Pumpkin Pasties: Anything from the Trolley Dear?

This semester, I'm taking a class called Christian Theology and Harry Potter. I know, it sounds like the epitome of "liberal arts education." And to be quite honest, it probably is. But, hey, I'm a senior, and 3.5 years ago, I made the gut feeling choice to go to Yale because I could have that option to take random non-STEM classes. In retrospect, I should have realized that STEM encompasses boundless fields of amazingness that I could probably never get bored even if I did go to a certain institute. But hey, on the other hand, I wouldn't get to tell people I took a class on Christian theology and Harry Potter. If you want a review of the class, you'll have to talk to me in person since this isn't a hey, lets talk about classes blog.

gotta love the pro iphone photo skillz

But, in terms of food, as part of the course, some students wanted to have a Harry Potter movie marathon one weekend. How anyone in college has the time to watch 16 straight hours of Harry Potter seems pretty impossible and was definitely impossible for our class. I believe in total, the most dedicated students got through movie 4. While I only stayed for the last half of Chamber of Secrets, I thought that this would be the perfect excuse to make Pumpkin Pasties--something that has been on my to-bake list for eons. Pumpkin pasties just sound so flipping delicious. I mean, it was the first thing Harry ate off of the trolley (which is apparently called a cart in the US edition). As I quote:

"Starving." said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty. (Sorcerer's Stone)

Ok. so maybe this is my general pumpkin obsession getting away. After all, Harry's actual favorite treat is treacle tart.

woohoo face shot

Unfortunately, no one in my class (except for me) actually tried them because they forgot to get them from the kitchen where I told the viewing party to get them from. However, my suitemates and friends who got to eat them after I realized no one from my class actually ate them enjoyed them quite a bit. They were the perfect handsized, portable version of a pumpkin pie. It's like the pumpkin pie version of a hot pocket--to get all American here. And yet, 10000x better than a hot pocket could ever be.

check out those delicious innards

Recipe from Braised Anatomy with small modifications.

• 4 inch circles seemed a bit large for finger food purposes, so I used around 3 inch circles with the top of a mug. Actually, I might just be terrible at gauging inches.
• I seemed to need more than 12-15 minutes for my pie dough to fully bake, but I was working with a questionable oven and cheap pie dough, so many many many sources of error.
• I forgot salt. Which was actually perfectly fine, but I read somewhere that every dessert recipe asks for salt because it acts as a flavor enhancer by activating different taste receptors on your tongue. So maybe there is a dimensionality to these pasties I'm missing out on.