EASYBAKED

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!!!