Sunday, July 31, 2011

Harry Potter Flavored Cupcakes...

   Wait, no, they're "ButterBeer Cupcakes". They don't taste like Harry Potter. They were delicious. I was supposed to have a girls night with my girl Lisa and my sis Chelsea...but we had to postpone. I decided it would be rad to "try" making these once myself so I could master it. You should make them... but be sure to set aside about 2+ hours for this "project". Took from 5:45 pm to after 8 pm.
 
   I have been baking recently, which is new for me. And I don't mean "adding eggs to the boxed powder". I mean real, hardcore baking. I had a few items necessary, but fell short when I noticed "butter flavoring" on the ingredient list. Off to the store I went!!

For the cupcakes:

2 cups flour
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 large eggs
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp butter flavoring (I used Buttermilk flavoring)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cream soda

   As you know, I like to sort everything out and line it up. I also put my adorable new plaid cupcake shells.


  The for the fancy frosting...


For the butterscotch ganache:
1 11-oz package butterscotch chips
3/4 cup heavy cream

For the buttercream frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup butterscotch ganache
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp butter flavoring
1/8 tsp salt
1 lb powdered sugar
Splash of heavy cream (as needed)

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins with paper liners.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each.
- Add in vanilla and butter flavoring.


- Combine buttermilk and cream soda in a small bowl and alternate adding that combination with the flour mixture with the mixer on low, starting and ending with the flour.
- Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks.

P.S. The recipe says it yields "18 cupcakes" False. I Got 19.

- For the butterscotch ganache, melt butterscotch chips and heavy cream together using a double boiler (or 4 or 5 minutes in the microwave...just keep stirring here and there) until completely smooth. Cool to room temperature to allow the ganache to slightly thicken. This part takes forever.


- Fill a plastic squeeze bottle with the ganache, and insert tip into each cupcake, filling until the ganache starts to slightly overflow. I did this from the top because I didn't want to ruin my plaid papers. Worked just fine. It was then that I realized the stupid Stop & Shop brand of sugar I bought wasn't confectioners sugar. It was regular damn sugar. So mid-bake, I had to run to the local grocery store and grab the right kind of sugar. Why would Stop & Shop make the packages identical?? WHY? So that's why I know the ganache takes forever to cool. Ha.

- For the frosting, cream butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, and salt and mix until well combined. Beat in powdered sugar and allow it to come together for about 2 minutes. Add cream a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached. I had to use a LOT of teaspoons of cream until it was watery enough to be called "frosting".




- Pipe frosting onto cupcakes with a large tip and drizzle leftover butterscotch ganache over each.

   After fighting with the piping parts, I finally decided to read the instructions since last time I used it I ended up with frosting all over my damn hands. Turns out you're supposed to fold it over, fill it with a spatula and the squeeze 'er down. (yes, I still ended up with it all over my hands) However, the cupcakes looked like this after I drizzled the leftover ganache...



A. Mazing.



And these two in the kitchen where I left them. They like to watch me cook/bake. Weirdos.




   Now go enjoy the rest of your Sunday. You have to work tomorrow, right? See you there :)

2 comments:

  1. My birthday's in September. Just saying.

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  2. How were they? The ones I had tasted just like the Butterbeer at Wizarding World.

    ReplyDelete