The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook (33 page)

Be very careful not to overbake these cookies or they will be hard instead of soft and chewy. The cookies will be very soft when you take them out of the oven; they will set up as they cool.

You can almost see the front-page headline: KILLED BY A MERINGUE. Neville recounts at the first Hogwarts feast how his uncle dropped him out of the window when his wife offered him a meringue. Meringues are good, but come on, they're not that good. Luckily, Neville's magic abilities — his family was so relieved because they thought he was a Squib — saved him from crashing to his death (see
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
, Chapter 7).

2 large egg whites, at room temperature

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ cup granulated sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 225°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the egg whites, salt, cream of tartar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat until soft mounds begin to form. Gradually add the sugar and beat until stiff but still glossy. If the meringue mixture is dry and cottony or has a curdled look, it's overbeaten, and you'll have to start over.
   

2. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain or star tip and pipe 1-inch kisses or rosettes ½ inch apart on the cookie sheets. For a more rustic look, plop down teaspoonfuls instead of piping. Bake for 1 hour, rotating the pans and switching shelves halfway through baking. Leave the meringues in the oven another hour to dry out. Discard any leftover meringue mixture; it will not keep until the first batch is done.
   

Makes about 80 meringues

Draco Malfoy taunts Harry Potter about having no proper family to return to for the Christmas holidays, but Harry isn't bothered at all. He can't think of a place he'd rather stay than Hogwarts. He's perfectly happy to be anywhere but with the Dursleys, who regard him as the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to them. And nothing beats the decorations in the Great Hall, where fir trees are covered with everlasting snow and real, live fairies flit among the branches. Also, the Dursleys would never provide a glorious feast for Christmas dinner such as the ones produced by the Hogwarts house-elves.

Harry enjoys the other holidays as well. Halloween is fun, with real bats swooping around the Great Hall, and so is Easter, when he gets Easter eggs from Mrs. Weasley filled with homemade toffee.

It's so much fun to roast food over a fire, it hardly matters if it's s'mores or English muffins. During the Christmas holidays Harry and Ron sit in front of the fireplace in the cozy Gryffindor common room roasting everything from marsh-mallows to muffins (see
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
, Chapter 12).

½ cup whole milk

½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon (1 packet) active dry yeast

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tea spoon salt

1. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted. Set it aside to cool. Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl and let it stand until the yeast dissolves and the mixture puffs up.
   

2. Measure the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the milk and yeast mixtures and stir to combine. Knead the dough until it cleans the sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turning to coat the dough on all sides. Cover it with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place until the dough doubles in bulk, about 1½ to 2 hours.
   

3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough ½-inch thick. Stamp out circles with a 3-inch cookie cutter or the rim of a glass. Lightly spray a large skillet with cooking spray. Cook the muffins over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes on each side, or until light brown on each side.
   

4. Serve immediately while hot or break them open after they cool and toast them.
   

Makes about 1½ dozen muffins

On Harry's first Halloween at Hogwarts, he awakes to the “smell of baking pumpkin,” which could mean anything. Therefore, included are two recipes, one for pumpkin pie and the other for pumpkin bread. Either one is a delicious way to spend your Halloween (see
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
, Chapter 10).

Pie Crust

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into small pieces

4–6 tablespoons ice water

Filling

2 cups canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

¼ teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

1. 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 over the flour mixture. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse yellow meal without any white powdery bits remaining, about 15 pulses. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons water over the mixture and toss with a rubber spatula until the dough sticks together. Add more water 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough is dry (better too wet than too dry). Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
   

2. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out on a floured surface to a 12-inch circle. Fold the dough into quarters, brushing off excess flour with a pastry brush after each fold, and unfold it in a 9-inch pie pan, easing the sides down into the pan. Trim the overhang to within 1 inch of the rim with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors. Fold the overhang under and crimp with a fork or your fingers. Freeze for 20 minutes.
   

3. Remove the pie shell from the freezer, line with aluminum foil, fill with pie weights, and bake for 25 minutes until the dough is dry and set. Remove the foil and weights, reduce the temperature to 375°F, and continue to bake another 10 minutes, until the shell begins to brown. Prepare the filling during these 10 minutes.
   

4. To prepare the filling, combine the pumpkin, sugar, heavy cream, spices, and salt in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until hot to the touch. Whisk in the eggs one at a time and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the filling is very hot but not simmering. Do not let it boil. If the pie shell isn't ready by the time the filling is done, remove the filling from the heat.
   

5. Pour the filling into the crust (if the crust is still 4. in the oven, it's easier to remove the pan from the oven than to try to pour the filling into the crust while the pan is on the oven rack) and continue to bake until it puffs up around the edges and doesn't look wet, about 30 minutes. The filling will be jiggly when you remove it from the oven; it will set up as it cools. Serve at room temperature with whipped cream.
   

Serves 8

You can make the crust a day in advance, and also freeze it for up to 2 months if it is well wrapped in plastic.

1½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

¾ cup canned pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling

1/3 cup whole milk

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8½″ × 4½″ loaf pan. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves and set aside.
   

2. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each until incorporated. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the milk and again beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and mix on the lowest speed until combined. Scrape and fold with a rubber spatula to finish.
   

3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, rotating halfway through baking, until the top is golden and the loaf is well risen and feels firm when pressed lightly in the center. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan. To serve, remove the loaf from the pan, dust with confectioners' sugar, and cut into thick slices.
   

Makes 1 loaf

At his first Christmas dinner at Hogwarts, Harry has never seen so many roast turkeys — a hundred of them, served with gravy and cranberry sauce (see
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
, Chapter 12).

3 onions, peeled and cut into quarters

1 head of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled

6 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks

6 celery ribs, cut into 2-inch chunks

Several sprigs thyme

1 cup water

1 turkey, 12–14 pounds, giblets and neck removed (can be used to make turkey stock for gravy)

Olive oil or melted butter or margarine

Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Scatter the onions, garlic, carrots, celery, and thyme in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Pour in the water. If you have a roasting rack, grease it and place it in the roasting pan.
   

2. Rinse the turkey and pat it dry with paper towels. Place it on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan breast-side down, or on the rack, if using. Brush the back with the olive oil or melted butter and sprinkle it with the salt and pepper.
   

3. Roast the turkey for 45 minutes. Using oven mitts or towels, flip the turkey breast-side up. Pat the breast dry; then brush more oil or butter over the breast and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for another 1 to 1½ hours, until the thickest part of the thigh registers 170°F on a meat thermometer. Transfer the turkey to a carving board and let it rest 20 to 30 minutes before carving.
   

Serves 10–12