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until the mixture resembles coarse yellow meal without any white powdery bits remaining, about 20 pulses. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Beat the egg yolk with the vanilla and water and pour it into the flour-butter mixture. Toss with a spatula until the dough clumps together. If the dough is dry add 1 more tablespoon water (better too wet than too dry). Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll out the dough 1/8-inch thick. Stamp out circles of dough with a 4-inch round cutter. Fit the circles of dough into tartlet pans and arrange the pans on a baking sheet, or use a muffin pan.

Place 1 tablespoon of jam in each tart. The jam should just cover the bottom of the tart. If you put in too much, the jam will bubble over, and you will never be able to get the tarts out in one piece.

Decorate the tarts with cutouts from the leftover dough or make crosses with two strips of dough. Bake the tarts for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before removing the tarts from the pans.

Makes 8 tarts

Custard Creams

Be very careful of anything the Weasley twins offer you to eat. Neville has just eaten a custard cream, seemingly harmless and probably quite tasty, but it turns him into a canary (see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 21).

If you've been wondering what in the world custard creams are, the mystery has been solved. They are nothing more than sandwich cookies, typically flavored with custard powder, which is similar to vanilla pudding mix.

Cookie Dough

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup vanilla pudding mix (1 packet, not instant)

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¼ cup whole milk, at room temperature

Filling

1¼ cups confectioners' sugar

¼ stick (2 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract Bowl of sugar, for flattening cookies

Set the oven racks to the upper and lower positions, preheat the oven to 350°F, and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together the flour, vanilla pudding mix, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and stir until the mixture is crumbly. Add the milk and stir until the mixture forms a dough. Break off small pieces, roll into balls (about 1 inch), and place them on the cookie sheets 1½ inches apart.

Oil the bottom of a glass and dip it into the bowl of sugar to coat. Press the glass down on the balls of dough, dipping it in the sugar between each cookie. Bake for 16 minutes, until the cookies are just beginning to brown a bit at the edges, rotating the cookie sheets and switching shelves halfway through baking. Cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Beat the filling ingredients together until creamy. If the mixture is too dry, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until it becomes spreadable. Sandwich the cooled cookies with about 1 teaspoon of the filling.

Makes 2 dozen

Chewy Ginger Biscuits

Ooh, Harry is in such trouble. He loses his temper with Professor Umbridge, and with a lot of fanfare and drama, she sends him to Professor McGonagall. Harry enters her office expecting to be scolded and punished, but to his surprise she offers him a newt-shaped ginger cookie (see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 12).

The Oxford Companion to Food describes every cookie variety under the entry “cookies.” But ginger biscuits are so important, they merit an entry all to themselves — not even chocolate chip cookies are granted that honor. As in this recipe, the biscuits are typically made with treacle and brown sugar. Also called ginger nuts, they are related