Butterbeer Cupckaes

I've been anxiously waiting to try this recipe for about a week now, and yesterday since I didn't have school I decided to give it a try.  Talk about delicious!  If you are a Harry Potter fan and love butterscotch flavor, these are a must make!  The original recipe came from Erica at Erica's Sweet Tooth.  Be sure to check out her other recipes while you are there, she has some great stuff!  I made a few alterations to the recipe which will be marked in red below.

 

(Image by Erica at Erica's Sweet Tooth)

Butterbeer Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

-2 cups flour (I used cake flour, in which case you add two more Tablespoons, in order to get fluffier cupckaes based on the comments)
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/2 cup dark brown sugar
-3 eggs
-1 1/2 tsp vanilla
-1 tsp butter flavoring
-1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup cream soda

Butterscotch ganache:

-11oz butterscotch chips
-3/4 cup heavy cream

(You could probably 1/2 the ganache recipe depending on how full you like the cupcakes but we had a TON leftover)

Frosting:

-1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
-1/3 cup of butterscotch ganache
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 tsp butter flavoring
-1/8 tsp salt
-1 lb of powdered sugar
-splash of cream as needed

(I found that this was more frosting that we needed and we even piled the frosting high like in the picture so if you like less frosting, cut this in half.  I also thought that this was a very sugary and heavy frosting.  If you like whipped frosting, I would recommend this frosting recipe instead:

1 box sugar free butterscotch pudding mix
1 8oz container of Cool Whip
1 cup of milk

Combine pudding mix and milk in a large bowl.  Fold in cool whip.)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit and put liners in the pan.
2.  In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3.  In another bowl, use an electic mixer to cream together the sugars and butter until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, while scrapin the sides of the bowl.
5. Add vanilla and butter flavoring.
6. Combine buttermilk and cream soda in a small bowl.
7. Alternate adding the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture to the egg mixture and mix together well.
8.  Fill the liners 3/4 full and bake for 16-17 minutes.  Cool completely on wire racks.

9. For the ganache, melt the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a double boiler until smooth.  Allow to cool.
10.  Fill a squeeze bottle some kind of filling device with the ganache and squeeze about 1-2 teaspoons of ganache into the cupcake.

11.  For the (buttercream) frosting, cream the butter in a bowl using an electric mixer.
12.  Add vanilla, ganache, butter flavoring, and salt and mix well.
13.  Beat in powdered sugar for about 2 minutes.
14.  Add cream a little at a time until you reach a desired consistency.

15.  Pipe or spread frosting on top of cupcakes.
16.  Sprinkle leftover ganache on top of the frosting.


These would go well with some chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans :)