The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook (36 page)
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
¼ cup light corn syrup
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
Combine the butter, corn syrup, and vanilla and beat until thoroughly combined. Add the confectioners' sugar slowly on the slowest speed until it forms a dough-like consistency. Add more confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the mixture is sticky. Wrap the fondant in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. It will keep for several months in the refrigerator.
To make the sugar mice, pinch off a small piece of fondant and roll into a ½-inch ball. Roll the ball into an oval and pinch one end for the nose and two ends to make pointed ears. You can make two indentations for eyes with a toothpick. Pinch off another piece of dough to form a 1½-inch ball and shape into an oval for the body. Attach the body to the head. You can stick a piece of licorice into the back for the tail. If the fondant gets too soft to work with, put it back in the refrigerator to firm up again.
Repeat until all the fondant is used up. Line up the mice on parchment paper and leave out overnight to dry.
Makes about 20 Sugar Mice
Peppermint creams are pieces of peppermint-flavored fondant coated with chocolate. Fondant was invented in the mid-1800s, and this is probably one of its most popular uses. For easy peppermint creams that kids can make and that also taste delicious, see the note that follows.
3 cups granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup water
¼ teaspoon peppermint extract
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Place the sugar, cream of tartar, and water in a medium saucepan and clip a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan. Cook over medium heat without stirring until the mixture reaches 240°F. Pour the hot syrup onto a rimmed baking sheet and cool to 125°F.
Use a rubber spatula to scrape and fold the fondant until it turns white, thick, and crumbly, about 10 minutes. Knead until smooth, a few seconds. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest overnight.
Warm the fondant in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds for about 2 minutes, until liquidy. Stir in the peppermint extract and cover the surface with plastic wrap. Cool the mixture until lukewarm.
Use oiled hands to roll pieces of fondant into 1½-inch balls, oiling hands between rolling as needed. Keep the fondant covered with the plastic wrap as you work, as it dries out quickly. Place the balls on a sheet of parchment paper and leave room for spreading — they will flatten as they cool further. Set aside the cream centers for a few hours to harden.
Melt the chocolate. Using two forks, or your hands if you don't mind getting them dirty, dip the cream centers into the chocolate, turn to coat, lift out, and let the excess chocolate drip back into the bowl. Set the candies back onto the parchment paper to harden. Once the chocolate is set, store the peppermint creams in a single layer between sheets of parchment in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.
Makes about 2 pounds (30 pieces)
For easier peppermint creams, use the easy fondant recipe from the Sugar Mice recipe, substituting ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract for the vanilla. Form the fondant into 1½-inch balls and flatten them before placing them on the parch-ment. You can dip the creams in the melted chocolate right away rather than letting them harden first.
Levitating sherbet balls! Wow, that would be some treat. In England, balls made of rice paper are filled with a sherbet powder (a sweet powder that fizzes in your mouth). In the Harry Potter books, the fizz is strong enough to lift you off of the ground. Unfortunately, when you make them at home you'll have to imagine you're levitating.
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon citric acid (see note)
1½ teaspoons baking powder
Rice or wafer paper, cut into 2 dozen 2-inch squares, for making the pouches
Combine the sugar, citric acid, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor. Process until combined and the sugar forms finer grains, about 1 minute.
Set out 12 of the rice or wafer paper squares. Place a small amount (about 1/8 teaspoon) of the sugar mixture into the middle of each square. Moisten the remaining squares around the edges with water (don't get them too wet, or they will disintegrate) and carefully attach them to the squares that are topped with the sugar. Pinch the edges to seal and lay them out on a sheet of parchment paper to dry. Reserve the remaining powder for another use, such as for dipping lollipops. Or cut out more squares and make more pouches — you can make up to 200 of them with this amount of sugar mixture.
Makes 1 dozen pouches
Citric acid is available in fairly small quantities on the Internet.
To represent the chocolates at Honeydukes, two basic truffle recipes are provided. For most people, the black truffle, a type of mushroom, is too expensive and rare to eat — it has been a delicacy since Roman times. So, toward the end of the 1800s, the chocolate truffle was invented. The classic method for making truffles includes rolling them in cocoa powder so they resemble freshly dug truffles. They look very pretty, but not everyone likes the bitter taste of the cocoa powder, which is why it's an optional ingredient.
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
¾ cup heavy cream
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
Unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting, optional
Place the chopped chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 2 minutes, stopping to stir every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth.
Cool the chocolate mixture at room temperature until it stiffens. Pinch off pieces and roll them into 1½-inch balls. Lay the balls on a piece of parchment paper. This is messy work; you may want to stop and rinse your hands from time to time, as the melted chocolate on your palms will make it difficult to roll the balls.
Make sure the balls are very stiff before dipping them. You can place the balls in the refrigerator to speed things up. Using two forks, lift the balls one at a time, dip into the melted chocolate, roll to coat, lift out, and allow the excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl before laying the balls back on the parchment.
When the chocolate coating has set, peel the balls off the parchment paper and roll them in the cocoa powder, if using. Store in an airtight container. To speed things up, you can put the coated truffles in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, but no longer than that. The condensation can ruin the chocolate.
Makes 2 dozen truffles
White chocolate is not really chocolate. It's made of milk solids, sugar, and flavorings, but it does contain cocoa butter (the fat pressed out of the chocolate mass during processing), which allows it to use the name “chocolate.”
14 ounces white chocolate, chopped
½ cup heavy cream
10 ounces white chocolate, melted
Place the chopped white chocolate and heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 2 minutes, stopping to stir every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. Do not overheat the mixture.
Cool the mixture at room temperature until it stiffens. Pinch off 1. pieces and roll them into 1½-inch balls. Lay the balls on a piece of parchment paper. This is messy work; you may want to stop and rinse your hands from time to time, as the melted candy on your palms will make it difficult to roll the balls.
Make sure the balls are very stiff before dipping them. You can place the balls in the refrigerator to speed things up. Using two forks, lift the balls one at a time, dip into the melted white chocolate, roll to coat, lift out, and allow the excess coating to drip back into the bowl before laying the balls back on the parchment. Allow the coating to set before serving. To speed things up, you can put the truffles in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, but no longer than that. The condensation can ruin them. Store in an airtight container.
Makes 2 dozen truffles
When melting the white chocolate for the coating, be careful not to overheat the chocolate or it will be ruined. Chop the white chocolate and microwave it for 2 minutes, stopping to stir every 30 seconds. If it feels very warm, but you can still see pieces of chocolate, just keep stirring. It may take a good few minutes.
These sophisticated candies, soft and melt-in-your-mouth, are for adults to make, as sugar boiling is part of the process. Perfect for gifts, if you can resist eating them before you pack them.
2 cups whole milk
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed dark brown sugar