ButterBeer Cake Recipe

Harry Potter.  It wasn’t until I had children of my own that I fell hard for these beautiful books and movies.  Two years ago, I took my sisters to Universal Studios Orlando for my youngest sister’s 21st birthday.  There we entered the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I was like a little kid!  It was completely…yep, you guessed it…MAGICAL!  When I got home, I talked to the hubz and within days, I had booked a return trip for my family. The kids received letters via “Owl Post” on Christmas morning telling them of the journey they would embark on in about 6 weeks. 

It was the BEST vacation we’ve ever taken as a family.  We got wands (yes ALL of us!), rode every ride at least a dozen or more times, and one of our favorite things to enjoy was the BUTTERBEER!  Oh it is just delicious.  It is a frothy, sweet drink that tastes like a mixture of butterscotch and heavy cream combined to make a sweet elixir that makes you believe that wizards and witches really do exist and that magic is possible.  We enjoyed it hot, frozen or just cold.  MY personal favorite was hot in the mornings and frozen during the hottest point of the day.  Yum!

This past week we realized that it was Harry Potter’s birthday AND the release of the new Script Book, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, so we wanted to make a Butterbeer CAKE in honor of these 2 events!  Enter this amazing yumminess…….

Homemade Butterscotch Sauce, Butterscotch buttercream and a Brown Sugar Vanilla Cake.

It turned out delicious!! Originally I was going to wait to cut it until today, so I could also get some good pictures of it in the daylight, but the kiddos just couldn’t wait. We sliced into this beauty last night and it was an instant hit.  The salty butteryness (is that a real word? if not, it should be…) of the butterscotch sauce, combined with the sweet creaminess of butterscotch buttercream and moist cake just make this the ultimate Harry Potter Fan indulgence!  We hope you’ll give it a try.

NOTE:   The Caking Kids really love Ms. Kara’s  Perfect Vanilla Cake recipe, and after we researched what makes butterscotch, Butterscotch, we decided to replace some of the white sugar for brown. It turned out great!  I’ll Link to her recipe below in the recipe notes, and explain the change we made.  Also, want to watch us make this cake?  A Link to our YouTube Video is below!

Print Recipe

ButterBeer Cake

See the Recipe Notes for the actual cake recipe.

Prep Time

10-15 minutes

Cook Time

10 minutes

Servings

cups

Ingredients

Butterscotch Sauce

• 2 sticks salted butter
• 2 Cups Packed Brown Sugar
• 2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 Tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract OR optional Butterscotch Schnapps
• 1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt

Butterscotch Buttercream (Adapted from Lauren Kitchen's Buttercream)

• 4.2 Ounces Pasteurized Egg Whites
• 1.5 Pounds Powdered Sugar
• 2 Pounds Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract
• 2/3 Cup Homemade Butterscotch Sauce

Prep Time 10-15 minutes Cook Time 10 minutes Servings cups Ingredients Butterscotch Sauce 2 sticks salted butter 2 Cups Packed Brown Sugar 2 Cups Heavy Whipping Cream 1 Tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract OR optional Butterscotch Schnapps 1 1/2 Teaspoons Salt Butterscotch Buttercream (Adapted from Lauren Kitchen's Buttercream) 4.2 Ounces Pasteurized Egg Whites 1.5 Pounds Powdered Sugar 2 Pounds Butter 2 Tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract 2/3 Cup Homemade Butterscotch Sauce

Instructions

For Butterscotch Sauce

1. In a 3quart saucepan, melt butter.
2. Next add brown sugar and cook until it starts to melt and combines well with the butter.
3. Slowly add in Heavy Whipping Cream and salt. At medium heat, cook at a low boil stirring constantly for 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla or Butterscotch Schnapps. Set aside to cool completely.

For Butterscotch Buttercream

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, weigh out egg whites and powdered sugar. With the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed for 5 minutes. Scrape down bowl.
2. Next add in butter slowly, and beat until full combined. Then add Vanilla and mix well.
3. Finally add the 2/3 cups of cooled butterscotch, and mix until combined.

For Cake Assembly

1. Torte each layer of your cake so that you have at least 4 layers of cake.
2. Begin layering your cake by taking your first layer, and pouring about an 1/8th of a cup of your butterscotch sauce on it. Spread it around so it begins to soak into the cake.
3. Next add a good layer of buttercream and then top it with a healthy drizzle of butterscotch sauce.
4. Continue this process until the cake is fully assembled. Ice the top and sides of your cake with the remaining buttercream and then drizzle butterscotch sauce along the edges and also enough to cover the top. ENJOY!!!

Recipe Notes

Kara explained how to make her perfect vanilla cake way better than I ever could, so I'm just going to link to her recipe. The ONE adjustment you need make to the recipe in order to make it the same way we did,  is to exchange HALF of the white sugar for BROWN sugar.  It will change the cake flavor just enough to make it perfect for this ButterBeer Cake.  Enjoy!

Kara's Perfect Vanilla Cake