Channel Holden Caulfield’s brooding adolescent mood, or the magic and whimsy of Harry Potter with recipes that will surely make the pages of your favorite childhood books come to life.

Story by Sarah Hollis

Illustration by Esther Shin

Holden Caulfield’s Cheese Sandwich

from The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

“When I’m out somewhere, I generally just eat a swiss cheese sandwich and a malted milk. It isn’t much, but you get quite a lot of vitamins in the malted milk.”

Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye

Ingredients

• 2 slices of white sandwich bread or French bread, about ½ inch thick
• 1 oz. freshly shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 oz. freshly shredded Gruyère
• Mayonnaise

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-low heat.

2. Apply a thin layer of mayonnaise to one side of both slices of bread.

3. Place one slice of bread in the pan mayonnaise side down and top with shredded cheese. Top with the other slice of bread mayonnaise side up.

4. Cook until cheese is partially melted and flip, pressing lightly on sandwich.

5. Cook until both sides are crispy and browned and cheese is completely melted.

Why mayonnaise?

The main component of mayonnaise is oil, however unlike butter, it is easier to spread on softer breads and will not burn as easily. This will result in a more even, browned texture and a richer flavor.

Miss Maudie’s Lane Cake

from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

“Miss Maudie Atkinson baked a cake so loaded with shinny it made me tight.”

Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird

Cake

Ingredients

• 3 ¼ cups sifted cake flour
• 2 tsp. doubling-acting baking powder
• 1/16th tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 8 egg whites
• 1 cup milk

Preparation

1. On wax paper, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla.
3. Add egg whites, two at a time, beating thoroughly after every addition.
4. Fold in flour mixture alternately with milk; begin and end with dry ingredients. Batter should be smooth but look slightly granular.

Baking Instructions

1. Turn into 4 ungreased 9-inch cake pans lined on the bottom with wax paper.
2. Bake in a 375℉ oven until the edges shrink slightly from the sides of the pans and tops spring back when gently pressed with finger, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean – about 20 minutes.
3. Place pans on wire rack to cool for about five minutes.
4. Turn out on wire racks. Remove wax paper and turn right side up. Cool completely.
5. Put layers together on a cake plate with Lane Cake Filling, stacking carefully; do not spread filling over top. Cover tops and sides with swirls of Easy White Frosting.
6. Cover with a tent of foil or a cake cover; or cover tightly in a large deep bowl in tin box.
7. Store in a cool place. If refrigerated, allow to stand at room temperature for half a day before serving, because cake texture is best when cake is not served chilled.

Lane Cake Filling

Ingredients

• 8 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup seedless raisins, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ⅓ cup bourbon or brandy

Baking Instructions

1. In a 2-quart saucepan, beat the egg yolks well. Beat in sugar and butter.
2. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until quite thick. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in raisins, bourbon and vanilla.
4. Cool slightly and use as directed.

This recipe was given to the Associated Press by the granddaughter of Emma Rylander Lane, the originator of the Lane cake, seven years after the first publication of To Kill a Mockingbird.

Source: Associated Press, 1967

Easy White Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup water
• ¼ tsp. cream of tartar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Baking Instructions

1. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stir together the sugar, water and cream of tartar until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is bubbly.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, whip the egg whites and vanilla to soft peaks.
3. Gradually add the sugar mixture while whipping constantly until stiff peaks form.

Treacle Tart

from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

“A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you can think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, strawberries, jellies, rice pudding…As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families.”

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, pg. 93

Pâte Sablée (Tart Crust)

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 egg
• 125 grams cold butter cut into cubes (just over ½ cup)
• Water

Preparation

1. Put flour and sugar in a bowl. Add the egg and the stiff butter cubes.
2. Mix and add enough water to make a pastry ball.
3. Leave in fridge for 20 minutes.

Baking Instructions

1. Roll the pastry, put in a tart or pie dish.
2. Cover dough with parchment paper and fill the lined dish with pie weights or dried beans to weigh down parchment..
3. Cook at 410°F for 15 minutes to blind-bake the crust. Remove weights and cook again until the pastry is golden.
4. Leave to cool.

Filling

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups golden syrup
• Generous pinch of ground ginger
• 1 egg, beaten
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 cup fine plain bread crumbs

Baking Instructions

1. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, warm golden syrup and ground ginger. Do not boil.
3. Remove from heat and stir in breadcrumbs, zest and juice and egg until combined.
4. Pour into cooled pastry and bake in oven for approximately 30 to 35 minutes until filling is set. Cool on wire rack slightly and carefully remove from dish.
5. Serve warm with clotted cream for British authenticity or vanilla ice cream for an American spin.

Mrs. Beaver’s Gloriously Sticky Marmalade Roll

from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

“Mrs. Beaver brought out of the oven a great and gloriously sticky marmalade roll, steaming hot, and at the same time moved the kettle onto the fire, so that when they had finished the marmalade roll the tea was made and ready to be poured.”

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, A Day with the Beavers

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 egg
• ⅓ cup butter
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 ½ tbsp. orange
• 3 tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 cup orange marmalade
• 1 ½ tbsp. water

Baking Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 320°F.
2. Butter and flour a 9×5 bread loaf pan.
3. Sift together flour, powdered sugar, baking powder and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Cut in butter until it forms a breadcrumb-like texture.
4. Whisk together egg, sour cream, milk, zest and juice and pour into the dry ingredients.
5. Mix together by hand until a dough forms.
6. Roll out dough on a floured surface into a rectangular shape, approximately half an inch thick and no wider than the length of your bread loaf pan.
7. Spread ⅔ cup of orange marmalade onto the dough in an even layer.
8. Carefully roll the dough and place in the pan.
9. Bake for approximately an hour or until the top is golden.
10. Place the remaining ⅓ cup of orange marmalade with the water in a small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until the marmalade thins.
11. Pour over top of the cooked roll and serve warm.