Christmas Pudding

"Pudding" is technically just what the Brits call "dessert," but Christmas pudding is a holiday tradition that appears throughout history and British literature. As I understand it, housewives would prepare the pudding ahead of time, and then start to steam cook it (often in their laundry cauldron!) when the family went to church on Christmas morning. By the time Christmas dinner was finished, so was the pudding, just in time for dessert! Who knows what process the Hogwarts house elves used, but we do know that Christmas puddings appear at the Christmas feasts:

"Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver sickle embedded in his slice" (Sorcerer's Stone 203).

Dinah Bucholz does include a recipe for "Christmas pudding for Kids" in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, but it obviously does not include brandy (which means no fire), and it is way different from any pudding recipe I've ever seen. For starters, her recipe has more than four times as much flour, which in my opinion would make it way more cake-like, and thus, more American. The major difference between cake and pudding is that pudding is so very dense. So we shall use a recipe I found at food.com, which is very British and seems very authentic and traditional. I converted the measurements from metric, so the amounts are kind of random, sorry!

You Will Need:
5.2 Tbs butter, softened (plus extra for greasing)
2 cups of mixed raisins, golden raisins, and dried cranberries
1 small cooking apple, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
Juice and zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup brandy, plus extra for flaming
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup self-rising flour (I used all-purpose)
1 tsp ground allspice
2.8 Tbs breadcrumbs
2.8 Tbs shelled almonds, roughly chopped
Brandy Butter Sauce, to top it off!

1. Lightly butter a 2.5pint (5cups) pudding basin. Cut a small square of foil and place it in the bottom of the basin.
2. Place the dried fruit and apple into a bowl with the orange juice, add the 1/4 cup of brandy and let sit for at least 1 hour.

3. Put the 5.2 Tbs butter, sugar, and orange zest in a bowl and cream together until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in the eggs. Add a little bit of flour if the mixture looks curdled.

4. Sift together the flour and spices, then add in the breadcrumbs and nuts.
5. Fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture.

6. Add the fruit/liquor mixture and stir well.

7. Spoon the batter into the prepared pudding dish, pressing down, and smooth the top.

8. Cover the basin with a layer of "greaseproof paper" and foil, both pleated in the middle to allow for any expansion.
9. Tie securely with a string and cuff off any excess with scissors (I used elastic, which worked well).
10. You may either steam or boil your pudding to cook it. I don't have a steamer large enough to accommodate my pudding vessel, so I will be boiling my pudding. To boil, place a metal jam-jar lid (or small plate) upside-down in the middle of a large pot. Place your pudding basin onto this "trivet," and pour in enough boiling water to come about 1/3 up the sides of the pudding bowl.

11. Cover with a lid and bring the water back to a boil. Simmer for about 7 hours. Yes, that is correct, 7 hours. The pudding should be a lovely deep brown color. Add more water to the pot as necessary to maintain the level.

*Heads up, the water will boil away in about 1 hour, depending on the size of your pot, so do not leave it unattended too long. If you do, the kitchen will smell like whatever your jam-jar was from... mine was from Greek olives... yes, I did learn this the hard way, and I accidentally anodized the metals and wrecked my pot.*

12. Remove the pudding from the pot and allow it to cool completely.
13. Make some holes in the pudding with a fine skewer and fill them with a little brandy, "to feed it."
14. Discard the paper and foil and replace it with fresh ones. Store in a cool, dry place. Brits recommend making it as much as 6-8 weeks ahead of time! Talk about getting better with age!
15. On Christmas day, steam or boil the pudding for about an hour to reheat it.
16. Turn the pudding out onto a serving plate.
17. To flame, warm 3-4 Tbs brandy in a saucepan and pour over the pudding. Then carefully use a lighter to set it ablaze!

image stolen from the Internet... mine didn't flame long enough for a photo

18. Serve with rum sauce or brandy butter (a recipe for brandy butter can be found here).

mine is rather less sophisticated looking than I expected...

Christmas pudding is very tasty (and very grown-up tasting...mmm, brandy...). Though I do recommend to either use the brandy butter right out of the fridge to "frost" the pudding, or to just spoon it over individual servings :)

Enjoy!

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce is one of my very favorite holiday foods. Of course, in America we usually serve it at Thanksgiving... but since there's no Thanksgiving in Britain (and thus no Thanksgiving at Hogwarts), it is served at Christmastime:

"Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce-- and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table" (Sorcerer's Stone 203).

A year or so ago I found the most glorious recipe for cranberry sauce in a magazine, but I can't for the life of me recall which magazine it was. But regardless, today we shall make the very simple and very tasty Cranberry Pear Sauce.

