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Remove the smaller disk from the refrigerator and sprinkle both sides generously with flour. On a heavily flour-dusted work surface, roll out the dough 1/8-inch thick. Cut the dough into strips with a sharp knife. Lay half the strips over the tart in one direction and lay the other half over the tart in the opposite direction to form a lattice. Don't try weaving the strips. Just laying them down will be hard enough, as the strips may break as you move them and you'll have to keep fixing and patching.

Brush the strips with the beaten egg and bake the tart for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature with or without a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Serves 8

Sugar Biscuits

Harry's suffering from the shock of watching a schoolmate being murdered by Voldemort and barely escaping with his own life, and apart from Ron and Hermione, Hagrid is one of the few people he can confide in. Indeed, several days after this tragic episode, Harry finds himself in Hagrid's hut, having tea and Hagrid's “doughy” cookies (see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 27). If you wish to produce results like Hagrid's, you can try making the cookies twice as thick as specified or baking them for half the time.

“Biscuit” is the English word for “cookie.” Biscuits are an old food, and the Romans, of course, made dry biscuits, which they fried and ate with honey and pepper. Once the Middle Ages were past, cooks learned to mix sugar with eggs, and to cream butter with sugar, so we have them to thank for the many varieties of “biscuits” that abound today.

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

2 sticks (16 tablespoons) butter

1½ cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Turbinado sugar or granulated sugar, for sprinkling (Introduction)

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each until incorporated. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Stir in the flour mixture on the lowest speed until combined, scraping down the sides as needed. Divide the dough in half, form into disks, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill until firm, about 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Remove the chilled disks from the refrigerator. Working with one disk at a time, roll out the dough ¼-inch thick. Using a 1½-inch or 3-inch cookie cutter, stamp out rounds of dough. Place the rounds on cookie sheets and sprinkle with turbinado sugar or granulated sugar.

Bake for 12 minutes, switching and rotating the pans midway through baking. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Repeat until all the dough is used up.

Makes 8 dozen 1½-inch or 4 dozen 3-inch cookies

For doughy cookies like Hagrid's, bake the cookies for half the time. But be aware that undercooked cookie dough may give you a food-borne illness or at the very least a stomachache!

Kreaher's French Onion Soup

Giving Kreacher Regulus's locket was a good move: Harry has never tasted better French onion soup (see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 12).

For at least 2,000 years, maybe more, onion soup has been a staple for the poor. But French onion soup is a staple for the not-so-poor, with its rich beef broth, croutons, and melted cheese.

To make French Onion Soup with Gruyère, preheat the oven to 325°F. Ladle the soup in heatproof cups. Sprinkle in 1 tablespoon of slivered Gruyère and ½ teaspoon grated raw onion per cup. Float a piece of buttered toast on top and sprinkle with a scant ¼ cup of grated Gruyère. Bake for 20 minutes or brown under the broiler.

4 medium onions

½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter, melted

1 baguette

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose