The original cast of the Harry Potter films will soon reunite to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the making of the film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The spellbinding reunion will see Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and co-stars look back to where the magic started all those years ago.
As you watch the magical return to Hogwarts on New Year’s Day, why not create your own feast which would put the Great Hall to shame? We’ve created some recipes which can transport you back to Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and even Privet Drive.
Our recipes are easy to follow, even for muggles, and we’ve also included some free-from alternatives for those of you who are vegan or have a food intolerance. Accio treats!
1 – Butterbeer – vegan and dairy-free options
Properly introduced in Prisoner of Azkaban when the trio visit Hogsmeade, Butterbeer is made out of butterscotch, sugar, and water, and was known to contain just enough alcohol to get house elves drunk. Want to create the foaming pint for yourself?
Our nutritionist, Sal Hanvey, has created a recipe with zero alcohol, so the entire family can enjoy it. This recipe can be dairy-free, for those who are allergic to or have an intolerance to lactose or milk proteins, or those who choose to be vegan.
This recipe is standard gluten, wheat, egg and nut free.
Ingredients
One cup/236ml of club soda or cream soda
Half a cup/120ml of butterscotch syrup or a vegan alternative (such as The Skinny Food Co Zero Calorie Butterscotch Syrup)
Half a tablespoon of butter or vegan spread, softened
Heavy cream or soya cream (optional)
Traditional glass pint tankard mugs
Recipe
1 – Pour the butterscotch syrup into a bowl. Butterscotch is essential to give the butterbeer its unique and magical flavour.
2 – Add the softened butter or spread.
3 – Combine the syrup and butter mix by mixing well.
4 – Pour the cream soda or club soda into the mixture, and stir. Set aside for now.
5 – In a separate mixing bowl, whip heavy whipping cream or vegan cream until it forms stiff peaks. You can do this by hand or with a mixer.
6 – Pour the cream/club soda and butterscotch mixture into two clear mugs, and finish with a scoop or two of whipped cream. Enjoy!
2 – Chocolate Frog Cupcakes
Perhaps the most famous food in Harry Potter land, chocolate frogs are one of the most popular wizarding sweets, not least because they come with a collectable card of a notable witch or wizard.
If you don’t have any cards of famous Hogwarts alumni lying around, why not make chocolate frog cupcakes instead?
Ingredients – makes 12
Cupcake
150g self-raising flour
30g cocoa powder
140g caster sugar
175g softened butter or margarine
Three large eggs
50g cooking milk chocolate or chocolate vermicelli
¼ tsp vanilla extract
½ tbsp milk
Buttercream Icing
280g softened butter
½ tsp vanilla extract
Four tbsp of milk
25g edible eyes (you can get these from most major supermarkets)
540g of icing sugar
A few drops of green food colouring
Recipe
1 – Pre-heat your oven to 180C/160 fan/gas 4.
2 – Line your muffin tin with 12 cupcake cases.
3 – Grate your milk chocolate or vermicelli.
4 – Place all of your cupcake ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, caster sugar, eggs, softened butter, vanilla extract, milk and grated chocolate) into a large bowl and mix it well until it’s all combined. You can do this by hand or with a food processor.
5 – Divide the mixture evenly between each case.
6 – Place the cupcakes into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Check if they’re cooked by placing a skewer into one cupcake and making sure it comes out clean.
7 – Leave your cupcakes to cool while you make your icing.
8 – Beat the butter for the icing in a bowl until it’s soft. Then, add in half of the icing sugar and keep beating it until the mixture is smooth.
9 – Add in the rest of the icing sugar, two tablespoons of milk, and half a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Continue to beat until smooth. Add in more milk if the mixture is too stiff.
10 – Add a few drops of green food colouring, and stir until you get a bright, vibrant colour.
11 – Pipe the mixture evenly onto each cupcake.
12 – Place two edible eyes onto each cupcake, and marvel at your chocolate frog creations!
3 – Treacle Tart – vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free alternatives
The mighty treacle tart is Harry’s favourite dessert, and it’s both comforting and relatively simple to make, too. Find out how you can make a treacle tart to rival any that Mrs Weasley could make…
We’ve included vegan alternatives for those of you who would prefer to make this without any animal products. This includes using aqua faba, the water left over in a tin of chickpeas instead of eggs. This is a great alternative for those who are vegan, but also those with egg allergies and intolerances.
Ingredients – Serves 8-10
Pastry
250g plain flour or gluten free flour
140g cold unsalted butter or vegan sunflower oil spread
Three tablespoons of icing sugar
¼ teaspoon of fine salt
Two egg yolks, or eight tablespoons of aqua faba
For the filling
400g agave syrup
One ball step ginger in syrup, finely chopped, plus 40g of the syrup
One lemon, zested
Two eggs or eight tablespoons of aqua faba
100g fine fresh white breadcrumbs or gluten free panko breadcrumbs
Recipe
1 – Put the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
2 – Add the butter or vegan spread and rub together to create a fine breadcrumb-like texture.
3 – Stir through the icing sugar, then quickly add the egg yolks or aqua faba and two tablespoons of water, mixing swiftly with a knife to combine. Form this into a ball and wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
4 – Roll out to the thickness of a pound coin, and line a 22cm fluted tart tin with the pastry, leaving an overhang. Return to the fridge for 30 minutes.
