Pumpkin Juice

Harry and Ron soared above the train, flying past dancing clouds and beautiful landscapes. Harry's shirt stuck to his back as the heat from the sun bored down upon them. Maybe eating all of those toffees from the car wasn't such a great idea after all. The thoughts of glistening glasses of pumpkin juice must be torture!

"The toffees had made them extremely thirsty and they had nothing to drink. ...He had stopped noticing the fantastic cloud shapes now and was thinking longingly of the train miles below, where you could buy ice-cold pumpkin juice from the trolley pushed by a plump witch." (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling, Chap.5)

Pumpkin juice is one of those curious drinks that piques the interest of all, wizard and non-magic folk alike. I had actually planned on waiting to make the pumpkin juice recipe until Halloween, but obviously I just couldn't help myself.

One tiny setback that occurred when trying to make this was the fact that I actually could not find a pumpkin to cook; At least not the type that you should cook. So I did what any resourceful cook would do...Head straight for the baking aisle! Luckily the local grocery store almost always carries canned pumpkin in the winter months. So canned pumpkin it is!

While visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter over the summer, I got the amazing opportunity to try all of the treats from the wizarding world. One of those treats being pumpkin juice. Every since then I have been dying to try to make it own my own, well that and butterbeer. So I added a few things to this recipe in an attempt to mimic the pumpkin juice I had in the Three Broomsticks. Happy cooking!

Trivia Question: What did Dumbledore leave Ron in his will after his death?

Pumpkin Juice

 1/12 cups canned pumpkin or (1 small pumpkin, known as sugar pumpkin or pie pumpkin)

2 cups apple juice (I used Apple Cider)

1 cup white grape juice (I used White Cranberry Juice)

1 cup pineapple juice

1/2 teaspoon apple pie spice (optional)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1/2 and 1/4 teaspoon of Wassail spice blend (I used the Biltmore brand)

Directions for the canned pumpkin: Take the pumpkin and spoon it into an empty apple juice container and add the juices. Cap the container and shake until well combined. Strain through a fine mesh colander into a large bowl. Transfer the strained juice back into the original jug. Add the spices and give it one last good shake and Voila! You have homemade pumpkin juice.

Directions for the Cooked pumpkin:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice the pumpkin in half pole to pole and scoop out the seeds. Don't worry about the stringy fibers; they are hard to remove and won't affect the results, place the pumpkin halves face down on a baking sheet and roast 45 minutes to 1 hour until soft. Remove from the oven.

2. When the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and discard the skin. Place the cooked pumpkin in a large fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl and push the pumpkin through using a rubber spatula. Scrape and mash as you push; it will take several minutes. Discard the pulpy mass left in the sieve. Stir the sieved pumpkin in the bowl to evenly distribute the juices, and then measure out 1 cup.

3. Place the cup of sieved pumpkin in a pitcher along with the apple juice, grape juice, and pineapple. Stir vigorously until the pumpkin is completely dispersed. Chill the juice until it's very cold.

4. Before serving, stir the juice well, as the pumpkin will settle to the bottom. Fill crystal goblets with ice cubes and pour the juice over the ice.

Makes 5 cups.