Knickerbocker Glory & Chocolate Frog Ice Cream

I recently had 2 'Harry Potter' related experiences so thought I would bring them together here, particularly because there's a nice ice cream connection.

First of all, my family and I visited Alnwick in Northumberland, England and enjoyed a super tour of Alnwick Castle which was used for many of the Hogwarts' scenes in the movies. Standing on the lawn from which Harry took his first broomstick flight was especially exciting! Follow the Alnwick Castle link and you'll see a photo of the very lawn.

Following this trip, I watched an excellent tv documentary about J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series of books and it reminded me of the many, happy hours that I spent reading the books with my son when he was younger. I thought back to the very first book "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" which we read together with great excitement and then my mind turned to ice cream - to a Knickerbocker Glory in fact. What's the connection? Well, any avid Harry Potter fan will guess the answer but for those of you unfamiliar with the series, or at least the first book in the series, there's a scene at a zoo where Harry is out for a day with his loathsome aunt, uncle and spoiled cousin Dudley. When Dudley's Knickerbocker Glory isn't as big as he wants, he throws a tantrum. Now despite the fact that Dudley is an obnoxious character, wanting a Knickerbocker Glory to be as big as possible is something I can actually understand! Not that I eat them very much (I tend to always be making them for others to eat) but I know from watching my own dear Dad enjoy many a Knickerbocker Glory over the years that it's an addictive pleasure! Read my post about the Knickerbocker Glory Champion.

Anyway, going back to Harry Potter, I don't recall ever reading that Harry himself actually ate ice cream in any of the stories, so I began to wonder what ice cream Harry might enjoy, given the chance. The obvious one that came to mind was pumpkin ice cream and then I let my imagination run a little .... chocolate frog ice cream! To make this you could consider using my recipe for real chocolate ice cream and simply substitute Harry's favourite chocolate frogs for what I call 'normal' milk chocolate. What a 'magical' experience that would be!

If J.K. Rowling ever writes another Harry Potter book, maybe she'll let him or another character have fun making ice cream. The possibilities for rewriting the recipe books are endless!