Butterbeer Cupcakes

Raise your hand if you've been to a midnight book release! Is... is your hand up? Well, mine is. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out the summer between my junior and senior year of high school and I remember it very well because I held the book in my hands at 1 am the day of it's release. Despite having to wake up in 5 hours, I went home and started reading.

As with most people my age, I love Harry Potter. I was the same age as Harry as the books were coming out so, obviously, it had a huge impact on my life. The only times I got in trouble as a kid in school were the times I was caught reading Harry Potter under my desk. Yeah, I was that kind of kid. I guess I'm that kind of adult too, judging by my excitement level when I was sorted into Gryffindor on Pottermore.

Anyway, before this turns into a full-on love letter to Harry Potter (is it too late?), let's talk about beer. Butterbeer. In the books and films, the characters drink butterbeer which is described as tasting "a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch." It's served cold in bottles and hot in tankards and I'm dying to go to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to try some. There is actually an authentic recipe for Tudor Buttered Beere from 1588 right here and it sounds disgusting. Don't make it.

Instead, make these butterbeer cupcakes from AmyBites. They are super sweet and so good. Here's my attempt at following her recipe.

Cupcakes:

Does anyone even like cream soda? Like, is it anyone's number one drink?

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream the butter and the sugars together, add eggs one at a time, then add in the vanilla and butter flavoring. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. Alternate adding in the cream soda, buttermilk, and the dry ingredients to the the sugar/butter mixture. Pour the batter into the cupcake tin 3/4 full and bake for 15-17 minutes.

Ganache:

I love butterscotch

In a double boiler melt one 11 oz bag of butterscotch chips and 1 cup of heavy cream. Double boiler means a bowl over a pot of boiling water. Let it cool to room temperature. It firms up a little but it's still pretty liquid-y.

After it cools, put it into a squeeze bottle and squeeze into each cupcake. I do not recommend my hopefully-this-icing-bag-and-pointy-tip-will-work method. I mean, it worked, but barely.

Like a surgeon, cuttin' for the very first time...

Butterbeer Buttercream:

Buttercream is easy. Cream the butter, add in the ganache, flavoring, and salt. Then add in the powdered sugar a cup at a time. If it's too thick, add in a little cream or milk. I just added the sugar until it was the consistency I wanted and wound up not using any cream or milk.

Frost the cupcakes and drizzle the ganache.

Ganache-y center

That's it! You don't even have to go to The Three Broomsticks to enjoy some delicious butterbeer. And if you're looking for a recipe for just butterbeer, this one looks best to me. I haven't made it yet, but seeing as how I have a liter of cream soda sitting in my fridge it is highly likely that I will.

-lisa aka QuaffleNimbus21722