Welcome to Bookish Recipes, a feature on the blog where I cook or bake a recipe from a book I have loved and share the result with you. This time the recipe is inspired by Harry Potter again. Earlier this year I made Hagrid's Rock Cakes and they were a roaring success so I decided to try my hand at Pumpkin Pasties as Halloween is fast approaching!

As you know, Harry loves pumpkin pasties and after trying this recipe, I'm a convert too. This is delicious! I decided to go for a salty filling and I think it was the best decision. Also, I found this free printable for the the boxes here, I think it looks really cute. This is how I made them: 

Ingredients:

Pastry crust: 

- 1 1/4 cups flour

- 1 tbsp sugar

- 5 tbsp butter (70 g)

- 3 tbsp shortening (40 g)

- 4-6 tbsp ice water

Filling:

- 1/2 medium pumpkin roasted

- 4 tbsp butter

- 1 clove garlic

- 1/2 cup cheese

- salt and pepper

1) To make the pastry crust: Mix flour, sugar and salt. Add chunks of butter and shortening into the mixture and cut them into it, with a food processor or using two knives. Have a look at this video to see how to do it with knives and also, if you prefer a sweet version, you can also follow the recipe on the video.

2) Transfer it into a mixing bowl and add 4 tbsp of ice water. Toss with a spatula until combined. Add more water if the dough is still dry.

3) Form a ball of dough and wrap it in plastic wrap. Put it in the fridge for at least one hour.

4) While the dough is in the fridge, roast the pumpkin. Mash the hot pumpkin with the butter and stir in the grated garlic and the grated cheese. Season it too.

5) Pre-heat oven to 200º. Roll the pie dough to 1 inch thick and cut 7 inches circles (18 cm). Another option is to cut the dough with a cutter in the shape of a pumpkin (that's what I did).

6) Spoon the pumpkin mixture in the middle of the circles/pumpkins. If you have circles, fold them to form half moons. If you have pumpkins just put another pumpkin on top. Seal the edges with a fork.

7) Cut slivers on top and rub the yolk of an egg if you want a golden finish.

8) Place in a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.


Serve hot and enjoy! These are probably my new favourite autumn dish and I'm sure I'll be making more this weekend to celebrate Halloween! 

As you know, tomorrow is Harry Potter Book Night, so I have been planning a little Harry Potter Party. I already shared with you some of the decorations I have made and today I wanted to share a recipe that will be the perfect dessert: Chocolate Rock Cakes. 

When Harry first arrives at Hogwarts, lovely Hagrid invites him to his hut for tea and cakes. So Harry and Ron head over there on their first Friday and find themselves on a tricky situation... Hagrid's Rock Cakes almost break their teeth! But they pretend to enjoy them as they listen to him talk. Do not worry, these rock cakes will not break your teeth. They are hard outside but soft and yummy inside!

I had a search online for the perfect Rock Cake recipe. Most called for dried fruit but I'm not a bit fan. So when I saw that one of my favourite bloggers, Helen Redfern, had a recipe for Chocolate Rock Cakes, I knew I had found the perfect one. If you haven't checked Helen's blog, then you are missing out. She bakes the most delicious treats inspired by the books she reads, and her photos are amazing. Anyway, here's the link to her recipe which a lovely letter to Hagrid and here's how I made them:

1) Pre-heat oven to 190 and prepare a tray with a baking sheet. Mix the flour (I only had all purpose flour, so I added a tsp of baking powder), salt and sugar and stir.

As you know, this Thursday is Harry Potter Book Night. Where I live, there are no HP parties around, so I have decided to throw my own. The last couple of weeks, I have been browsing the Internet to get ideas for the decoration and I have found so many cool ones that I have decided to share with you some of them. 

 My first idea was to do some cake pops and add the wings but I realised that we had Ferrero Rocher at home and I thought that they would made perfect snitches. I painted some wings with gold and silver markers and voilà!

Quidditch Players Pie: As you know, quidditch players need a lot of energy to play this fascinating sport. So the best way to get this energy is with a good old pie. I found this recipe on Smith Bites and added my own touches to make this fantastic pie. Basically it's made with beef, cooked carrots and onions simmered in an onion gravy and a layer of mashed potatoes on top. All baked in the oven for 15 minutes. 

The result was delicious and it gave us all the energy to play quidditch afterwards, eh..., I mean... to watch Harry play afterwards (yes, that's more believable). 

Cauldron Cakes: these are a firm favourite in the wirzarding world of Harry Potter. They can be bought from the Honeydukes Express trolley on the Hogwarts Express or at Honeydukes Sweetshop in Hogsmeade. 

I found this recipe in the amazing web Food in Literature and the result was a roaring succes. I could totally picture myself on a snowy day in Hogsmeade enjoying this chocolate fantasy. They were still warm inside when we ate them. Amazing!

On my next Bookish Recipe, I will share with you how I made these delicious cauldron cakes. Stay tuned!

Butter Beer: a Harry Potter party would not be complete without Butterbeer. 

"Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it?"—Hermione Granger inviting Harry Potter to the Three Broomsticks Inn. 

This popular wizarding beverage is served at numerous locations in the wizarding world and has a very slight alcoholic content. Our favourite trio of wizards usually go to the Three Broomsticks to have a butterbeer. 

This recipe also comes from the amazing web Food in Literature and it tastes really good. Definitely a must have on a night like this. 

After enjoying this fabulous dinner (with my Hogwarts jumper), we watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which was the perfect ending to this magic night. I hope you all enjoyed #HarryPotterBookNight!