You Will Need:

1/2 cup sugar

12oz fresh cranberries

3 Bosc pears, peeled, cored, and diced

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1 cup water

1/4tsp salt

1. In a large saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil and stir well, dissolving all the sugar.

2. Add the (washed) cranberries, pears, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir well to combine. 

3. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the cranberries have burst and the mixture is slightly syrupy.

4. Remove from the heat. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

(Makes eight 1/3cup servings)

This cranberry sauce is SOOOOO delicious. The perfect combination of sweet and tart, and it has way less sugar (and preservatives) than its canned companion. I highly recommend you give it a try this holiday season!

Chipolatas

We have already prepared most of the dishes served at Harry's first Hogwarts Christmas feast, so we jump to the next new item:

"Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fa, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas, tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce-- and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table" (Sorcerer's Stone 203).

For some reason, while reading about the lovely Hogwarts Christmas feasts, I always envisioned Chipolatas as kind of like Churros....

They're not like churros.

They're sausages.

Often wrapped in bacon.

Eww.

According to Wikapedia (the ultimate in blogger research of course), chipolatas are very thin, French- or Italian-inspired sausages, generally grilled or poached instead of fried. British friends tell me that they are also often wrapped in bacon, depending on your family's traditions. 

Here's the thing: we have already prepared vegetarian sausage and vegetarian bacon. And I don't fancy eating them together. So I am sorry my friends, you will have to find your own way to make chipolatas. Let me know if they turn out delicious. 

Roast Turkey

It's just not the holidays without the smell of roasting turkey pervading the air. It's no different for the students at Hogwarts:

"Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mounains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce-- and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table" 

(Sorcerer's Stone 203).

Most vegetarians (myself included) opt for a store-bought tofurkey for their holiday feast. There are several excellent brands out there, available at most health food stores and well-stocked supermarkets. My usual choice is Tofurkey, but Quorn and VeganStore (which I've never tried) also have "roast turkey" options.

But today, I have discovered a recipe at A Veg*n For Dinner for homemade "turkey." So today we'll give it a try!

You Will Need:

5 oz silken tofu

1cup water

1tsp salt

3/4tsp black pepper

1.5 bsp Vegan Chicken Boulion

Scant 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (which I couldn't find, so I didn't use it)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion salt (or onion powder, which is what I used)

1/2 tsp thyme

pinch celery seed

1/3cup soy flour

1.5 cups gluten flour/vital wheat gluten

1 Tbs rolled oats

For the broth, You Will Need:

1 cup water

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp glaric powder

1/4 tsp onion salt/powder

1/4 tsp poultry seasoning

1/4 tp thyme

1-2 Tbs Vegan Chicken Boullion

1. Combine the last 3 ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Combine the rest of the ingredients (tofu through celery seed in the list above) in a blender or food processor and combine.

3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix together. Knead together into a firm ball. Keep some extra gluten flour on hand in case the dough is too sticky (mine wasn't). Let the ball sit for 1 hour.

4a. At this point, if you'd like, you should prepare a lovely stuffing, roll out your dough, and wrap it around the stuffing for a more traditional turkey roast. However, I didn't think ahead about making stuffing... so my "bird" will be unstuffed. 

4b. If you have no stuffing, knead the dough for 1 more minute and form into a ball again. A Veg*n for Dinner recommends cooking your "turkey" in a juice can. I didn't have one (and I can't imagine how a juice can could accommodate the dough expansion!), so I wrapped my dough up tight in cheesecloth and placed it in a small dutch oven. Mix your broth ingredients together and pour your broth over the dough.

5. Cover your chosen cooking receptacle (with foil if you're using a juice can) and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the "turkey" in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 250 degrees. Cook for 3 hours.

6. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool enough for you to handle. Remove from the can/cheesecloth, slice, and serve.

While I do prefer my store-bought Tofurkey, this is pretty tasty! I definitely recommend using poultry seasoning if you have it. Pair with some gravy and mashed potatoes and enjoy!

Fudge

I have learned that fudge is one of the most difficult things to make. The temperatures must be perfect, and crystallization is a dangerous possibility. But it's not surprising at all that expert cook Mrs. Weasley makes delicious fudge at Christmas to send to Harry and her sons:

"Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge" (Sorcerer's Stone 200).

I have attempted to make the fudge featured in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook once before. I failed miserably. But today we must make Mrs. Weasley's fudge! So I shall try again.

You Will Need:

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups whole milk

2 Tbs golden Treacle or light corn syrup

2 Tbs butter

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla

1. Grease an 8" square pan and line it with parchment paper.

2. Combine the sugar, milk, Treacle/corn syrup, butter, heavy cream, salt, and cream of tartar in a large saucepan. As you cook, it will expand like crazy, so be sure to use at least a 4qt pot!

3. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the butter is melted and the ingredients are combined. If sugar crystals form on the sides of the pan, wash them down with a pastry brush dipped in hot water.