5 – Heat the oven to 200C/180fan/gas 6. Line a pastry case with baking parchment and baking beans, then place in the oven on the baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes.
6 – Remove the parchment and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Leave the pastry to cool before trimming off the overhanging edges with a small, serrated knife.
7 – Lower the oven temperature to 160C/140 fan/gas4.
8 – Mix the syrup, ginger, ginger syrup, lemon, eggs (or aqua faba) and breadcrumbs in a bowl, briefly mixing everything together until combined.
9 – Pour the filling into the pastry case and put in the lower part of the oven to bake for 35-40 minutes or until the filling is just set.
10 – Once ready, remove from the oven and leave to cool down for approx. 15 minutes before serving.
11 – Serve with ice cream, custard, cream or a vegan alternative.
4 – Pumpkin Juice
Pumpkin juice could be seen as a detoxing and energising drink. But in Harry Potter, it’s one of the most popular wizarding beverages, and Harry even dreams about drinking it while travelling in the Flying Ford Anglia in the Chamber of Secrets.
You don’t even need to go out and find a full pumpkin, instead you just need to get your hands on some tinned pumpkin puree and some spice.
Ingredients – serves 8
240g of pumpkin puree
Two litres of apple cider vinegar
32g of sugar
32g of brown sugar
One teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
One teaspoon of vanilla
Recipe
1 – Combine all of the above ingredients into one large jug or punch bowl and stir well.
2 – Pour into glasses and enjoy!
5 – Knickerbocker glory
If you want to recreate Harry Potter recipes, you can’t leave out one of everyone’s least favourite muggles. Knickerbocker glory is Harry’s cousin, Dudley Dursley’s, favourite pudding. And not only is it easy to make, but you can add whatever topping you like to it.
Ingredients – serves 6
500g fresh or frozen raspberries (if frozen, make sure they’ve defrosted properly)
2 tablespoons of icing sugar
12 scoops of vanilla ice cream
200g fresh blueberries
Honeycomb pieces
Recipe
1 – Pour half of the raspberries into a food processor and blend them with the icing sugar to create the raspberry puree.
2 – Sieve your raspberry puree over a bowl to remove any pesky seeds. Do this until it’s smooth.
3 – Place a scoop of ice cream in a tall sundae glass with alternating layers of raspberry puree, blueberries, fresh raspberries and more ice cream.
4 – Top your sundae with as many honeycomb pieces as you want for a bit of extra sparkle.
5 – Eat immediately before it melts!
6 – Steak and kidney pie
A quintessentially British dish, steak and kidney pie was not only served at dinnertime in the Great Hall from time to time, but eagle-eyed fans will also know it was sold as a specialty at every wizard’s favourite hangout, the Leaky Cauldron.
This could be a perfect main for your Hogwarts-themed party.
Ingredients – Serves 4
300g puff pastry
700g braising or chuck steaks
200g lamb kidney, diced
A splash of red wine, or Worcestershire sauce
800ml beef stock
For egg wash
6 eggs
6 tablespoons of water
Recipe
1 – Preheat the oven to 220C/425F.
2 – Heat oil in a frying pan and then fry your steak until it’s brown. Remove the beef from the pan, then add the diced kidneys until they’re brown on both sides.
3 – Add the beef back into the pan, and then pour the stock into the pan.
4 – Bring the pan to the boil, then simmer for 90 minutes, without a lid on. Keep adding stock if the mixture becomes dry or starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.
5 – Add salt, pepper and red wine/Worcestershire sauce into the mixture, then remove from the heat.
6 – Add your mixture, once cool, into a pie dish.
7 – Roll out your pastry so it’s 5mm thick. Carefully place it on top of your mixture in the pie dish.
8 – Trim the edges as you need.
9 – Combine your eggs and water together and whisk until it’s smooth. Brush your egg wash on top of your pastry. Bake for 30 minutes until it’s golden brown.
7 – Pumpkin pasties
“Anything off the trolley, dears?†Another pumpkin delight on the menu for your New Year’s meal, pumpkin pasties were the first kind of wizarding food which Harry gets to consume on the Hogwarts Express, when he impresses Ron by buying everything from the trolley. Similar to Cornish pasties, but filled with pumpkin, these are great nibbles to snack on throughout the day.
Ingredients – makes 18 pasties
1 roll of shortcrust pastry
210g (half a tin) of pumpkin puree
One tablespoon of butter, room temperature
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
¼ teaspoon of allspice
Two tablespoons of sugar
A pinch of nutmeg
A pinch of cardamom
Recipe
1 – Preheat your oven to 400F/200C
2 – Combine your pumpkin puree with the butter and stir in the cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom and sugar. Set aside.
3 – Springle flour onto a flat surface and roll your dough until it’s around 3-4mm thick.
4 – Cut your dough into circles. If you don’t have a round pastry cutter, the edge of a glass works just fine.
5 – Spoon half a teaspoon of your mixture into your circles, then fold over to create a half moon shape, and crimp the edges with a fork.
6 – Using a small, sharp knife, cut three tiny slits on the top. Why not do this in the shape of Harry’s famous scar?
7 – Bake for 15 minutes until they’re nice and golden. If they’re not brown enough, pop them in for another five minutes.
8 – Transfer them to a cooling rack and leave them for around five minutes before diving into your feast.
If you are concerned that your gut health is not as it should be and a food intolerance could be an underlying issue, check out our Premium Food Intolerance Test.
