Hot Butterbeer!

Yes, the moment has finally arrived! The most popular food item in the Harry Potter series is finally upon us, following Ron and Hermione's very first trip to Hogsmeade:

"By the sound of it-- everywhere. Dervish and Banges, the wizarding equipment shop, Zonko's Joke Shop, into the Three Broomsticks for foaming mugs of hot butterbeer, and many places besides" (Prisoner of Azkaban 158).

Butterbeer is the most popular item for sale at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and is available cold or frozen. These options are a natural choice, since Orlando's average temperature in the summer is around 100 degrees, and it falls below 50 for maybe a month or two each year. However, the first (and several more) mentions of butterbeer in the books specify that it is in fact a hot beverage. Since there are tons of butterbeer recipes out there (and I do think that the bottled version sometimes enjoyed by the characters is probably cold), I will feature butterbeer on this blog with each first mention in the remaining books. Our first recipe is for hot butterbeer and comes from here.

You Will Need:
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butterscotch topping (I couldn't find this, so I used melted butterscotch chips)
2 Tbs whipped butter, at room temperature
1.5 cups vanilla cream soda (I used diet, since just the other ingredients shoot this beverage close to 400 calories per glass!)

1. Combine the condensed milk, butterscotch, and butter in a microwave safe container and heat in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir (if not completely melted and smooth, heat for a few more seconds).

2. Pour the vanilla cream soda into another microwave safe vessel and heat in the microwave. Be careful, because if it gets too hot, the carbonation will disappear. Start with about 45 seconds.
3. Divide the warm butterscotch mixture between two glasses or mugs. Fill each glass with half the warmed cream soda. Stir gently.

This is super delicious! The carbonation does dissipate quickly, but it's still so yummy! It's no surprise that in the winter, our favorite trio hits up the Three Broomsticks every chance they get to warm up with foaming mugs of hot butterbeer! Enjoy!

Rolls

One of the most decadent breakfast foods around is also the next food to appear on our list (and the last new food item to appear in Chamber of Secrets!):

Percy didn't smile back. "Pass me those rolls, Harry, I'm starving" (Chamber of Secrets).

Yes, yes, simple rolls are not very decadent at all. But Dinah Bucholz seems to think that J.K. Rowling was referring to "Cinnamon Pull-Apart Breakfast Rolls" (i.e., cinnamon buns). Since that is the recipe included in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, that is the recipe I will be using today. Heads up, this recipe takes several hours to make.

For the Dough, You Will Need:

1/4 cup warm water

1 Tbs (1 package) active dry yeast

1 Tbs granulated sugar

2/3 cup whole milk

1/2 stick (4Tbs) butter

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1/3 cup granulated sugar

For the Cinnamon Filling, You Will Need:

1 Tbs butter, melted

1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 Tbs ground cinnamon

For the Icing, You Will Need:

1 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 Tbs heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Combine the water, yeast, and 1Tbs sugar in a small mixing bowl and set aside until puffy.

2. Heat the milk and butter in a small saucepan (or the microwave) until the butter is melted. Set aside.

3. Whisk together the flour and salt and set aside.

4. In yet another bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar, then whisk in the milk-butter mixture.

5. Add the yeast and egg mixtures to the flour and stir to combine (it's helpful to whisk 1/2 cup if the flour into the egg mixture first until smooth before combining everything).

6. Knead the dough until it's smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

7. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turing to coat, and cover. Leave in a warm place until doubled in size, 1.5 to 2 hours.

8. Grease and flour a 9x13" pan. 

9. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll (or press) out into a 16x12" rectangle.

10. Brush the melted butter over the dough.

11. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle generously over the dough within 1/2" of the edges.

12. Roll up the dough long ways and cut off the messy ends if you want (I didn't).

13. Use dental floss (no, really!) to cut the roll in halves until you have 12 rolls.

14. Lay the rolls in the prepared pan and leave them to rise until the rolls are all touching and reach the rim, about 1.5 to 2 hours.

15. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the rolls for 20 minutes until golden brown.

16. Let the rolls cool for 10 minutes before inverting the rolls out of the pan, and then flipping them again onto a serving dish.

17. To make the icing, beat the icing ingredients together with a fork (if you don't sift the powdered sugar, the icing will be lumpy).

18. Spread the icing over the warm rolls and eat as soon as possible. They really don't keep well for more than a couple hours!

Wow, these are some delicious cinnamon buns! The icing is really cream-cheesy, very rich, unlike most frozen cinnamon buns you would buy from the market. Delicious. And as I predicted, very decadent. Enjoy!

Fruitcake

Our next item is one that gets kind of a bad rap during the holidays... it is also an item that I somehow managed to skip when we were still in Sorcerer's Stone. But too bad, here's the the second time it's mentioned in the series:

"He [Hagrid] poured them both large mugs of boiling water (he had forgotten to add tea bags) and was just putting a slab of fruitcake on a plate when there was a loud knock on the door" (Chamber of Secrets 260).

The first time fruitcake is mentioned in the series, Uncle Vernon is using a slice of it to pound nails into the flap of the mail slot so Harry cannot receive his first Hogwarts letter. So we technically should have made it awhile ago. Whoops, guess we're making it today!

There are two recipes for fruitcake in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. We'll use the "Nutty Fruitcake for Kids" recipe.

You Will Need:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup finely ground almonds

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar

grated zest of 1 orange

grated zest of 1 lemon

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup orange marmalade

1/2 cup dark raisins

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup dried currants or sweetened dried cranberries

1/4 cup apple juice (or brandy)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9" round cake pan that is at least 2 inches deep (I used a round casserole-ish dish, because my cake pans weren't deep enough).

2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, ground almonds, spices, and salt.

3. In another large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and zest of the orange and lemon with an electric mixer, scraping down the sides as needed, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. 

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each until incorporated. 

4th egg

5. Beat in the marmalade.

6. Stir in the flour mixture, then the raisins and cranberries, then stir in the apple juice.

7. With a spatula, give one final stir to be sure the batter is evenly mixed.

8. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 2 hours.

9. Remove the cake from the oven and leave it in the pan to cool for awhile.

10. Flip the cake out onto a serving platter. It should either be eaten then day it is made or wrapped really well in plastic wrap and freeze it for up to 2 months.

Definitely eat this cake the day it is made! And I think it is better served warm. I really think that fruitcake gets its reputation as a paperweight because (aside from being chock-full of fruit and very dense and heavy) it dries out very quickly, and thus gets very hard. But if you eat it quickly, it's the perfect compliment to a cup of tea or cocoa! Enjoy!

Scrambled Eggs

The next new food to appear in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets comes to us just before one of the many moments when Harry is presumably going mad due to his hearing a voice no one else can hear. But this time, he hears it while Quidditch captain Oliver Wood is busy preparing his team for a Gryffindor win:

"'Perfect Quidditch conditions!' said Wood enthusiastically at the Gryffindor table, loading the team's plates with scrambled eggs" (Chamber of Secrets 254).

Obviously, scrambled eggs are a breakfast staple, and the recipe for Cheesy, Chivy Scrambled Eggs from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook sounds spectacular! So of course, that's the recipe we'll use today!

To Make 3-4 Servings, You Will Need:
1 Tbs butter
6 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
Black pepper
1 Tbs chopped fresh chives (or dried, which is what I used)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used cheddar, 'cause that's what I had)

1. Whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, salt, pepper, and chives.

2. Whisk in the shredded cheese.

3. Heat the butter in a large skillet.
4. Pour the eggs into the hot skillet and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and gently with a wooden spoon (I prefer to scrape with a spatula, but that's just me) until set.

5. To serve, sprinkle more chives on top. Serve with buttered toast and sliced tomatoes for a very British breakfast!

These eggs are delicious! I didn't use the exact measurements listed here, I kind of just tossed a little bit of everything with two eggs (that's how I roll at breakfast time). But however you make them, I highly recommend that you try these tomorrow morning!

