Butterbeer Cupcakes

Any Harry Potter fans out there? Man, I am. I admit, I petered off there at the end and still haven't read book 7, but I sailed through the first four and they really helped me get through a tough semester of grad school. So easy, and so fun, to get lost in that magical world...and not the least intriguing detail was the food! Oh, yeah. Anyone hear of treacle tart before? You know where I'm going with this. Butterbeer. I imagine it as a cross between my Aunt Pat's buttermilk syrup, cream soda, and maybe a splash of apple cider. Amy over at AmyBites got to taste it recently firsthand at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal’s Islands of Adventure park in Orlando. And she loved it so much she came home and made it into a cupcake. Which my brother found on the internet and sent me the link for. THE DAY AFTER cupcake night at my house. Worst timing ever, but forgiven for such a great find.

As soon as I read it through, I knew I had to make it as soon as I got some cream soda and butterscotch chips. Just so happened it was a few days before my daughter's birthday, so we had them for her family party. Luckily she's one and not calling the shots yet so I get to make what I want.(This being a public blog, not posting the naked-eating-cupcake pics, but they were sooo cute!)

What do you think, are my pictures almost as pretty as Amy's? I didn't have the souvenir mug, bummer. But she didn't have a one-year-old so we're even.

A word about the butterscotch sauce filling technique. It's too thin to pipe with a pastry bag so go to Sally's Beauty Supply if you have one and get a color applicator bottle like this. Or something similar. Mine was $1.89, and doubles as great squirty fun in the bathtub or outside after it's done its butterscotch duty. Butterbeer Cupcakes (print recipe)

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
1/2 cup cream soda

For the ganache:
1 11-oz. package butterscotch chips
1 cup heavy cream

For the buttercream 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
Splash of milk or cream (as needed)

For the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake pans with paper liners. Combine your 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. Then beat in your vanilla and butter flavoring.

Alternate adding your buttermilk, cream soda, and dry ingredients in batches 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.

For butterscotch filling: In a double boiler (heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water on the stove), combine butterscotch chips and heavy cream and stir until completely combined and smooth. Cool to room temperature. Fill a squeeze bottle with ganache and insert into the center of each cupcake, squeezing until filling begins to overflow.

For buttercream 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. Frost cupcakes and top with a drizzle of butterscotch ganache. Makes 18 cupcakes
Recipe from AmyBites.com