The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook - Dinah Bucholz [18]
Dense and Fudgy Steamed Chocolate Pudding
1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup whole milk
Grease and flour a 1½-quart pudding bowl or a heatproof glass or ceramic bowl with a tight-fitting lid (grease and flour the lid as well). A similar size casserole dish with lid will work as well. Place a rack or overturned shallow bowl in the bottom of a large pot, fill a third of the way with water, and set it to boil. Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
Whisk together the sugar, vanilla, eggs, and milk until smooth. Whisk in the chocolate mixture until smooth. Add the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared bowl and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Cover the bowl with the lid, making sure it is secure.
Put the bowl in the pot, making sure the water reaches halfway up the sides of the bowl. Boil for 3 hours, checking the water level every so often and adding more water if necessary. Remove the pudding from the pot and uncover. Cool for 30 minutes, then turn it upside down onto a serving plate to unmold. If the pudding is stuck, shake it back and forth to loosen it. Serve warm with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Serves 6
Ice Cream Sundaes
How can Harry eat ice cream sundaes every half hour (supplied free by Florean Fortescue) while doing his homework and not get as fat as Dudley. No fair! (See Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 4.)
Necessity is the mother of invention. In the early 1900s, the blue laws (an old-fashioned set of laws that were passed to enforce Sabbath observance and other religious laws) forbade selling ice cream sodas on Sunday. So ice cream parlors took out the soda, which left the ice cream and syrup, and voilà! The Ice Cream Sunday was born. Too good to serve only on Sunday, the spelling was changed so it could be served every day. Following are ideas you can use to make your own delicious ice cream sundaes at home.
Lemon Meringue Pie Sundae
Place 1 scoop vanilla ice cream in a sundae glass. Add 2 tablespoons store-bought lemon curd or lemon pie filling and sprinkle broken meringue cookies on top. Repeat the layering once.
Triple Strawberry Burst Sundae
Place 1 scoop strawberry ice cream in a sundae glass. Cover with chopped fresh strawberries and strawberry syrup. Repeat layering once.
Nuts About Sundaes
Place a scoop of pistachio ice cream in a sundae glass. Sprinkle in a handful of chopped toasted nuts and squirt in some chocolate syrup. Repeat layering once.
Chocolate Fudge Brownie Sundae
Place a piece of warmed brownie in a sundae glass. Add 2 scoops of chocolate ice cream or vanilla fudge ice cream and top with chocolate syrup. Eat before the ice cream melts.
Serves as many as desired
Tea: How to Make a Proper Cuppa
Tea appears many times in the Harry Potter books, a testament to its importance in British life. A very significant tea is Harry's first one with Hagrid, the first of many and the beginning of a strong friendship (see Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 8). The invitation to “come over and have a cuppa” comes from “have a cup o' tea.” The way to prepare a proper cuppa is almost a ritual.
This most British of all drinks arrived in the 1600s from China and quickly replaced ale as the national drink. Tradition credits the Duchess of Bedford (1800s) with starting the tradition of afternoon tea. She got very hungry waiting from her noon dinner to her nine o'clock supper. So at around four in the afternoon, she would sneak some food and tea. Later on she came out in the open and invited