Butterbeer Cupcakes

I have a confession... don't judge... I'm a big Harry Potter fan. Like i've read all the books, own all the movies and have watched them many of times. They're the movies I turn to when i'm homesick. They just make it feel like home. 

I watch them any time of year, but I especially get in the mood to watch them during the holidays. Once October gets here either the movie is in, or it's a Harry Potter movie weekend on ABC Family. 

So why have I not made any Harry Potter recipes before? I have no idea, but here is my first and i'm so excited about them! 

Butterbeer Cupcakes! 

They actually came out pretty as well, so i'm proud of that. My decorating skills are definitely getting better!

This recipe was pretty simple, I got it from the lovely lady over at Pastry Affair. The frosting was absolutely heavenly. Although the actual cupcake was missing something in my opinion, I think that was because I didn't have actual cream soda. By mistake I ended up getting cane sugar soda instead, so it'd probably be much better with cream soda. 

Yields 18 cupcakes

Butterbeer Cupcakes

Directions

2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon butter flavoring

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup cream soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a cupcake tin with baking cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and butter flavoring.

Fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk, 1/3 of the flour mixture, cream soda, and then the remaining flour. Folding in these ingredients will prevent over-mixing and will result in a fluffier, less dense cupcake. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cupcakes are golden and spring back when touched. Cool completely before frosting.

Butterscotch Ganache

11 ounces (1 package) butterscotch chips

1 cup heavy cream

In a small saucepan on medium heat, melt the butterscotch chips into the heavy cream, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.

Butterscotch Buttercream

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup butterscotch ganache (recipe above)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon butter flavoring

Pinch of salt

3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Splash of heavy cream (as needed)

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Mix in the butterscotch ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, and salt. Beat in the powdered sugar for 2-3 minutes, starting with 3 cups and adding more only if necessary. Add the cream a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved (I only needed 1 tablespoon).

To Assemble

Pour butterscotch ganache into a plastic squeeze bottle. Stab the tip of the bottle into cupcake and fill each cupcake with butterscotch ganache until it starts to overflow.

Fill a pastry bag with butterscotch buttercream and pipe onto the top of each cupcake. Drizzle on the butterscotch ganache. Lick your fingers clean if you just so happen to get extra butterscotch on them. If you have any leftover butterscotch ganache, it can be used as ice cream topping.