. As viewers, we were already exposed to Harry’s handwriting from early on in the franchise, so I imitated that to the best of my ability. For the others, I tried to reflect their personalities in the handwriting.
Top Tips
- Avoid over working the biscuit dough. An over worked dough can lead to a tough biscuit.
- If preferred, you can swap the mixed spice out for 2-3 tsp cinnamon.
- The point of these biscuits is to have fun with the creativity element. The biscuits are so easy to make, so have fun with the decorating!
- If the handwriting part feels like a challenge rather than a fun activity, then you can write them however you like i.e. with an edible pen. The point is to get the names on the appropriate biscuit shapes to represent the individual champions.
This is such a fun and easy recipe to follow, so I hope you enjoy whipping up these deliciously warming mixed spice biscuits. They’re a really great bake to do with young ones, too. Plus, they make a wonderful movie viewing snack. I wonder what could be the film of choice…
Happy baking, happy eating!
The Recipe
Ingredients
Mixed spice biscuits:
- 115g [4 oz] unsalted butter
- 100g [½ cup] light brown sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 180g [1 cup + 2 tbsp] plain [all-purpose] flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tsp mixed spice
- Pinch of sea sat
Decoration:
- Black icing pen
- Gold icing pen
- A small pack of blue fondant icing/sugar paste
- Black food colouring oil based
Serves: 20
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Chilling time: 10 minutes optional
Baking time: 8 – 10 minutes
Cooling time: 20 minutes
Decorating time: 20 minutes
Method
Mixed spice biscuit:
- Line and grease two baking trays with baking parchment/greaseproof paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and beat in until fully combined.
- Sieve in the flour, then add the mixed spice, baking powder and salt, and mix in until a dough has formed.
- If the dough feels more soft than dough-like, add more flour 1 tbsp at a time until the mix feels more like a biscuit dough.
- Tip the dough out onto a clean and lightly floured surface.
- Roll the dough out to about ½ inch in thickness.
- Using a sharp knife and 5 cm serrated cookie cutter, cut out the different shapes for your ‘paper’ biscuits. Make them scrappy – they’re burnt pieces of paper!
- De-centre the biscuits representing Fleur’s pieces of paper. I did this by using the wide end of a piping tip, but you can use anything you have that is round and clean to cut small holes out of the dough.
Baking:
- Gently place your biscuits on the trays. They can be relatively close together as they won’t spread during the baking process.
- If choosing to do so, put your trays of biscuits in the fridge and preheat your oven to 180°C [350°F] or 160°C fan. Allow your biscuits to chill until your oven is up to temperature.
- Once your oven is ready, bake your biscuits on the middle shelves for 8 – 10 minutes, until a deep golden colour. They will continue baking on the trays so don’t be tempted to keep them in the oven for longer!
- Allow to cool on the trays for around 20 minutes.
- Once completely cool, begin decorating.
Decoration:
- Using the black food colouring and a small paintbrush, mark the biscuits representing Harry’s piece of paper with light lines.
- On a clean and lightly-dusted (with icing sugar) surface, roll out the blue fondant to about ¼ inch to ½ inch in thickness. Use the same serrated cookie cutter you used to cut the biscuits to cut the fondant. Cut out the centres of each one like you did with Fleur’s cookies.
- Secure the fondant over the same shaped biscuits. You can use the icing as ‘glue’ to do this.
- Using the icing pens, write out the different names on each biscuit. If you can, change the handwriting style for each champion!
- Allow the icing to set if desired, otherwise enjoy straight away.
These fantastically easy mixed spice biscuits are best enjoyed on the day of baking, but they will last another 4 or so days in an airtight container/cake stand with a lid. They will soften a little with time, but they will remain delicious. They make a great, customisable Enjoy!
The Film
Greetings to my Goblet of Fire inspired recipe! I have to say right out of the gate: as far as story goes, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is my favourite of the Hazza P franchise. So much happens! So many new characters are introduced! So many new magical elements and magical creatures are involved!
This is a cracker of a chapter, in my opinion. It’s absolutely packed with story progression and character development, as well as early teen madness. You know the sort. Plus, the ending gets me every single time. Real tears, friends. Real tears.
When the Yule Ball comes around, I feel incredibly festive. If I could get an invite to the next one, I’d be there in a heartbeat.
The introduction of magical schools from different parts of the world is so interesting. It wakes you up to a more expansive and complete wizarding world. Until Goblet of Fire, it has felt like Hogwarts is the only school of wizarding and witchcraft, because we have been unaware of anything different.
