We are familiar with and love Chef Heston Blumenthal’s enchanting cooking shows, but we were still surprised when we discovered, for the first time, a real cooking and baking reality show based on the Harry Potter books.
Dragon Liver, Acid Pops, Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizzbees, and Butterbeer are just a few unique flavors featured in the original books. Now, in Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking, hosted by James and Oliver Phelps (the Weasley twins), pairs of professional bakers compete to create spellbinding edible showpieces on the actual sets where the Harry Potter films were made.
The first two episodes highlight two main challenges:
Diagon Alley Challenge: The teams must create 50 identical handheld desserts inspired by the shops of Diagon Alley. These desserts must feature an interactive, magical element, and they are served to a crowd of Harry Potter fans.
The Forbidden Forest Challenge: Inspired by the dark and mysterious Forbidden Forest, teams are tasked with creating a 3-foot-tall grand showpiece that showcases the dark arts. One of the tasting elements must include at least 10 layers and feature a gravity-defying magical effect.
However, the reviews fail to fully embrace the show. “The premise of this cooking competition seems like a slam dunk for Potter and baking-obsessed muggles,” writes CommonSenseMedia, “but it falls flat in execution. Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking has extremely slow pacing, with the premiere episode lasting almost 90 minutes. The actual baking is impressive, and the bakers faithfully recreate some of the movies’ most imaginative scenes.”
Another viewer, Jessica B., wrote: “Absolutely love it!! The contestants’ creative minds, along with the whole Harry Potter concept, make for a magical combination.”
If this dish turns out to be magic, we’d like to try some Wicked-inspired Defying Gravity desserts and a Broccoli- beet soup.
Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking (Food Network, Tuesdays at 8)