Since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 opened this weekend, I decided to try out this cupcake recipe one of my friends shared with me earlier in the week. The original recipe was posted on the blog amy bites. Amy normally writes about healthy food, but every few Sundays she shares an indulgent recipe. She based the recipe off the butterbeer served at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction at Universal’s Island of Adventure. Please visit her blog for the recipe and more sweets and healthy dishes.
In case you are unfamiliar with Harry Potter, butterbeer is a creamy, buttery beverage served in the wizard world. Its kind of the pub version of a cream soda/beer. I have heard a lot of good stuff about the version in the theme park too.
I made my ganache first so it would have a chance to cool off a bit. If you would prefer a thicker ganache just use a little less cream. Mine seemed to turn out to be a nice consistency. If you decide to make your ganache before the cupcakes, you need to make sure you give it a gentle stir every 5-10 minutes while it is cooling. It will get a film on top and my not be smooth if you don’t.
Next I started on the cupcakes. The cake is hands down my favorite part of this recipe. I used my ice cream scoop to portion the batter and ended up with 16 instead of 18, but I had tall, rounded cupcakes. (Just how I like them!) I also had to bake just past 17 minutes, again I think it was because I used more batter.
While the cupcakes cooled, I whipped up the frosting. The recipe is a simple confectioner’s sugar buttercream. I followed the amounts listed, but normally when I make a buttercream like this I used at least 1 cup of butter. If you add more butter you will have a little bit richer frosting. I did add the optional milk/cream to smooth my frosting out a little. Milk will give it a little more flavor too. I thought about whipping up my own version of a meringue buttercream, but decided the first time I would go with the original recipe all the way through.
They turned out to be very yummy! I will be re-visiting butterbeer cupcakes in the future. I would like to incorporate some alcohol or a little more cream soda.
Even if you are not a Harry Potter fan, you can enjoy these butterscotch flavored cupcakes! Have fun!
