Butter Beer Drink & Cupcakes

My husband has never seen the Harry Potter movies. He hasn't read the books either. But, he was really impressed when we visited The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in November, my daughter was able to convince him that each Saturday we would all watch one of the movies together. We just wrapped up the 4th movie this weekend, and my husbands reaction- These movies suck. I don't understand how she made that much money off them. (He doesn't say this to our daughter though lol.)

However, we have found a few Hogsmeade recipes that have managed to make him sit happily through each movie. We did a very long search online for a good butter beer recipe. We narrowed it down to two. The most popular seemed to be the recipe from Tablespoon.com, but we thought that one was overly sweet. The other came from Mugglenet. This one had fewer ingredients and seemed a lot closer to what you would get at the park. However, we like our Butter Beer cold, and when we added ice cubes, the melted butter we poured in solidified and we were left with chunks of butter floating in our cups. I ended up omitting the real butter and added imitation butter flavoring instead.

(I would not recommend making and eating these together. The calorie count in each is pretty high, but one at a time on occasion for a little treat will let you indulge your inner wizards sweet tooth without too much guilt)

Butter Beer

Ingredients

• 1 cup (8 oz) cream soda (we used A&W)
• 1/2 cup (4 oz) butterscotch syrup (ice cream topping)
• 1 to 2 teaspoons imitation butter extract

Directions


Step 1: Measure butterscotch and butter flavor into a 16 oz glass. Microwave on high for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes, or until syrup is bubbly and butter is completely incorporated.

Step 2: Stir and cool for 30 seconds, then slowly mix in cream soda. Mixture will fizz quite a bit.

Step 3: Serve in two coffee mugs or small glasses.

* We actually love the frozen version you get from the park, so I freeze these, then give them a quick whirl in the blender for a frozen drink variety.

I found this Butter Beer Cupcake Recipe from Pastry Affair.  If you like butterscotch, you are going to love these!

Butterbeer Cupcakes

2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon butter flavoring
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cream soda


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a cupcake tin with baking cups.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and butter flavoring.

Fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk, 1/3 of the flour mixture, cream soda, and then the remaining flour. Folding in these ingredients will prevent over-mixing and will result in a fluffier, less dense cupcake. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cupcakes are golden and spring back when touched. Cool completely before frosting.

Butterscotch Ganache

11 ounces (1 package) butterscotch chips
1 cup heavy cream

In a small saucepan on medium heat, melt the butterscotch chips into the heavy cream, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.

Butterscotch Buttercream

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup butterscotch ganache (recipe above)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon butter flavoring
Pinch of salt
3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Splash of heavy cream (as needed)

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Mix in the butterscotch ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, and salt. Beat in the powdered sugar for 2-3 minutes, starting with 3 cups and adding more only if necessary. Add the cream a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved.