Butter Beer Cupcakes

As a fan of Harry Potter, I have read all the books and seen all the films. I watched the last film The Deathly Hallows: Part II last week and I’m rather sad that it’s all over.

Moving on, however, I decided to research recipes on the internet that involve food and beverages from the Harry Potter universe and found all sorts from cauldron cakes to Pumpkin Juice. But something involving that well known drink the characters have in Hogsmead is what I wanted the recipe for the most…..Butter Beer!  There are loads of recipes circulating on the web since The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has opened in Orlando (I still think they should have opened a theme park in the UK….booo!) and everyone who has visited seem to have come up with their own recipes at home, including Butter Beer cupcakes! I found the recipe for these on amyBITES and wanted to try them to get an idea of the Butter Beer flavour (until of course the day comes that I visit the Wizarding World myself and taste the beverage there, anyone want to sneak me in their suitcase? 😉

I did tweak a couple of things in the recipe, one being that I could not find butter flavouring here in the UK so I left that out and second I didn’t put as much icing sugar into the buttercream frosting as I achieved the right consistency with less sugar and with butterscotch ganache already in the frosting mix I think any more sugar would have made it far too sweet.

So here are the ingredients you will need:

 

For the cupcakes:
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup dark brown soft sugar, packed
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cream soda

For the ganache:
11-ounces butterscotch chips
1 cup double cream

For the buttercream frosting:
1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup butterscotch ganache
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
10 ounces icing sugar
Splash of milk or cream (as needed)

 

First off, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line 2 x 12-hole muffin tins with cupcake cases

 

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a bowl and set aside

 

Cream the butter using a mixer until light and fluffy

 

Add the sugars and mix thoroughly

 

Add the eggs one at a time mixing well in between additions and then add the vanilla extract

 

Have your 1/2 cups of buttermilk and cream soda and bowl of flour mix at the ready as you are going to alternate mixing these into the butter and eggs combining all the ingredients well in between additions until they are all incorporated nicely and you will end up with a lovely smooth batter like this:

 

Fill all 24 cases in your muffin tin with the batter mix and bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

 

They will be ready when they spring back to the touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Leave in the tin to cool slightly then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

While you wait for them to cool you can prepare the butterscotch ganache. Pop a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and place the butterscotch chips into the bowl, let them melt a little then add the cream and leave to melt together.

 

Stir until you have a lovely, dark caramel coloured mix and remove from the heat. Leave it to cool a little and it will thicken up nicely.

Fill a squeezy bottle or plunger icing pen with the ganache and insert the tip about halfway into each cupcake and squeeze lightly until you see the filling start to come out the top.

 

This will create a moist little burst of butterscotch flavour in the middle of each cupcake, which I must say is delightful!

 

Now it’s time to make your frosting, if you can resist the urge to try the cakes (I couldn’t resist as I was desperate to try them once the butterscotch ganache was added!)

 

Cream the butter, add 1/3 cup of butterscotch ganache  and the vanilla extract to the butter and mix. Keep incorporating spoonfuls the icing sugar until you have a nice thick consistency that will hold it’s shape well when piped. Then add a splash of double cream and give it one final mix.

mmmmm…delicious!

Now decorate the tops of your cupcakes with the buttercream in whatever style takes your fancy, pipe on, spread on, as you can see, I experimented using a few different techniques:

 

Then drizzle the tops with some of your remaining butterscotch ganache….

 

……and hey presto! Delicious Butter Beer cupcakes. (Accio Cupcake….nom nom nom)

 

They taste absolutely delicious! A lovely light sponge with that delightful burst of butterscotch flavour in the middle accompanied by a soft, creamy frosting….mmmm…mmm! Now I need a ButterBeer.