I found these cupcakes on a wonderful blog called Amybites (go and visit—- her recipes are awesome and I envy her photography skills!) –and I just HAD to make them.
For those of you who aren’t Harry Potter fans, butter beer is a much-loved beverage in the world of Hogwart’s school. I had a chance to try butter beer at Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter last fall and it was even better than I thought it might be! It’s a cream soda topped with a wonderful butterscotch whipped topping. My only advice based on our family’s experience is to NOT drink butter beer before you ride the crazy rides…if you get what I mean…
These cupcakes truly capture the flavors found in butter beer- the frosting in particular was AMAZING! These take a little time, but they are well worth the effort! Here we go!
INGREDIENTS:
For the cupcakes:
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon butter flavoring
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (I used heavy cream and it worked fine)
- 1/2 cup cream soda
For the butterscotch ganache:
- 1 11-oz. package butterscotch chips
- 1 cup heavy cream
For the frosting:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup butterscotch ganache
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon butter flavoring
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 16-oz. package powdered sugar
- a splash of milk or cream (as needed)
DIRECTIONS:
Cupcakes(makes 18):
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with paper liners.
- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream your butter until light and fluffy.
- Add your sugars and beat until well-combined.
- Beat in your eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Beat in your vanilla and butter flavoring.
- Alternate adding your buttermilk, cream soda, and dry ingredients until all are well incorporated.
- Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full, then bake for 15 to 17 minutes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean and cake springs back to the touch.
- Cool completely on wire racks.
Butterscotch ganache:
- In a double boiler, combine butterscotch chips and heavy cream and stir until completely combined and smooth.
- Cool to room temperature.
- Remove 1/3 of a cup of ganache and set aside for use in frosting.
- Fill a squeeze bottle with remaining ganache and insert into the center of each cupcake, squeezing until filling begins to overflow.
Frosting:
- Cream butter in a large bowl until fluffy.
- Add in ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, and salt and mix until well combined.
- Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until reaching desired consistency.
- Add milk or cream by the tablespoon as needed for consistency.
- Frost cupcakes and top with a drizzle of butterscotch ganache.
My thoughts: First, butter flavoring DOES exist- find it in your grocery with all other flavorings and extracts. (it smells like popcorn!) 🙂 Second, by squeeze bottle I mean a plastic bottle with a long tip that can easily poke down into each cupcake- I used a red bottle designed to hold ketchup that I found in the kitchen utensil aisle of Wal-Mart. Third, the frosting and filling are a MUST in this recipe. The cupcakes were really good- but time-consuming. If you want a QUICK butter beer fix I’d use a yellow cake mix and just make the ganache filling and the frosting. I hope you enjoy these– and for great step-by-step pictures go and visit Amy’s blog!!!
EASYBAKED 