Chocolate Cakes

I don't recommend trying to achieve Hermione's goal when making our next item, though Crabbe and Goyle probably did enjoy this delicacy before they keeled over on the floor:

"She held up two plump chocolate cakes. 'I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught'" (Chamber of Secrets 213).

I found an exciting recipe for Flourless Nutella Chocolate Cake that sounds absolutely delicious, so that's what I'll be attempting today.

You Will Need:
200g (almost 1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into chunks
100g (almost 1/2 cup) dark chocolate
200g Nutella
100g white sugar
6 eggs, separated
1 tsp instant coffee or espresso powder (which I left out)

1. Butter and lightly coat either a 9" springform pan or cupcake pan with cocoa powder. Prheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the pans inside.
2. Place the butter chunks and chunks/chips of dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and melt together at 30 second intervals (or use a double boiler). Stir until smooth.

3. Add the nutella to the melted chocolate/butter mixture and stir well with a whisk or fork until completely incorporated. Mix in the coffee powder if using.

4. Separate the egg whites and yolks into two separate bowls. Add the sugar to the yolks and whisk for a minute until combined.

5. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly.

6. Beat the egg whites until stiff(ish) peaks form.

7. Add the chocolate/yolk mix to the egg whites and mix by hand until completely incorporated.

8. Pour the batter into your prepared (hot) pans(s). Don't fill cupcake tins more than 3/4 full. Place in the oven.

9. Bake for 20-30 minutes (my cupcakes were done at 22). They are done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean-- you don't want them completely solid all the way through, but the center shouldn't sway when jiggled.

10. Let cool completely and garnish with hazelnuts if you have any.

Theses are cakes are very tasty, but not very plump like Hermione's sleeping draught cakes were. The flourless aspect seems to make them want to collapse on themselves. So while not very pretty, they will certainly cure any chocolate craving! Enjoy!

EggNog

Technically the next new food item on our list is Plum Cake. But I cannot for the life of me find plums for sale anywhere! So I'm afraid we'll have to skip plum cake until plums are back in season. But no worries, because the following food on our list is perfectly seasonal! What could be more fitting during the holidays than to make some tasty eggnog? Clearly Hagrid agrees:

"Dumbledore led them in a few of his favorite carols, Hagrid booming more and more loudly with every goblet of eggnog he consumed" (Chamber of Secrets 212).

The truth is, my friends, I made eggnog according to the recipe found in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, and it does not actually make eggnog at all. It makes custard. Yep-- thick, eat-with-a-spoon custard. It's tasty, but it's not eggnog. So today we shall use a recipe I found here. Hopefully it is more successful than my last attempt. The mere fact that it contains alcohol leads me to think that it will be!

You Will Need:

6 eggs

2 extra egg yolks

4 cups whole milk

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbs vanilla extract

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup bourbon (I didn't quite have enough, so I combined bourbon and brandy, which gave me a little more than 1/2 cup), not pictured

1. Whisk the eggs, yolks, sugar, and salt in a pan until combined.

2. Keep whisking while you slowly pour in the milk until completely mixed in.

3. Place on the stove on very low heat, and whisk continuously until the mixture reaches 160 degrees. The recipe says this should take 25 minutes. It took me almost an hour.

4. Remove the mixture from the heat and strain through a sieve into a bowl.

5. Stir in the liquor, vanilla, and nutmeg.

6. Cover securely and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

7. When you're ready to serve, whip the heavy cream really well in a bowl and fold (gently!) in the chilled eggnog.

8. Serve and enjoy!

This eggnog is also pretty thick, especially if you fold in your whipped heavy cream a little too vigorously! However it definitely is eggnog, and has the added bonus of lifting your holiday cheer with every alcohol-infused sip! So whip some up this holiday season and ring in a tasty new year!