Wizard’s Cookbook
Page 8
Gently melt the marshmallows with a little water in a saucepan over a gentle heat until smooth and creamy.
Take the frog cases out of the refrigerator, fill them with melted marshmallow, smoothing the top with a spoon, and set aside again in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (the longer the frogs stay in the refrigerator, the better they are).
Collect and melt the leftover chocolate as before, carefully cover the marshmallow filling with it, smoothing with a knife, and set aside for 30 more minutes in the refrigerator.
Unmold carefully and utter the Wrigglish spell to bring the frogs to life.
ELVEN WAYBREAD (LEMBAS)
Wrapped in long leaves, these fortifying and nourishing cookies allow the Elves and their friends to survive in arid lands. It was Lembas that gave Frodo and Sam sustenance in their crossing of Mordor, to throw the Ring into Mount Doom and thus defeat Sauron.
INGREDIENTS
• Makes about 20 cookies
1 lb 2 oz flour + extra for work surface
9 oz light soft brown sugar
8 fl oz (1 cup) water collected from the leaves of a golden tree
1 pinch salt
4 1/2 oz nuts, shelled (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts …)
4 1/2 oz dried fruit
(raisins, figs, apples….)
PREPARATION TIME • 20 mins COOKING TIME • 20 mins
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Sift the flour into a pottery bowl fired during two equinoxes, then add the sugar, water, and salt. Mix well to make a smooth, homogenous dough.
Break the nuts into small pieces. Dice the dried fruit into squares of about 1/2 inch.
Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured work surface to a thickness of 1/2 inch, remembering to prick it with a fork so no bubbles form while it cooks.
Cut the dough into squares half a Hobbit palm wide (about 2 inches).
Place the cookies on a sheet of parchment paper, then sprinkle with the dried fruit and nuts. Bake for 10 minutes. Brush the top of the cookies with a little water or dew collected from the leaves of a golden tree, to form a lovely crust, and cook for another 10 minutes.
Let the waybread cool before wrapping it up for your journey.
JAFAR’S JEWELS
Sound the trumpets and bang the drums! Make way for the great Jafar! May all bow down before him, or they will end up in chains! Speaking of which, the great Jafar is especially fond of these delicious little cookies.
INGREDIENTS
• makes about 20 rings
11 1/2 oz flour, sifted
1/4 oz baking powder
9 oz honey
2 egg whites
2 1/4 oz butter, melted
1 oz ground hazelnuts
PREPARATION TIME • 15 mins COOKING TIME • 20 mins
Send your most faithful servant to light the oven at 400°F.
In a bowl scrubbed clean of all traces of poison (you can never be too careful!), mix the sifted flour and baking powder with the honey.
Seize a whisk and beat the egg whites savagely in another bowl (make sure it is clean, dry, and grease-free). When firm peaks form, add the butter, melted under the midday sun, and mix in gently.
Pour the beaten egg whites onto the flour-honey mixture and knead together until the dough is smooth and puts up no more resistance (if it sticks a little, throw in a little flour; if it is too thick, have it drink a little water).
Take a walnut-sized piece of dough, flatten it with your hand, and make a hole in the middle with the handle of a wooden spoon. Turn the handle to enlarge the hole. Repeat until you run out of dough.
Place the cookies on a sheet of parchment paper and scatter with the hazelnuts. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.
Once they are cold, thread them onto a cord to wear over your shoulder, so they are easy to reach when you are feeling peckish, without having to get down from your horse or your flying carpet.
DELIGHTS OF THE LAMP
It is true that spending 1,001 nights in a lamp gives you time to fine-tune your recipes. When you taste thes small delicacies from the Orient you will soon be singing their praises!
