Butterbeer Cupcakes

I love Harry Potter. In third grade, I read the first three books in quick succession, spending entire days just with Harry and friends. Thus began my relationship with the magical world of J.K. Rowling. I was disappointed when my eleventh birthday rolled around and there were no owls or Hogwarts missives to speak of. Outwardly I denied that I’d believed it could be possible, but in truth, I’d been pretty sure I was a wizard. So when I came across this recipe for Butterbeer cupcakes on the cooking blog amybites, I knew I had to make them. The recipe is based on the Butterbeer drink they’re now serving at the new Orlando Harry Potter theme park, and includes cream soda, butter flavoring, and oodles of butterscotch. Even if you’ve never even seen a Harry Potter movie (let alone dressed up as Ginny Weasley, as I did for the release of the seventh book), you will enjoy these cupcakes. They are delicious!
Butterbeer Cupcakes

For the batter
2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp butter flavoring
½ cup buttermilk
½ cup cream soda

For the icing
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup butterscotch syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp butter flavoring
1 16 oz package powdered sugar
Extra butterscotch syrup and butterscotch morsels for decoration!

Directions
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. Fill each cupcake 3/4 full, then bake for 20 minutes until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the icing, cream butter in a large bowl until fluffy. Add in butterscotch syrup, vanilla, butter flavoring, and mix until well combined. Beat in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until reaching desired consistency.

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