4. Use a candy thermometer and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees. This could take 30 minutes, so be patient, and DO NOT turn up the heat!

5. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches 238 degrees. This could take another 15-20 minutes. Be patient, and KEEP STIRRING!

6. Remove the pan from the heat and wait until the mixture cools back down to 115 degrees. This will take awhile (Note: I would recommend going with 220 degrees or so. At 115, it ended up really solid at the end, and kind of in a giant ball).

7. Remove the thermometer, add the vanilla, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture loses its gloss and is very thick 5-10 minutes (Don't over-beat it though, or it will get too hard too fast!).

8. Scrape the fudge into the prepared pan and smooth the top (mine was way too hard to "smooth," I had to press it down into the pan because it was a giant fudge ball...).

9. Cool completely before cutting into 1" squares.

Yummy! This fudge is delicious! Even if I didn't make it quite as perfectly as Mrs. Weasley does... Enjoy!

Marshmallows

While toasting a marshmallow over a fire, waiting for it to reach the perfect level of golden brown and gooey, or while assembling the perfect s'more, one doesn't usually think about where marshmallows come from. But marshmallows are the next thing on our list, which means we need to make them!

"They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork-- bread, English muffins, marshmallows-- and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work" (Sorcerer's Stone).

The recipe for marshmallows in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook is very easy, but really really messy. So heads up on that. Here we go.

You Will Need:

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar (plus more as needed)

1 cup water

3 Tbs (3 packets) unflavored gelatin

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbs vanilla extract

Note: I halved the recipe, so my process pictures will be different from yours!

1. Spray a 9 x 13" pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper (or wax paper) to come up the two ends for easy removal later. Thickly coat the parchment paper with 1/4 cup of the confectioner's sugar, using a sifter or sieve to dust the sugar over the paper.

2. Place 1/2 cup of the water and the gelatin in a large mixing bowl to soften.

3. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and the remaining 1/2 cup water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly (use a pastry brush dipped in hot water to brush down any sugar crystals that form). Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often (constantly is also good), until a candy thermometer reads 238 degrees.

4. With an electric mixer on low speed, slowly pour half the sugar syrup into the softened gelatin. Increase the speed to medium and slowly pour in the rest of the syrup. You'll want to do this relatively quickly, as the longer the syrup is off the heat, the stiffer it will get.

5. Increase the speed to high and continue beating. The recipe says beat for 10-15 minutes... but that's almost impossible. Beat until the mixture is thick and creamy, probably not more than 8 minutes.

that's not a drip. that's solid marshmallow stickiness.

6. Beat in the vanilla. Mixing it in with a spatula might be easier.

7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread it to the edges. Smooth the top as well as you can. Thickly coat the top with the remaining 1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar.

8. Leave the pan set out uncovered overnight to dry out.

9. To cut the marshmallows, pull out the marshmallow sheet with the overhanging parchment and place it on a cutting board. Using a chef's knife or a large, non-serrated knife, press down with one motion to make a single cut through the center. Continue doing this, making even cuts along the length and width. Dip the sides of the newly cut marshmallows into the confectioner's sugar to prevent sticking, and brush off the excess sugar.

Yay homemade marshmallows! Yes, you have to think a day ahead in order to make them, but how great to have delicious sticky sugary squares with no preservatives? Take that, Jet Puffs! 

Enjoy!

English Muffins

It's funny to me that English muffins are English... for some reason that always perplexed me when eating them as a child in America. Regardless of my feelings about their British origin, Harry and Ron do enjoy them over their Christmas holidays at Hogwarts (in Britain, of course!):

"They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork-- bread, English muffins, marshmallows-- and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work" (Sorcerer's Stone 199).

There is a fairly simple recipe for this breakfast bread in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, so that is the recipe we shall use today.

You Will Need:

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 stick (4 Tbs) butter

1 cup warm water

1 Tbs (1 packet) active dry yeast

1 Tbs granulated sugar

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until the butter is melted. Set it aside to cool.

2. Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in a small bowl and let it stand until the yeast dissolves and the mixture puffs up.

3. Mix together the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the milk and yeast mixtures and stir to combine.

4. Knead the dough until it cleans the sides of the bowl and is smooth and elastic (5-10 minutes)

5. Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turning to coat the dough on all sides with the oil. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours, until doubled in size.

if by 'doubled' you mean tripled...

6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough 1/2" thick.
7. Stamp out circles with a 3" cookie cutter (I use a glass and a knife).

8. Lightly spray a large skillet with cooking spray. Cook the muffins over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes on each side, or until light brown on each side.

9. Serve immediately while hot or allow them to cool and then split open and toast before eating.

Slather these with some butter or jam and enjoy! They are quite a delicious breakfast! (Even if you're not lucky enough to be eating them by a fire in the common room of your wizarding boarding school in Britain at Christmastime :)