So, to be introduced to wizards from other parts of Europe is very exciting. A handful of these wizards become integral parts of the story and remain a part of it in some way following the ending of this instalment.
Oh, I do love a well-rounded, well-built fantasy world.
With a new instalment, a new director stands at the helm. In 2005, it’s Mike Newell holding the reins. Both the reins that steer the direction of the franchise, and the reins keeping this extensive cast of teenagers from causing pure chaos on set.
Steve Kloves continues on as the screenplay writer, holding us steadfast in the story. Alongside Newell, Goblet of Fire brings us a whole host of new faces.
New faces that become three quarters of the champions of the Triwizard Tournament, no less. We first meet Cedric Diggory, played by Robert Pattinson. I can’t say much more about him (remember those tears I mentioned?) other than the fact that he was a really great addition.
Joining Pattinson was Clémence Poésy as French witch Fleur Delacour and Stanislav Yanevski as Bulgarian Quidditch player Viktor Krum. Alongside the unexpected champion, Harry Potter, these four make up the competitors of the tournament.
Other cast additions include Katie Leung as Cho Chang, a character that becomes integral to the story. There’s also the queen that is Frances De La Tour as Madame Maxime; Predrag Bjelac as Igor Karkaroff, the incredible Brendan Gleeson as MadEye Moody, Jeff Rawle as Amos Diggory and the late, great Roger Lloyd Pack as Barty Crouch.
Last but by no means least…
Scottish acting royalty David Tennant as Barty Crouch Jr. Any Doctor Who fans here? Tennant era was a TIME. It would seem Voldemort isn’t the only one making a comeback either.
A quick refresher for anyone that requires it: this chapter of the Harry Potter franchise sees Harry, Ron and Hermione juggle their fourth year at Hogwarts with new feelings and a dangerous tournament between international schools of wizardry: the Triwizard Tournament. Not to mention the pressures and turmoil of being an adolescent.
Oh, and the recurring nightmare that Harry is contending with. Just to add a little extra spice into the mix.
I love this chapter of the Harry Potter series. It feels like where things really start to kick off.
Recipe Card
Mixed Spice Biscuits | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Ingredients
Mixed spice biscuits:
- 115 g [4 oz] unsalted butter
- 100 g [½ cup] light brown sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 180 g [1 cup + 2 tbsp] plain [all-purpose] flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tsp mixed spice
- Pinch of sea sat
Decoration:
- Black icing pen
- Gold icing pen
- A small pack of blue fondant icing/sugar paste
- Black food colouring oil based
Instructions
- Line and grease two baking trays with baking parchment/greaseproof paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and beat in until fully combined.
- Sieve in the flour, then add the mixed spice, baking powder and salt, and mix in until a dough has formed.
- If the dough feels more soft than dough-like, add more flour 1 tbsp at a time until the mix feels more like a biscuit dough.
- Tip the dough out onto a clean and lightly floured surface.
- Roll the dough out to about ½ inch in thickness.
- Using a sharp knife and 5 cm serrated cookie cutter, cut out the different shapes for your ‘paper’ biscuits. Make them scrappy – they’re burnt pieces of paper!
- De-centre the biscuits representing Fleur’s pieces of paper. I did this by using the wide end of a piping tip, but you can use anything you have that is round and clean to cut small holes out of the dough.
- Gently place your biscuits on the trays. They can be relatively close together as they won’t spread during the baking process.
- If choosing to do so, put your trays of biscuits in the fridge and preheat your oven to 180°C [350°F] or 160°C fan. Allow your biscuits to chill until your oven is up to temperature.
- Once your oven is ready, bake your biscuits on the middle shelves for 8 – 10 minutes, until a deep golden colour. They will continue baking on the trays so don’t be tempted to keep them in the oven for longer!
- Allow to cool on the trays for around 20 minutes.
- Once completely cool, begin decorating.
- Using the black food colouring and a small paintbrush, mark the biscuits representing Harry’s piece of paper with light lines.
- On a clean and lightly-dusted (with icing sugar) surface, roll out the blue fondant to about ¼ inch to ½ inch in thickness. Use the same serrated cookie cutter you used to cut the biscuits to cut the fondant. Cut out the centres of each one like you did with Fleur’s cookies.
- Secure the fondant over the same shaped biscuits. You can use the icing as ‘glue’ to do this.
- Using the icing pens, write out the different names on each biscuit. If you can, change the handwriting style for each champion!
- Allow the icing to set if desired, otherwise enjoy straight away.
Notes
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