INGREDIENTS
• Makes about 20 delights
The pastry
1 lb 2 oz flour + extra for work surface
7 oz butter, softened
3 T superfine sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
2 T confectioners’ sugar
The filling
1 lb 2 oz sliced almonds
7 oz superfine sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1 T orange flower water
1 3/4 oz crystallized rose petals
PREPARATION TIME • 20 mins COOKING TIME • 15 mins
RESTING TIME • 15 mins
Caravan drivers with their camels cross miles of dusty desert to eat these pastries! To you, my Friend, I will reveal their secret.
Make the pastry by rubbing together the sifted flour and butter with your fingertips, until the mixture resembles the sand of the dunes, then stir in the superfine sugar. Next, add the cinnamon and confectioners’ sugar and let it rest for the time it takes you to go and smell the roses of the Sultan.
Place the almonds in a pan over a gentle heat without letting your mind wander, or else they will burn! And when they have turned the color of the sand of the oasis at sunrise … What’s that? You have never gazed upon the oasis at sunrise? Remind me to take you there. So, when the almonds are golden brown, grind them finely and mix them with the sugar, cinnamon, orange flower water, and rose petals. Shape the mixture into small balls.
Heat the oven to 350°F.
Using a rolling pin or rolled-up carpet, roll out the pastry dough 4mm thick on a floured surface and using an upturned glass or a cookie cutter, cut out an even number of circles from the dough. Place a ball of filling on half of the circles and place a second circle of pastry on top, sealing the edges so that the mischievous filling does not escape. Bake your little pastries in the oven for about 15 minutes.
Be careful, my Friend, make sure they stay a light brown. Otherwise they will become hard like the pebbles on the edge of the oasis at sunrise. You still don’t know? Well then, we will go there tomorrow on my best flying carpet!
MAGICA DE SPELL’S LUCKY DIMES
When she fails to steal Scrooge’s Number One Dime, Magica De Spell consoles herself by nibbling these cookies.
INGREDIENTS • serves 4
9 oz chestnut flour
4 1/2 oz confectioners’ sugar
4 1/2 oz butter, softened
1 pinch salt
2 1/4 oz ground almonds
1 vanilla bean
1 egg yolk, for glazing
PREPARATION TIME • 10 mins COOKING TIME • 20 mins
RESTING TIME • 15 mins
Spread out a very thin layer of the flour in a nonstick frying pan and toast it for a few minutes on high heat (2 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the layer).
Let the flour cool, then sift it into a bowl and mix with the confectioners’ sugar, softened butter, salt, and ground almonds.
Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife, and add them to the mixture.
Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper until it is as thin as an authentic florin (about 1/8 inch), then place the dough and paper in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up.
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Cut out circles in the dough with a glass or circular cookie cutter and place them on a baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg yolk and bake for 12 to 15 minutes until they are golden brown.
FAIRY MELUSINE’S PASTRY
The fairy Melusine, condemned to become part-woman, part-serpent every Saturday and stay out of sight of her husband, gets a little bored on her French estate. What better way of passing the time than to make this delicious pastry to add some magic to her day?
INGREDIENTS • serves 6
7 oz pitted prunes
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br /> 1 egg + 1 egg yolk for glazing
3 1/2 oz superfine sugar + 1 T for prunes
4 1/2 oz butter, softened
9 oz flour + extra for work surface
1 t baking powder
1 pinch salt
PREPARATION TIME • 15 mins COOKING TIME • 45 mins
REFRIGERATION TIME • 30 mins
Soak the prunes in a bowl of lukewarm water for 30 minutes. Beat 1 egg with the 3 1/2 oz sugar in a bowl until the mixture becomes pale, then add the butter and mix together vigorously. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt, then add to the first mixture and mix again. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, drain the prunes and place them with 1 tablespoon sugar in a saucepan over low heat. Let them cook for 15 minutes, mashing them roughly with a fork.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Take the ball of dough out of the refrigerator and divide it into two equal portions. Roll out each portion on a floured work surface using a rolling pin to make two circles about 8 inches in diameter.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet and place the first circle of pastry on top. Spread the cooked prunes over the circle to about 5/8 inch inside the edge.
