Hogwart's Halloween Feast: Treacle Tarts, Pumpkin Pasties & Butterbeer Cupcakes

"By the time Hallowe'en arrived, Harry was regretting his rash promise to go to the deathday party. The rest of the school was happily anticipating their Hallowe'en feast; the Great Hall had been decorated with the usual live bats, Rubeus Hagrid's vast pumpkins had been carved into lanterns large enough for three men to sit in, and there were rumours that Albus Dumbledore had booked a troupe of dancing skeletons for the entertainment."

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

There's no use hiding just how much I love Harry Potter. I've queued up at midnight for book editions to be released, had DVD marathons and visited the Leavesden Studios umpteen times. And if you're not a Harry Potter fan, chances are you won't be reading this and will never know how to make the best pumpkin pasties of your life.

But, guys, Harry Potter is for life, not just Halloween. 

So in order to preserve these recipes from the Hogwart's Halloween feast, Flick and I hopped on the Floo Network for supplies in Diagon Alley (via Flick's kitchen) and here they are...

In absence of Hagrid's pumpkins and a troupe of dancing skeletons, Flick did her best to keep me entertained with cups of tea, some singing and some regular dancing. She's multi-talented you know.

TREACLE TART

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"When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the puddings appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding...As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families."

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Treacle Tart
(recipe adapted from BBC Good Food, makes 4 individual tarts, or 1 medium tart)

115g plain flour

55g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

1 egg

45g breadcrumbs

225g golden syrup

pinch of ground ginger

zest of 1/2 a lemon and 1tbsp of lemon juice

1. Rub together the butter and flour in a large bowl until it resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in the egg and knead on a lightly floured work surface until the dough is smooth.
3. Roll out to about the thickness of a pound coin and place into tart tins. Use a small ball of leftover dough to press into the edges of the tart tin. Prick the base with a fork and leave to cool in the fridge for 30 minutes.
4. Heat the oven to 190 degrees, cover the tarts with baking paper, fill with baking beans and bake blind for 10-15 minutes. The tart should be light and just starting to turn golden.
5. For the treacle filling, mix all ingredients together. Pour into the pastry tarts and bake for 20 minutes.

PUMPKIN PASTIES

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"Anything from the cart, dearies?"

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 

Pumpkin Pasties
(makes 16)

390g pumpkin flesh, grated

200g gruyere, grated

1tbsp freshly chopped sage

1tbsp freshly chopped parsley

2 cloves garlic, grated

dash of cream

one pack of puff pastry

1 egg yolk, beaten

1. Heat the oven to 190 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the pumpkin flesh, 150g cheese, herbs, garlic, cream and generously season. Leave to one side.
2. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the puff pastry to about the thickness of a pound coin. Use a round pastry cutter to cut each pasty. Pull out each of the pastry rounds so that they look more pumpkin shaped.
3. Lay half the pumpkins onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper, leaving a little room between each.
4. Spoon the pumpkin mix onto the middle of each pastry pumpkin leaving space round the edges to brush with beaten egg yolk.
5. Place the pumpkin tops on, score three lines from top to bottom of each of the pumpkins to help them take their shape. Place a pumpkin seed on top for the stalk.
6. Sprinkle on the remaining 50g of grated gruyere and bake in the oven until golden, 15-20 minutes.

BUTTERBEER & PUMPKIN CUPCAKES

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"Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, its a bit cold, isn't it?"

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 

Butterbeer & pumpkin cupcakes
(makes a dozen)

Spiced pumpkin cupcakes:

225g pumpkin flesh, grated

1tbsp root ginger, peeled and grated

40ml buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g unsalted butter, softened

210g caster sugar

250g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a cupcake tray with cupcake cases. In a stand mixer, or with a handheld whisk, mix together the pumpkin, ginger, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, butter and sugar until combined.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and spices (no need to sift these).
3. Continue to slowly beat the pumpkin mix and add in the flour mix in stages, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is well mixed.
4. Divide between the cupcake cases and bake for 15 minutes, until golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack whilst you make the buttercream.

Butterbeer buttercream:

140g salted butter, softened

280g icing sugar, sifted

splash of full fat milk or cream

1tsp vanilla bean paste (the stronger the better)

1tsp caramel flavouring (better still, butter flavouring if you can find it)

few drops of orange colouring

1. In a stand mixer or hand whisk, beat the butter and icing sugar slowly together until smooth. If needed, add a splash of milk or cream to loosen.
2. Continue to beat in the flavouring and colouring until fully incorporated.

Pipe the buttercream onto the cooled cupcakes and decorate with smashed pretzels, butterscotch and any other treats you fancy. A drizzle of caramel would be great too!


And if that's not quite enough for a feast, then check out some more ideas on my Pinterest board...

Follow Sophie Loves Food's board harry potter on Pinterest.

"Mischief managed."

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#OnkenTips Instagram Recipe Book

Whether in meals, snacks or baking, I love using yogurt to give recipes a healthy little boost. Working with Onken over the past few years has been a great way of learning about yogurt and also finding tasty alternatives to butter and milk.

Some of my favourite 'dollops of difference' for weekdays are adding yogurt to mashed potato to make it extra creamy and to make a great chicken marinade with a spoon of tikka paste mixed with yogurt. Healthy too!

Last week Onken released their #OnkenTips Cookbook, the UK's first crowdsourced Instagram cookbook. Yogurt lovers from across the country have shared their favourite ways of using Onken.

For more inspiration, the #OnkenTips Instagram Cookbook can be found online here.

Here's a sneak peak of the inside...

Whether it's my lemon and blueberry yogurt loaf, Miss Mamo's garlic bread or Nicole's yogurt satay sauce, there's some great tips in the book. Take a look for a dollop of yogurt inspiration!

This post is in collaboration with Onken.

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Bake Off Bake Along: Week 10 - Chocolate, Amaretto & Morello Iced Buns

Ten whole weeks has flown by. What will we all do with our Wednesday evenings now?

Baking along with the TV series has been both great fun and stressful. From the time my pastry fell apart, the nuts fell off my mokatines and my frangipane literally fell out the oven. I've also gotten over my fear of making pastry, kind of, and also brioche.

I'd have like to have made something more like a showstopper for my final bake. But then again, I'm pretty sure I've said that every week. Instead, for each challenge I've tried to work on things I've never made before as a good excuse to expand my repertoire.

And so, onto the final...

I chose to make iced buns a little differently. Regular iced buns remind me of the time someone once bought supermarket iced buns into the office. They were stale, lacking in jam and the lurid icing was too cloy. And just plain miserable.

I made brioche buns, stuffed them with morello cherry jam and frosted them with my favourite chocolate and amaretto ganache. For the brioche, I used a trusty Dan Lepard recipe and the filling recipe from my last bake for the frosting.

Unfortunately I didn't quite get enough jam in and the ganache was a little difficult to work with. I wanted it to cool slightly before frosting so as not to drip down the buns too much. But then it got too cool and too firm, and therefore a little lumpy once reheated slightly.

Here's a few pointers for brioche...

• ensure eggs and butter are at room temperature and dissolve the yeast into liquids at a warm to the touch temperature
• its best to use regular yeast, rather than a quick rising supermarket one, and the fresher the better
• be prepared to do a lot of mixing. For a long time you may think there's absolutely no way everything will come together to form a dough. Just keep adding small chunks of butter, bit by bit
• when the dough is ready and has come together perfectly, it'll cling onto the dough hook of your mixer and slap the sides of the bowl
• if kneading, the dough will feel sticky and loose. Persevere, otherwise adding more flour in will make the buns pretty tough
• butter helps to give brioche that nice rich flavour but also helps to shape the dough. If you need to shape the dough in some elaborate fashion, chill it for a good few hours to firm up the butter and it'll be more pliable
• the warmer your room, the quicker the dough will rise
• although, for optimum flavour, prove overnight in the fridge and leave to stand at room temperature for two hours before baking
• if you're making regular brioche and not frosting buns, brush the tops with egg yolk before baking for a super shiny top

And so that's it, my final Bake Off bake along recipe for the year!

Here's how I got on with the previous 9 weeks:

   

   

  

Thanks Amanda and Ala for hosting such a fun challenge x

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Recipe: McVitie's Chocolate Digestive Cake for National Chocolate Week

Its National Chocolate Week everyone!

There's only a few wagons I'll jump on when it comes to national 'this' day and national 'that'. But chocolate? Absolutely, yes please!

This chocolate digestive cake is the perfect no-bake recipe to make after work. Leave it to set in the fridge and it'll be ready to take into the office in the morning if you're looking for extra brownie points. Failing that, it will set in less than an hour so you can have it for dinner. Because being an 'adult' means that I get to make the choices for dinner and chocolate for dinner will make my soul happy!

McVitie's Chocolate Digestive Cake

(Recipe from McVitie's, makes a 1lb loaf to serve 8)

200g Mcvitie's Digestive biscuits

110g whole pecans, roughly chopped

110g pistachio nuts, peeled

150g unsalted butter

1tbsp golden syrup

300g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)

1. In a small bowl, break half the biscuits into small pieces. Add most of the nuts, leaving some behind for garnishing the top of the cake.
2. Melt the butter, golden syrup and chocolate in a bowl placed over a pan of barely simmering water to melt. When fully melted and smooth, add the nuts and biscuits and mix.
3. Use cling film to line a 1lb loaf tin, leaving enough round the edges to pull the cake out once set.
4. Halve the remaining biscuits and place a layer in the bottom of the tin. Alternate between layers of chocolate and biscuits. Slowly pour any remaining chocolate over the top.
5. Use a sheet of greaseproof paper to cover and push down the mix firmly into the tin.
6. Sprinkle the remaining nuts over the top and leave to set in the fridge for around an hour to firm.
7. Remove from the tin using surplus cling film and slice to serve.

There's so many variations you could make on this recipe, change the biscuits, the chocolate and nuts to whatever you've got lurking in your cupboards.

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14 Perfect Recipes for Autumn

Dust off your slow cookers, mornings are now fresher than ever. And by fresh, I mean I'm considering gloves, scarves and hats already. And to get myself in the mood for apple, cinnamon and pumpkin season I've rounded up the best of Autumn recipes from the blogosphere.

Plenty of pumpkin and sweet potato will help to defrost us a little before things get a little too festive. (Although for some, we're already there...supermarket mince pies, anyone?)

Autumn is my favourite season purely for slow cookers and batch cooking, much less hassle than summer cooking. Bintu's pumpkin pasta with toasted hazelnuts is a perfect example of a super speedy seasonal supper. Make my pumpkin chilli and store portions in the freezer ready for busy weeks. Lucy's beef daube stew is perfect to make in advance for a warming Sunday dinner.

And for some more comforting suppers? I can't wait to try Kate's oven-baked pumpkin & leek risotto, I'm too impatient to stir regular risotto constantly. Or maybe to dunk huge hunks of a buttered loaf into these super easy turmeric beans. Mac n cheese fan? Hannah has truly gone to town with this squash, sage and stilton mac n cheese with bacon.

Fancy a drink? Madeleine has the most perfect pumpkin spice latte recipe or for something a little healthier, this blackberry, fig and beetroot smoothie recipe should do the

I don't think I've mentioned how much I enjoy baking with pumpkin and sweet potato. It's such a versatile ingredient and great for moist, fluffy bakes. Try these spiced pumpkin and pecan mini cakes or sweet potato cake with marshmallow frosting. Emily is the macaron queen and came up with these perfect pumpkin spice latte guys. How amazing do they look?! 

Cate really is on fire over the last few weeks with no end of Autumn inspiration popping up on her blog. I can't wait to try this Autumn banana bread made with squash puree (and its dairy free too!). A hybrid between doughnut and muffins, duffins are a deceptively easy and super quick treat to make. Cinnamon apple duffins are perfect for lunchbox treats...or for sneaky weekend breakfasts! Speaking of treats, these pumpkin pie bars from Katie would go down well in the office.

I'm so excited for my next day off to do some baking now!

What are your favourite Autumn recipes?

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Bake Off Bake Along: Week 9 - Amaretto Millionaire's Chocolate Tart

I'm just going to put it out there, chocolate week is my week. I was so excited to be let loose with a chocolate tart. The possibilities really were endless: peanut butter, chocolate bakewell and a cheesecake tart were a few of the ideas I'd had.

After my pastry disaster in week 6 I almost chickened out and bought shop-made pastry. I had to give myself a little pep talk and went with the idea that if it fell apart then at least I'd have something to write about. 

