The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook - Dinah Bucholz [9]
Add the flour mixture and milk alternately, beginning and ending with the flour and using the slowest speed on your mixer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and gently fold the batter together with a rubber spatula, taking care not to over mix.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake about 1 hour, or until the cake feels firm when touched lightly in the center or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan.
Custard
1½ cups whole milk plus ½ cup heavy cream or 2 cups whole milk
½ cup granulated sugar (divided)
¼ cup cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
4 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ stick (2 tablespoons) butter (only if not using any heavy cream)
Combine the milk or milk and heavy cream, ¼ cup of the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a small saucepan. In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks with the remaining ¼ cup of sugar until smooth.
Heat the milk mixture over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until it is hot but not bubbling. Reduce the heat to low. Pour 1 cup of the hot mixture in a slow stream into the egg yolk mixture while whisking quickly to temper the egg yolks. Pour the egg yolk mixture slowly back into the saucepan while stirring constantly. Return to medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and begins to boil. (Once the mixture begins to thicken, it must be handled gently so the cornstarch won't lose its thickening power.)
Remove the pan from the heat and add the vanilla. Add the butter if you did not use heavy cream. Stir gently until the butter is melted and combined. Strain the custard through a sieve into a bowl to ensure a smooth custard. (Use a rubber spatula to push the custard through the sieve.) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.
Lemon Meringue Pie
They had the soup; they had the salmon; now they're listening to Uncle Vernon talk about his work while they eat lemon meringue pie. Soon Aunt Marge will have too much brandy and soon Harry will get into lots of trouble (see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Chapter 2).
Lemon meringue pie is actually more American than apple pie. Apple pies were being made in England long before the colonists came over. Open pies, without a top crust, or pies topped with meringue tend to be American. Lemon meringue pie is a bit complex, but it's so worth it! Give yourself plenty of time to prepare this dessert, and you'll never want to buy the mass-produced kind again.
Pie Crust
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ stick (4 tablespoons) cold butter, cut into chunks
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into chunks
4–6 tablespoons ice water
Lemon Filling
1¼ cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1½ cups water
4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten (save the egg whites for the meringue)
½ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
¼ stick (2 tablespoons) butter
Meringue Topping
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
For the crust, combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 2 or 3 times to combine. Sprinkle the butter and shortening over the flour mixture and pulse about 15 times, until the mixture resembles coarse yellow meal. Turn the mixture out into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons ice water over the flour mixture, and toss with a spatula until the dough starts to clump together. If the dough is dry, add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time. Gather the dough together in a ball, pat it into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for 1 hour or up to 3 days.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough to an 11-inch circle. Fold the dough into quarters and brush