Weasleys’ Canary Creams

“It’s all right,” he said. “I haven’t done anything to them. It’s the custard creams you’ve got to watch–” Neville, who had just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out. Fred laughed. “Just my little joke, Neville…” […] Just then, Neville caused a slight diversion by turning into a large canary. “Oh– sorry, Neville!” Fred shouted over all the laughter. “I forgot — it was the custard creams we hexed–” Within a minute, however, Neville had molted, and once his feathers had fallen off, he reappeared looking entirely normal.” He even joined in the laughing. “Canary Creams!” Fred shouted to the excitable crowd. “George and I invented them– seven Sickles each, a bargain!” – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Weasleys’ Canary Creams

Before Fred and George Weasley’s early departure from Hogwarts to open their joke store Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, they created and tested many of their joke products on other Hogwarts students. Weasleys’ Canary Creams made their first appearance in Harry’s 4th year during the Tri-Wizard Tournament when Fred gave Neville a hexed custard cream that temporarily turned him into a large canary. Though no harm was done, Fred and George’s classmates began to think twice before accepting food from either of them because it was likely hexed in some way.

Traditional Custard Creams

Traditional custard creams are a type of biscuit (or cookie, if you prefer) popular in the U.K. and Ireland. They contain a creamy vanilla custard filling sandwiched between two biscuit layers, which are often stamped with an ornate design that says ‘custard cream.’

A lemony update

Because the Weasleys’ Canary Creams of the Harry Potter universe are hexed to turn the consumer into a large canary, I decided to really lean into that description when creating my version. I’ve chosen to use a lemon shortbread for the biscuit dough and a lemon cream cheese buttercream filling rather than the traditional vanilla. The biscuits are each cut into the shape of a bird using this cookie cutter, and rather than stamping the tops with a fancy design, I’ve opted to expose the filling in their canary bellies, by cutting out a small circle on the top layer of each biscuit, using the 1 1/2 inch round of this pastry cutter.

This recipe utilized both lemon zest and juice, so I highly suggest making it easy on yourself and using a microplane/zester to prep the lemon zest. This is the one I currently use and it makes the work of zesting citrus so much easier.

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Portability

I’m going to level with you: These are not the type of biscuits that you can easily make loads of, stack in a storage container, and transport to-and-fro to the bake sale. If you do this, you will likely end up with a bunch of broken (albeit delicious) biscuits and a Jackson Pollock-esk container filled with buttercream. Aka a bake sale fail.

The shortbread is gluten-free and egg-free, and as a result, it’s delicate. I find that the thicker the shortbread, the less likely it will be to break on you so keep that in mind when rolling your dough. It’s also important to allow the cookies to cool FULLY before even trying to move them somewhere else.

The filling isn’t the traditional glue and spackle strength that you might get from other biscuit fillings, it’s a fluffy, creamy, smooth buttercream that will not tolerate a large amount of weight. Though it will firm up slightly when refrigerated, I find that Weasleys’ Canary Creams are best served in the same place that you’ve prepared them. They’re the fancy biscuit version of a good buttercream cupcake.

A note for special diets

This recipe for Weasleys’ Canary Creams is grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, egg-free, low-carb, and friendly for Keto diets at 8 net carbs per large cream-filled biscuit stack.

LOOKING FOR MORE HARRY POTTER CONTENT?

I’m celebrating Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling’s birthdays on July 31st by filling the month with all things Potter. Check back regularly this month to see additional Harry Potter recipes and content linked HERE.

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