Brush around the edge with a little water, then cover with the second circle of pastry. Press the edges down lightly to seal them as well as you can so the prune mixture can’t escape (use the tines of a fork if you need to). Brush the top with beaten egg yolk and bake for 30 minutes. Allow it to cool completely, then enjoy under the midnight sun.
PATAPUMPKINS
Patapumpkins are a favorite candy of witches and wizards. Enjoyed at home by the whole family since the beginning of time and in schools of magic by generations of pupils, the rumor goes that certain teachers love them to the point of making Patapumpkins one of their favorite passwords! Traditionally made with love for Halloween, try making this dish from different varieties of pumpkin: a real delicacy!
INGREDIENTS • Makes 1 lb 2 oz
9 oz pumpkin (try different varieties …)
11 1/2 oz jam-making sugar
1 squeeze lemon juice
Superfine sugar, to finish
PREPARATION TIME • 5 mins COOKING TIME • 10 mins
RESTING TIME • 2 hrs
Don your protective gloves, and using a Rapidrinder spell, remove the rind of the pumpkin. Cut the flesh into chunks, then chop into small pieces in a food processor.
Place a small plate in the freezer or cast a level-3 Chill spell.
Place the pumpkin, jam-making sugar, and lemon juice in a medium-sized cauldron and bring to a boil. Stir constantly, chanting, until the sugar has completely dissolved (this is essential for the recipe to succeed).
After letting the pumpkin mixture simmer for 10 minutes, take the plate out of the freezer, drop a little mixture onto it, count to ten, and turn the plate up so it is vertical. The mixture is ready if it stays firmly in place as a paste. If it runs, keep simmering and repeat the test.
Place a sheet of parchment paper on a tray, overhanging the edges, then pour in the pumpkin mixture and let it cool for at least 2 hours.
Once the paste has completely cooled, cut out your patapumpkins using a pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter (or a homemade cardboard stencil), then roll them in superfine sugar so the candy won’t stick to your fingers.
CIRCE’ S CHARM
In the TV series Ulysses 31, Circe the enchantress wants to gather under one roof all the knowledge of the universe. She lures the crews of passing ships to her planet and puts them under a spell during an elaborate meal so that they stay with her forever and help her build up her intergalatic library.
INGREDIENTS • serves 4
2 3/4 oz flour
1 t baking powder
2 eggs
1 pinch salt
2 3/4 oz superfine sugar
9 oz plain fromage blanc
3 3/4 oz crème fraîche (30% dairy fat)
3 1/2 oz honey
1 sheet of gelatin
PREPARATION TIME • 15 mins RESTING TIME • 1 hr
COOKING TIME • 20 mins REFRIGERATION TIME • 30 mins
Star date 2063.05.04 – Ship’s log of the Odysseus.
We were drawn in at subluminal speed by an unidentified singularity which turned out to be the library-planet of Circe. My shipmates Telemachus and Yumi, protected by our droid Nono, went out to expore and were captured, tempted by a dessert. I am entering the recipe (translated into the common language) into the databank of Shirka, our shipboard computer.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Sift the flour and baking powder. Break the eggs, separating the whites from the yolks. In a clean, dry bowl, beat the whites to firm peaks with the salt, add the sugar, and beat again. Pour in both egg yolks at once. Fold them in very gently, incorporating as much air as possible. Fold in the flour and baking powder.
Pour into an 8-inch square pan and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Let it cool completely before unmolding.
Whisk the fromage blanc and crème fraîche together until smooth and creamy. Set aside in the refrigerator. Melt the honey and gelatin in a saucepan over very low heat.
Place the génoise cake on a plate, trim it to the dimensions of the cake mold, and place at the bottom. Pour the chilled cream over top of it.
Place in a cooling cell for 30 minutes.
WITCHES’ COUNCIL JELLO RING
This is a fresh and fruity version of the typical 1960s dessert, perfect for impressing all your housewitch friends at the next Tupperware party.
