BAKED LETTERING | POTTERLESS
For some reason my brain associates the holidays with Harry Potter, so every year around Christmas time I have to binge watch all of the movies. I don’t make the rules, that’s just how it is. However, this year I heard about a podcast called Potterless that ended up exceeding my wildest Harry Potter dreams. This podcast is amazing. The basic premise is that the host of the show is a 24 year old human who has managed to ~never~ read any of the Harry Potter books. What?! So now he’s reading the series with an adult perspective and has many thoughts. Some good and some quite not so good. But nevertheless, is commentary is pure gold. If you’re into Harry Potter and new perspectives then you should absolutely give it a listen.
ALRIGHT, LET'S GET TO THE FOOD
Since I’ve been binging Potterless nonstop for the last few weeks, I figured it’s about time to feature the podcast in my Baked Lettering Series. I ruminated on this one for quite some time and even reached out to some fellow HP nerds to get some insights. We all agreed that butterbeer needed to be involved somehow because it’s iconic. I was also given suggestions of classic harry potter sweets like chocolate frogs, Hagrid’s birthday cake, and pumpkin pasties. But because the podcast is centered around an adult immersing himself in the Harry Potter world, I wanted to create a more “grown up” baked good with Harry Potter references sprinkled in. So I finally landed on baking vegan pumpkin scones with a butterbeer glaze. The scones still have those classic HP flavors, but slightly more grown up.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
For the scones
½ Cup Pumpkin Puree
½ Cup Brown Sugar
⅓ Cup Milk (I used Coconut)
1.5 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Flour
1.5 Tsp Cinnamon
1.5 Tsp Pumpkin Spice
½ Tsp Salt
1.5 Tsp Baking Powder
½ Cup Vegan Butter (cold)
For the glaze
2 Tbsp Vegan Butter
¼ Cup Brown Sugar
¼ Cup Coconut Cream
.5 Tsp Vanilla
⅓ Cup Powdered Sugar
LET’S DO THIS
Ok, first and foremost you’re gonna want to go ahead and preheat that oven to 400° so that we don’t forget and have to wait 20 extra minutes after everything is prepped. We’ve all been there.
In one bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla and mix well enough that the sugar dissolves.
In another bowl (I know I’m sorry for all the dirty dishes) combine the flour, spices, salt, and baking powder and then mix those up real quick. Then cube up your chilled butter and toss it in with the flour mixture. With the underside of a fork (or a potato masher if you prefer) mash the butter to start to incorporate it into the flour mixture.
Once the butter is mashed to bits, slowly add the flour mixture to the bowl with wet ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
On a baking mat or a flat surface add a small handful of flour because this mixture is definitely gonna stick. Place your mixture onto the floured surface and knead just a few times until it feels like a dough. Create a circle with the dough and then flatten it until it’s about an inch thick, and slice it 8 ways just like you would a pizza.
Place your 8 little baby scones onto a baking sheet with parchment (or a clean baking mat) and bake for 15-17 minutes. Do the old toothpick trick to make sure it’s fully baked before you take it out of the oven. Let these bad boys cool for about 10 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
While those are cooling, go ahead and start on the butterbeer glaze. In a small pot add the vegan butter, brown sugar, and coconut cream and heat on medium. When things start getting melty stir everything together super well. Let the mixture come to a light boil for 4-5 minutes, wiping down and sugar that gets stuck on the sides of the pot every few minutes.
Take the pot off the heat and mix in the vanilla extract, then let it cool down for a few minutes. Go ahead and taste it because this shit is delicious. If you ever want a fantastic topping for ice cream, skip the last step and serve this up as is. You won’t regret it.
When the mixture is cool enough to touch but still warm, transfer it to a bowl and mix in the powdered sugar. I like to add the glaze into a squeeze bottle to get a nice clean drizzle on the scones, but if you want to drizzle with a spoon the old fashioned way no one will judge you. Give the glaze at least half an hour to harden over the scones, and then have at it. You deserve it after all that hard work.
