Foodie: Pumpkin Pasties & Butterbeer

Since it's the grand finale of the Harry Potter movies, we're doing a marathon and I thought it'd be fun to add some HP snacks! The butterbeer is dairy-free and has a little more alcohol than the house-elf standards in Harry Potter ;)

The pumpkin pasties are pretty simple, but need a little prep time since the filling is pre-cooked. I tailored my favorite pumpkin pie and crust recipe to fit into a pumpkin pasty, which came out perfectly. However, finding a butterbeer recipe that fit J.K. Rowling's description was a little bit of a task, so I adjusted a few of the "best" butterbeer recipes online to make one buttery, foamy, alcoholic beverage that's served warm! The biggest complaints with the top recipes online was basically that they were too sweet and non-alcoholic. I cut back on the sugar proportions and cranked up the booze, but not enough to distort the overall butterscotch flavor :] Try it out and let me know what you think! I'll be testing another butterbeer recipe when I'm in the mood for some HP and butterbeer!

Serves 4-6 (1 dozen small pasties, 4-6 cups butterbeer)

Ingredients

Pumpkin Pasties

Pumpkin Filling

425g cooked pumpkin, blended smooth (or 1 can of pumpkin, 15-oz size)
1 (14-oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk (equivalent to 395 g)
2 large eggs
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2-1 tsp ground ginger
1/2-1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup and 3 tablespoons shortening
2-1/4 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 egg (optional, if available)
2 tablespoons water

Hot Butterbeer

1 liter vanilla cream soda (we had to use ginger beer)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 (375ml) can soy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract (to add the vanilla flavor to our ginger beer)
1/3 to 1/2 cup Butterscotch Schnapps, to taste
1/4 cup spiced rum, to taste (we used Sailor Jerry's, which has an excellent vanilla flavor)
Salt, to taste
Optional: non-dairy whipped cream, if available!

Directions

Preheat oven to 425F (220C). Whisk pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into casserole dish. Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 350F (175C) and continue baking 35-40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from casserole dish wall comes out clean. While the pumpkin filling is baking, prepare the crust in the next step.
In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, shortening, sugar, and salt. Blend together with a pastry cutter until crumbly. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix egg with water. Blend into flour mixture. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use.
When the pumpkin filling is ready, set aside to cool and take out the crust dough to prep. Separate the dough in to 12 even pieces. Roll thin and cut into circles approx 4" in diameter. Put a spoonful of the cool pumpkin mixture towards one side of the center of the circle. Fold over the crust into a half-circle and firmly crimp the edges closed with a fork. Slice three small slits in the top for venting, place on a greased cookie sheet, and bake only until crust is a light golden-brown (10-15 mins at 350F/175C). While that's baking, whip up the butterbeer in the next steps!
Put the soda in a pan to boil. In a separate small pan, melt the butter and brown sugar together until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the butter and sugar mixture into the pan of boiling cream soda (make sure the soda is boiling, or the butter and sugar will solidify). Add 2/3 of the can of soy cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add the butterscotch schnapps and spiced rum to your preferred strengths/flavors. Turn heat to low, just to keep warm. Don't forget to check on your pumpkin pasties - they should be done or close to done around this point.
Whip up the remaining 1/3 can of soy cream. Slowly add the remaining 1 tsp of vanilla extract until foamy. Note: it's hard to "whip" soy cream, hence a non-dairy whipped "cream" would be handy for the butterbeer foam.
Ladle the warm butterbeer in to a mug and spoon the foam on top. Sprinkle with a little salt to bring out the flavors and enjoy with a pumpkin pasty!