How to Make the Pumpkin Pasties from ‘Harry Potter’
Updated: Apr. 21, 2024
No foolish wand-waving or silly incantations required; you can make Harry Potter's pumpkin pasties with a few simple ingredients.
“Anything off the trolley, dears?”
In an early chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry orders some of everything from the snack trolley on the Hogwarts Express—including pumpkin pasties. This easy recipe is perfect for beginner witches, wizards and Muggle bakers alike. Made with either store-bought or homemade pie crust and a sweet, subtly spiced pumpkin filling, it’s no wonder Cho Chang didn’t hesitate to order two!
What Are Pumpkin Pasties?
These pumpkin-filled pasties are a popular snack mentioned throughout the Harry Potter books. Similar to Cornish pasties, a type of British hand pie that’s filled with beef, potato and root vegetables (like, turnip or rutabaga), pumpkin pasties are filled with pumpkin instead.
While they’re never described in great detail, most “Potterheads” assume that these wizarding world delights are a sweet treat (like Hagrid’s Rock Cakes & Harry Potter’s birthday cake) filled with a sweet spiced pumpkin pie filling. Want to deviate? Take a page out of the Half-Blood Prince’s potion book and try your hand at savory pumpkin pasties. Just adapt this Pumpkin Beef Stew into a filling.
How Do You Pronounce ‘Pasties’?
“Stop, stop, stop. You’re saying it wrong. It’s levi-OH-sah, not levi-oh-SAH.”
Leave it to Hermione to give us a lesson in pronunciation. Don’t make the common mistake and say, “PACE-tee,” referring to something alarmingly pale or tasting like or resembling a paste. Rather, this treat is pronounced “PAST-ee,” with a long Ā and Ē sound.
This is old news if you’re from northern Michigan and grew up eating Upper Peninsula Pasties!
How to Make Pumpkin Pasties
This recipe makes six 5-inch pasties.
Ingredients
- 2 pie crusts, store-bought or homemade
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 8 ounces pumpkin puree
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
- Turbinado sugar, optional
Directions
Step 1: Beat the cream cheese and pumpkin
Preheat oven to 400°F.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese for 4-5 minutes, using an electric hand mixer, until fluffy. Add the pumpkin puree and continue to beat for an additional 4-5 minutes, scraping down the sides periodically, until combined. (You may also mix in a stand mixer.)
Step 2: Blend the wet ingredients
Add the melted butter, vanilla and two room temperature eggs, then beat on low to evenly incorporate into the mixture.
Step 3: Add the dry ingredients
To the bowl, add the sugars, spices, and salt and beat on low for 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
Step 4: Cut the pastry
Roll out your pie crust to 1/8-inch thick. Then, use a pumpkin-shaped cutter to make 12 equal pieces of pastry. Six will serve as the bottom crust, and the other six will be the tops of your pasties.
Editor’s Tip: If you don’t have a pumpkin-shaped cutter, you can also use a 5-inch round cutter instead. When filling and sealing, fold the pastry in half over the filling and crimp the outer edge to make half-moon-shaped pasties. Don’t forget to vent the pasties’ tops once filled to allow steam to escape.
Step 5: Fill and crimp
Brush the outer edges of a piece of pastry with beaten egg. Then, spoon 1-2 tablespoons of the pumpkin filling into the center of the pastry. Top with the second piece of pastry and crimp the edges to seal as desired (the tines of a fork work well). Repeat with the remaining pieces of pastry.
Editor’s Tip: Take care not to overfill the pasties to ensure they don’t leak, crack or burst in the oven. The filling will puff and expand in the oven slightly as it bakes so “less is more” is a good rule of thumb to follow. If you have extra filling, grab additional pie crust to make more pasties or try these Mini Pumpkin Tartlets.
Step 6: Bake
Arrange the pumpkin pasties on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Vent the tops of the pasties (either with several larger openings as shown in the photos or a single smaller slit), then brush the with beaten egg and sprinkle lightly with turbinado sugar (if desired). Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove promptly and let cool. Enjoy warm or at room temperature with a frosty glass of homemade butterbeer.
Where to Watch ‘Harry Potter’
With your pumpkin pasties in hand, grab your favorite Muggle and settle in for a movie marathon. You can stream the entire collection of Harry Potter films on HBO Max.
Butterbeer
This potion makes a batch of chilled butterbeer. It’s as close as you’ll get to the real thing without needing a ticket to Universal Studios or boarding the Hogwarts Express on platform 9 3/4.
Originally Published: January 20, 2023
