The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook (32 page)
Serves 8
Ron would like to get another look at the stunning French veela girl who had asked for the bouillabaisse. He moves the blancmange, a French dish, in full view of her table, hoping to tempt her to come over and get some, but she pays no attention. Nice try, though (see
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
, Chapter 16).
N
ow does a molded dish of chicken mixed with ground almonds, rice, and sugar sound? This original medieval dish of
blanc manger
(white food) appealed to the nobility. The more modern version is made of milk flavored with ground almonds and thickened with gelatin, and it's so rubbery that you can bounce it off your walls, although your mom might not appreciate it if you try that. But there is no accounting for taste.
3 cups whole milk, divided
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup ground almonds
¼ teaspoon almond extract
Strawberry Sauce
1 pint strawberries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Grease 8 tartlet molds or a muffin pan and set aside. Put ½ cup of the milk in a bowl and sprinkle gelatin over it. Set aside.
Heat the remaining milk and the cream, sugar, and almonds in a small saucepan until hot but not simmering. Pour the mixture through a sieve and discard the almonds. Stir in the gelatin-milk mixture until gelatin is dissolved (if necessary, place over medium heat and stir until gelatin is dissolved; do not simmer or let boil). Stir in the almond extract.
Fill the molds to the very top and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours. Place a plate over the mold and invert to unmold. If you're having trouble unmolding, wrap a hot towel around the mold for a few seconds. Serve with Strawberry Sauce.
To make the Strawberry Sauce, place the strawberries and sugar in a blender or food processor and pulse until completely blended.
Serves 8
At the Gryffindor party celebrating Harry's victory in the first task, Hermione wisely passes on the jam tarts Fred offers her. It's not a good idea to accept anything from the mischief-loving Weasley twins, as Neville finds out a moment later (see
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
, Chapter 21).
There are several theories about how the word “jam” evolved, but the theory from the 1736
Dictionarium Britannicum
is the sweetest: it comes from the French
j'aime,
which means “I love.” Once sugar was cheap enough for jam to be affordable, it became a staple in England, finding its way into tarts and onto toast. Jam tarts are easy to make, and kids love them.
Tart Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 sticks cold butter or margarine, cut into chunks
1 cold large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons ice water
Filling
½ cup any flavor jam
For the crust, place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter or margarine over the flour mixture. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse yellow meal without any white powdery bits remaining, about 20 pulses. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Beat the egg yolk with the vanilla and water and pour it into the flour-butter mixture. Toss with a spatula until the dough clumps together. If the dough is dry add 1 more tablespoon water (better too wet than too dry). Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll out the dough 1/8-inch thick. Stamp out circles of dough with a 4-inch round cutter. Fit the circles of dough into tartlet pans and arrange the pans on a baking sheet, or use a muffin pan.
Place 1 tablespoon of jam in each tart. The jam should just cover the bottom of the tart. If you put in too much, the jam will bubble over, and you will never be able to get the tarts out in one piece.
Decorate the tarts with cutouts from the leftover dough or make crosses with two strips of dough. Bake the tarts for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before removing the tarts from the pans.
Makes 8 tarts
Be very careful of anything the Weasley twins offer you to eat. Neville has just eaten a custard cream, seemingly harmless and probably quite tasty, but it turns him into a canary (see
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
, Chapter 21).
If you've been wondering what in the world custard creams are, the mystery has been solved. They are nothing more than sandwich cookies, typically flavored with custard powder, which is similar to vanilla pudding mix.
Cookie Dough
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup vanilla pudding mix (1 packet, not instant)
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup whole milk, at room temperature
Filling
1¼ cups confectioners' sugar
¼ stick (2 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract Bowl of sugar, for flattening cookies
Set the oven racks to the upper and lower positions, preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, vanilla pudding mix, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.
In a separate bowl, cream the butter and confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and stir until the mixture is crumbly. Add the milk and stir until the mixture forms a dough. Break off small pieces, roll into balls (about 1 inch), and place them on the cookie sheets 1½ inches apart.
Oil the bottom of a glass and dip it into the bowl of sugar to coat. Press the glass down on the balls of dough, dipping it in the sugar between each cookie. Bake for 16 minutes, until the cookies are just beginning to brown a bit at the edges, rotating the cookie sheets and switching shelves halfway through baking. Cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Beat the filling ingredients together until creamy. If the mixture is too dry, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it becomes spreadable. Sandwich the cooled cookies with about 1 teaspoon of the filling.
Makes 2 dozen
Ooh, Harry is in such trouble. He loses his temper with Professor Umbridge, and with a lot of fanfare and drama, she sends him to Professor McGonagall. Harry enters her office expecting to be scolded and punished, but to his surprise she offers him a newt-shaped ginger cookie (see
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
, Chapter 12).
T
he Oxford Companion to Food
describes every cookie variety under the entry “cookies.” But ginger biscuits are so important, they merit an entry all to themselves — not even chocolate chip cookies are granted that honor. As in this recipe, the biscuits are typically made with treacle and brown sugar. Also called ginger nuts, they are related to gingerbread, which in medieval times was molded into fancy shapes, called “fairings,” and sold at fairs.
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 sticks butter, at room temperature
½ cup packed dark brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg white
¾ cup golden syrup or light corn syrup
½ cup sugar for rolling the cookies
Set the oven racks to the upper and lower middle positions, preheat the oven to 375°F, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and ginger.
In a separate bowl, beat the butter and the sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary, about 5 minutes. Add the egg, egg white, and golden syrup and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and stir on the lowest speed until combined. Scrape the bottom with a rubber spatula to make sure it is fully combined.
Scoop out balls of dough with a cookie scoop or tablespoon. Form into 1½-inch balls and roll in the sugar. Place the balls 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the pans and switching shelves halfway through baking. Slide the parchment paper onto wire racks to cool; do not remove the cookies individually until they cool. Repeat until all the dough is used up.
Makes 3½ dozen cookies