We bake Pumpkin Pasties, a classic from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling!
We’ll share our results, our recipes, and a little bit about our chosen stories on this blog.
AND we invite YOU to bake along with us.
Share what you make by tagging us with #DPPLBakes, send us your favorite recipes, or just enjoy reading our entries.
The Book:
He had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry — but the woman didn’t have Mars Bars. What she did have were Bettie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.
Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.
“Hungry, are you?”
“Starving,” said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.
Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, “She always forgets I don’t like corned beef.”
“Swap you for one of these,” said Harry, holding up a pasty. “Go on –“
“You don’t want this, it’s all dry,” said Ron. “She hasn’t got much time,” he added quickly, “you know, with five of us.
“Go on, have a pasty,” said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry’s pasties, cakes, and sweets (the sandwiches lay forgotten).
-J K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Chapter 6: The Journey From Platform Nine and Three-quarters. (Currently, the ebook and eaudiobook are always available on Overdrive during #HarryPotterAtHome)
Like so many other Millenials, Harry Potter will always hold a place in my heart.
The magic! The friendship! The love!
We've all read it, seen the movies, or know someone who has.
And although I usually save my pumpkin-eating for the fall, this recipe really cheered me up and made me think of Halloween!
(My dog also loved getting a small spoonful of pumpkin puree).
The Bake:
Warning: If you Google Pumpkin Pasties recipes, you may be at your computer for hours. Since it's a fictional food, everyone has their own take on how to best make it.
This time around, I used this recipefrom Bijoux & Bits and chose her sweet option for filling. Hers is one of the easiest recipes to make vegan by simply using vegan butter, making or buying vegan pie crust, and substituting a non-dairy milk wash instead of an egg wash.
Here is her paraphrased recipe with a few of my alterations in parentheses:
Ingredients
7.5 oz (1/2 can) of pumpkin puree
1 tbsp butter (or vegan butter!)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie seasoning
1/4 tsp allspice (or mix some nutmeg and clove)
2 Tbsp sugar
1 package refrigerated pie dough
Flour for dusting
1 egg, slightly beaten for egg wash (or non-dairy milk!)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F
Mix pumpkin puree with room temperature butter in bowl and stir in seasonings. (It will smell SO good.)
Dust a flat surface with flour, roll pie crust to 1/8 inch thick (or... you know... your best approximation) and cut into 3-4 inch circles with a pastry cutter or edge of a glass.
Spoon out a small amount of the pumpkin mixture into the middle of the dough circles and fold to create a half-moon shape. Crimp the edges closed and cut tiny slits (a lightning bolt if you're fancy) to vent. (Embrace the fact that they will explode a little no matter what you do.)
Place on parchment papered baking sheet and brush with egg (or milk!) wash.
Bake for about 15-20 minutes until lightly golden.
Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool slightly before eating. (I did not do this and definitely burnt my tongue.)
Overall, these were fun, easy, and perfect to share!
Listening to the audiobook or the movie soundtrack during the baking process helps to make it all even more magical.
We hope you enjoyed this edition of The Great DPPL Bake-Along. Check back in two weeks for another delicious installment!
In the meantime, sit back and relax with your pasties and the latest issue of The Quibbler.