INGREDIENTS • serves 6
16 fl oz (2 cups) pomegranate juice
8 sheets of gelatin
16 fl oz (2 cups) soda
1 lb 2 oz berries, according to the season of the Witches’ Council
PREPARATION TIME • 15 mins COOKING TIME • 15 mins
REFRIGERATION TIME • 3 hrs
When the moon is waxing, heat the pomegranate juice in a saucepan.
When the first bubbles appear, lower the heat and add the gelatin sheets, stirring until they are completely dissolved. Let the liquid cool for a quarter of an hour in mortal time, then add the soda and stir again.
Rinse the berries and remove any stems if necessary.
Pour the liquid into a 10 1/2-inch ring mold, distribute the berries around the mold, and let it set in the refrigerator for 3 hours, or ideally a whole day. Serve chilled.
ALAKAZAM COOKIES
In the film The Sword in the Stone, Merlin is a wizard living with his pet owl Archimedes in a cottage in the middle of the forest. Predicting exactly when Wart—his nickname for the future King Arthur—will arrive, Merlin organizes an afternoon tea for his young protégé.
INGREDIENTS • serves 4
1 3/4 oz sesame seeds
7 oz buckwheat flour
2 3/4 oz superfine sugar
1 pinch salt
1 t ground cinnamon
2 eggs
2 1/2 oz butter, softened
PREPARATION TIME • 5 mins COOKING TIME • 15 mins
RESTING TIME • 30 mins
Oyez, oyez!
I give you the recipe for alakazam cookies, favored by our noble liege lord King Arthur! Invented by the great Merlin himself for the pleasure of young and old!
Toast the sesame seeds in a pan for a few minutes over high heat. Remove and set aside.
Mix the flour with the sugar, salt, cinnamon, and sesame seeds, then the eggs and softened butter. Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of about 1/8 inch.
Rest it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes so it firms up.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Cut out rectangular cookies (2 x 2 3/4 inches), sprinkle the reserved sesame seeds on top, and cook in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
TITANIA’S DELIGHT
Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, likes to amuse herself with Oberon, the King, holding banquets where the
spirits of the forest indulge in delicious fruit-based desserts.
INGREDIENTS • serves 4
3 1/2 oz yellow peaches (or apricots, melons)
3 1/2 oz cherries (or strawberries, raspberries)
3 1/2 oz greengage plums (or
kiwifruit)
4 meringues (from your local bakery)
3 1/2 oz black currants (or ripe
blueberries, blackberries)
8 fl oz (1 cup) whipped cream (or yogurt for a lighter version)
3 1/2 oz gooseberries (or white
peaches)
2 1/4 oz toasted and roughly crushed hazelnuts
PREPARATION TIME • 5 mins
Begin by washing and removing the stems of the fruits.
Submerge the peaches for 1 minute in boiling water, then remove their skin and stones. Next, pit the cherries, and plums.
Cut the cherries in two and dice the peaches and plums.
Break the meringues into small pieces.
Assemble the layers of the dessert in the following way: a first layer of blue fruits (blackcurrants, blueberries, or blackberries), followed by 1 layer of meringue, and 1 layer of whipped cream.
Continue in the same way, alternating layers of fruit, meringue, and whipped cream, making sure to place the fruit in the following order of color: blue, red, orange, yellow, and, finally, green.
Finish by sprinkling roughly crushed toasted hazelnuts on the top layer of whipped cream.
THE WHITE WITCH’S TURKISH DELIGHT
When Edmund Pevensie enters Narnia for the first time through the magic wardrobe, he meets the White Witch. To win the young boy over, she offers him the best Turkish delight that he has ever tasted.
INGREDIENTS • makes 20 pieces
2 3/4 oz cornstarch + more for sifting
10 1/2 oz superfine sugar
1 t lemon juice
1 T rosewater
1 glass confectioners’ sugar
Neutral-flavored oil
PREPARATION TIME • 15 mins COOKING TIME • 55 mins