The chocolate pastry wasn't so difficult to make after all, I used a Tom Kerridge recipe. I did roll it out too thin and it fell apart when trying to place it in the tin though. So instead I opted for the ultimate cheats method...whack a big lump of pastry in the middle of a tart tin and squidge it around the corners until it resembles a tart. To Kerridge's recipe, I added a base layer of salted caramel and a malteser and white chocolate drizzle topping. 

It may not be as visually impressive as a chocolate sculpture show-stopper but this is the most decadent dessert you can possibly make. 

For the best chocolate pastry, salted caramel and chocolate ganache, follow these tips:

• pastry can be made up to 3 days ahead and is the perfect opportunity to give it a good chill before rolling and shaping. Wrap well in clingfilm to keep dry. Once ready to use, leave out at room temperature for 20-30 minutes until its soft enough to work with.
• alternatively, to freeze uncooked pastry, shape into a disc and wrap well. Store for up to one month in the freezer before leaving to thaw in the fridge for a day. Or to freeze an uncooked pastry tart that you've already shaped, freeze in the tin until firm enough to wrap.
• when rolling pastry and you've got some spare, flour your work surface with cocoa powder when making chocolate pastry.
• roll the pastry out to the thickness of a pound coin, rolling from the centre outwards and turning a quarter turn after each roll. This will ensure a nice even thickness and that the pastry doesn't stick to the work surface.
• use the rolling pin to gently drape the rolled pastry onto and lower onto the tart tin. Gently lift edges and ease into the corners with a rolled up ball of dough, you don't want to poke any holes with your nails.
• a good way to even out the top is to roll your rolling pin over the top of the tart tin to chop off any remaining pastry edges.
• chill for 30 minutes before blind baking. I like to be safe and prick the base of the tart with a fork a few times, then cover with cling film or baking paper and pour over some baking beans or uncooked rice. Yes, cling film can go in the oven!
• for the easiest guide to making salted caramel, Izy's guide has handy gifs.
• when making ganache I always think of Ashley's video, here.

And to see how I've gotten on with the rest of the challenges...

  

  

 

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Food in September

September whizzed by in a flurry of food and meet ups. I got by, with a vitamin B12 deficiency and a bout of laringyitis. All the more reason to eat you say? Thank you very much!

I tried steamed buns for the first time and am absolutely hooked. Pork belly too. So much so, I'm looking forward to taking some more sweet buns this week. Last weekend, Persephone, Flick and I ventured over to Lewisham's Model Market. There we saw our favourite Mother Flipper but also these guys, Yum Bun. Soft plump steamed buns, tender pork and crisp cucumber with lashings of hoisin sauce. Awesome.

I'm feeling seasonal. It didn't take much, but I'm already excited to get baking with sweet potato, cinnamon and apples. Zomato hosted a little get together with Primrose Bakery to celebrate National Cupcake Week and to show off their new book. This sweet potato cake with brown sugar frosting is glorious and I can't wait to recreate it. I had a sneaky little flick through the book and fell in love with pretty much all the recipes. If I were to have a book, this is exactly how I'd want it. So as you can imagine, I was thrilled to hear I'd won a copy when its released in the next few days!

For months I've passed The Fire Station on the way to work and worried that their renovations would see it turn into a block of flats or hotel. When they finally reopened and revealed a new menu of burgers and stone baked pizzas, I grabbed Hannah and Flick and went to do research...! You need to know where's good for burgers within a 5 minute walk-radius of your office, right? The bun is gorgeously plump, the patties were tender and so much American cheese and maple bacon, I was in my element. They didn't scrimp on the fries either. Highly recommend this if you're near Waterloo. 

You may think I'm a little mad, but I booked train tickets up to Manchester just to try this place. Home Sweet Home have dominated my Twitter feed with their towering creations ever since I got Twitter. I went for the cookie monster which has a bright prink swirled sponge and cookies tucked in between each layer and Boy went for a hazelnutty chocolate creation. Far too sweet but great for a treat. We also stopped by Solita and absolutely loved their cheeseburger spring rolls.

And lastly, if you've been round these parts for a while you'll know just how much I love yogurt. Onken hosted a great party to mark the launch of their new Greek range. This included Greek Gods, a Dairy Grove where yogurts hung from trees and plenty of cocktails. They even made yogurt portraits of the X Factor judges, pretty impressive. I loved all of the flavours, particularly apple and cinnamon one.

Another monthly favourite of mine is Frankie's horroscopes, check out what's in store for you this October. Or just for a laugh, her clever infographic of what actually goes on in female toilets.

If you're still in the need for a little more seasonality then Emily's pumpkin spiced latte macarons should do the trick!

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Super Simple Churros DIY with Tefal Optigrill

I absolutely love trying out new kitchen gadgets but space can be a little limited in my tiny little kitchen. Any new gadgets have to be pretty good at multi-tasking to earn a place on my limited worktops. I'd always had my eye on a Tefal Optigrill after purchasing one for Boy a few Christmases ago. He religiously uses his every few days for any meat and I'd been pretty impressed.

When Tefal sent me my very own* to try, I was keen to come up with some alternative uses for the gril and see just how versatile the grill is.

The Tefal Optigrill sits a little wider than a regular worktop grill (think George Foreman and sandwich toasters), but the different cooking settings and manual mode mean that you're more likely to use it on a regular basis rather than stashing it in a cupboard to collect dust.

I'll talk about the meat a little bit to start. With a selection of pre-defined cooking modes, the grill cooks bacon, chicken, burgers, sausages, fish and steak to perfection. Once preheated, the grill will automatically detect how thick a piece of meat is and therefore how long it needs to be cooked for. For steaks, you'll be able to choose how well done you like, as it sounds a little jingle at each level of cooking. The grill is at a slight angle for fat to run into the removable tray, ideal for sausages and bacon. And almost one of my favourite parts, the grill plates easily pop off with one simple button and can go straight into the dishwasher.

As I'd previously tested how great the Optigrill is at handling meat, I wanted to have a play and set to Pinterest to see what else I could grill. In short, you can pretty much grill everything in your cupboards.

This is where my favourite mode comes in, manual mode. Once the grill is preheated, it will maintain a constant grill heat for you to manually grill everything and anything from fruit, vegetables, sandwiches and desserts. You could even get rid of your toaster and use this instead. 

And so, I saw a thing on Pinterest that I couldn't wait to try out myself. Grilled doughnuts. As if I didn't love doughnuts enough, they got far better with this quick and simple DIY using the grill.

To make these life changing (bold statement, but give it a go and you'll see) DIY churros in less than 10 minutes you will need just a few cupboard staples and some shop-bought Yumyums. The result? A crisp caramelised outside and soft, fluffy centre. 

Super simple DIY Churros with Nutella dipping sauce

4 Yumyums
60g unsalted butter, melted

120g demerara sugar

1tbsp ground cinnamon

100g Nutella

dash of milk

• Turn your Tefal Optigrill to Manual mode and allow to preheat.
• Start by brushing Yumyums with melted butter making sure all corners are covered.
• Mix together the cinnamon and sugar in a big bowl. Toss in each Yumyum, one by one and ensure a generous and even coating of sugar.
• Once the Optigrill is ready for cooking, place the Yumyums in a row and allow to cook for a few minutes. No need to turn them, just keep an eye on them to avoid burning. 
• To make the sauce, mix together the Nutella and a splash of milk to loosen. Pop in the microwave for 30 secs - 1 minute and give a good stir. Add more milk if needed for optimum dipping consistency. 
• Once the Yumyums are perfectly grilled, the sugar will have melted and caramelised. 

Be careful, some of the melted sugar will trickle down the grill and into the drip tray.

I thought this would be an absolute nightmare to clean. There's usually nothing worse than burnt on sugar. But once cooled, the sugar just slid off with a damp cloth. I tried out another Pinterest trick too when grilling bacon, use a double layer of damp kitchen roll and close in the grill. Any remaining heat will create a little steam effect and any mess will stick to the kitchen roll and wipe straight off.

There really is no end to what the Optigrill will grill. I made a whole Pinterest board on things I'd like to try. Croissants, s'mores and bananas look particularly tasty!

Emily's review is great at walking you through exactly it handles steaks, take a look here.

And now I'm going to tuck into my favourite turkey bacon breakfast!

For more ideas...

Follow Sophie Loves Food's board grill on Pinterest.

Thanks to Tefal for sending me the Optigrill. All opinions and meals are my own!

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