Pumpkin Pasties from Harry Potter

For all the Harry Potter fans out there... This is for you. Well, not a big fan of Potter? no problem you would love this too. I and DH are big fans of Harry Potter. If it is a boring weekend, not a great weather and nothing good on TV we will make it a "Harry Potter Weekend". We will watch all the eight HP movies back to back. A great way to spend the weekend isn't it? 
Pumpkin pasties are sold in the trolley run by Honeydukes express on the Hogwarts express. In the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry first meets Cho Chang in the train when she buys pumpkin pasties. I have never thought on how it would taste like back then. It was recently when the foodie in me made me to try this lovely delicacy. I did some research and arrived at this recipe. So happy that it turned out awesome in the first attempt. This is a totally egg-less fare (when milk is used to brush the top) and super easy to make. If using home-made pumpkin puree, press out to remove extra water. Hooray, then you would get pumpkin juice, another Hogwarts specialty.

Ingredients:
Makes 8-10 pasties
For the Never Fail Pie Crust:
Adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine
All purpose flour  - 1 & 1/3 cups
Butter - 8 tbsp (cold, cut into cubes)
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Ice Cold water - 3 to 4 tbsps
For the filling:
Pumpkin puree - 1 cup (canned or home-made)
Light Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp
Ground Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Ground Ginger - 1/4 tsp
Ground Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp
For Brushing:
Egg - 1 slightly beaten and mixed with a tbsp of water or milk as required

Method:
Place all the ingredients for the crust in a blender or food processor except the ice water. Pulse for a couple of times until the butter almost disappears. Now add the ice water 1 tbsp at a time and pulse until the dough comes together. Remove the dough and pat to form a solid mass. Wrap in a cling-wrap and pop it into the refrigerator for about 2 to 4 hours.
Mix the ingredients for the filling in a pan in low heat until the sugar melts, just a couple of minutes. Allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Thaw the crust in room temperature for 30 minutes. Flour a board and place the dough on it. Roll into about a 1/8 inch thick. Cut into little rounds with a cookie cutter or any bowl with sharp edge. Roll the cut out dough still more thinner. Place about a tablespoon (or more) of the filling on one half of the rolled dough. Fold over the other half and crimp the edges with your finger or fork. Transfer carefully to the cookie sheet. Make the other pasties similarly. The dough leftover from the cut dough can be made into a ball and rolled over again to be cut. Brush the top of the pasties with egg or milk and bake for 30-40 mins until golden brown on the outside.
Serve warm.
Note: 
1. Use a pastry cutter or two forks to crumble the butter if you are not using the food processor.
2. The amount of water needed for the dough depends on the humidity in your area. More the humidity, lesser the water. I used about 3.5 tbsps.
3. The sweetness in the filling is just right. You could make it more sweet per your taste buds.
4. Play around with the spices and make the filling spicy if you wish. There are no set rules.
5. This can be made totally egg-free by brushing with milk for browning.
Sending these baked beauties to the following events..
Know your Sweetness - Brown Sugar event by Jags
Serve It - Original Recipes from home event my me and Denny
Kid's Delight - Story Book Special
Merry Christmas Celebrations
Favorite Recipes - Christmas event
Lets Cook - Edible Gifts