Recipe: Butterbeer Cupcakes

Here in the midst of the COVID-19 self-isolation time, one of the highlights of my day has been that my dear friend John Voth has been reading the Harry Potter books live on his Instagram every day from 6-7pm PST. I am, above all things, a sass monster and last weekend John challenged me to make him cupcakes if I was going to keep sassing him like that. So I decided to take him at his word and deliver (with proper social distancing) some delicious butterbeer cupcakes.

I searched online for recipes, but nothing quite did what I wanted, so I mixed a bunch of things together and created my own. Here’s what I did:

Brown Sugar & Toffee Cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon imitation butter extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cream soda (I used Jones so that it was clear instead of pink)
1 cup Skor toffee bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line cupcake pan with liners.
Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl and stir with a whisk until well mixed and smooth.
In a large bowl or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the eggs, oil, extracts, and buttermilk.
Beat in the dry ingredients and the cream soda, alternating between the two until the batter is smooth.
Mix in the toffee bits.
Add 1/4 cup batter to each cupcake liner and bake for 18-22 minutes.
Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack to cool.

Salted Butterscotch Sauce:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt, plus more to taste
1 1/2 teaspoons (8 ml) vanilla extract, plus more to taste

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Add the sugar, cream and salt and whisk until well blended.
Bring to a very gentle boil and cook for about five minutes, whisking occasionally.

Remove from heat and add one teaspoon of the vanilla extract, stirring to combine.
Dip a spoon in the sauce and carefully taste the sauce (without burning your tongue!) to see if you want to add additional pinches or salt or splashes of vanilla. Tweak it to your taste, whisking well after each addition.

Butterscotch Pudding:
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
2/3 teaspoon flaky salt
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 large egg yolks
1 large egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Stir the brown sugar, 1 cup of water, and salt together in the bottom of a medium saucepan.
Turn the heat on to medium-high and cook the mixture without stirring until it’s dark brown and smells caramelized, 8 to 10 minutes.
Whisk in the cream (it’s going to hiss and bubble dramatically), then 1/2 cup of water. (The butterscotch may firm up when the cooler cream/water hits it, but bring the mixture back to a boil, stirring all the way into the corners, and the butterscotch will liquefy again.)
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg, egg yolks, and cornstarch.
Very slowly drizzle in 1 cup of the butterscotch mixture, whisking the whole time. The bowl should feel warm, but if it does not, keep drizzling in butterscotch and whisking until it does, then whisk this back into the mixture still in the saucepan.
Return the saucepan to the stove over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it comes to a bloopy, slow simmer.
Whisk it, simmering, for 1 to 2 minutes; it should thicken fast.
Remove pot from heat, whisk in butter until it melts, and vanilla — you can start with 1 teaspoon and add the second if you want a stronger flavor.

Frosting:
1/2 cup salted butter (room temperature)
3 tbsp Cream Soda (room temperature, and again you want the clear stuff not the pink)
2 tbsp Salted Butterscotch Sauce (as above)
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp imitation butter extract

Mix together the butter, cream soda and butterscotch sauce until it is smooth.
Slowly begin adding powdered sugar and mixing until it reaches the consistency you are looking for. This may vary a bit based on the temperature of your butter. If it ever gets too thick, just add a dollop more cream soda.

Assembly:

Cut a hole in the top of each cupcake, essentially removing a “cone” of cake. Cut off the long part of the cone, leaving yourself a little cap for the hole.
Fill each hole with some of your pudding and then put the remaining cake lid on top of the pudding.
Use a spoon or small spatula to cover the top of each cupcake with the salted butterscotch sauce. Make sure that you cover close to the edges.
Pipe a swirl of the frosting onto each cupcake, covering over the sauce.
Top with sprinkles if you have them. The lightning bolt ones that I have are no longer available, but I’m sure there are other options out there.