Butterbeer Cake
March 18, 2011 | Print | E-mail | Filed under cake
This year for my sister’s birthday celebration, I was worried that my cake wouldn’t live up to last year’s puffle cake. Every idea I came up with just didn’t seem good enough. Then, I thought back to when she visited us during her winter break, and I immediately knew that I had to make something related to Harry Potter. You see, until then, I had somehow managed not to read a single one of the books or see a single one of the movies. But my sister LOVES them, and when she found out that I had been previously isolated from the Harry Potter world, a movie marathon went on our list of things to do…and I have to say, I really enjoyed them! Afterward, my sister was showing me a recipe for the butterbeer drink that the characters enjoy in one of the movies, and I decided that I just had to incorporate those flavors into a cake somehow. This superbly sweet cake is the result! As it was a bit of an experiment, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out…but everyone told me they loved it, and after one bite I had to agree, too. For all of you Harry Potter fans out there – give this butterbeer cake a try!
For the cake:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 Tbsp butterscotch topping (I used Smucker’s)
- 1/2 cup cream soda
- Extra butterscotch topping, for decorating
For the buttercream frosting (makes enough to cover two 6″ cakes, with a layer of frosting in between cake layers):
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup butterscotch topping
- 1 Tbsp cream soda
- 1 lb powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray two 6″ or 8″ pans with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars.
Add in the eggs, vanilla extract, milk, butterscotch topping, and cream soda.
Add the dry ingredients half at a time, beating until smooth.
Pour into the prepared pans. For 6″ cakes, bake 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (You may need to adjust the baking time for 8″ cakes.) Cool completely before frosting.
To make the frosting, beat together the butter, butterscotch topping, and cream soda. Add in the sugar and beat until smooth.
Decorate the cake as desired.
Drizzle with the extra butterscotch topping – it really does add a little something extra!
Loading ...
March 18th, 2011 at 10:50 am
How perfect is this little cake!? Love it!!
March 18th, 2011 at 10:50 am
Oh, Tracy! This is GENIUS!!! we are BIG Harry Potter fans around here….I think this cake is going on the “must make” list.
March 18th, 2011 at 10:51 am
This is EPIC!!!!! Just like Harry Potter =)
March 18th, 2011 at 10:54 am
Totally delish looking!!! Will be passing this to my daughter to see if she’d like to tackle it, being the Harry Potter fan that she is.
March 18th, 2011 at 10:54 am
Wow what a super cute cake. I love HP and so does my friend Phil. I actually bought him the HP magical cookbook for his birthday. I can not wait to try out this cake! I am not big on butterscotch, but it looks so delicious in you cake. Thanks, Kate
March 18th, 2011 at 10:59 am
Here’s a fun fact: when I read the title to this I went “WEEEE!”. I LOVE Harry Potter! This cake rocks my world.
March 18th, 2011 at 10:59 am
What a yummy looking cake!
March 18th, 2011 at 11:28 am
Okay. I’ve GOT to try making this sometime. … now I just need an excuse to make a cake!
March 18th, 2011 at 11:38 am
This is so pretty and delicate looking – sounds delicious!
March 18th, 2011 at 11:42 am
This looks super cute! I have to admit I’m not a big fan of butterscotch, or Harry Potter, but this cake still sounds yummy!
March 18th, 2011 at 11:45 am
Tracy, this is epic. Absolutely EPIC. As an avid Harry Potter fan, I am super thrilled to see that this cake turned out well. Mmmmm Butter Beer.
March 18th, 2011 at 11:50 am
That butterscotch is over the top AMAZING!!! Great addition.. beautiful cake!
March 18th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
What a wonderful cake. It looks fantastic and I bet it tastes that way too!
March 18th, 2011 at 12:24 pm
Just last night, clips from the final HP movie were released and, being the extreme fangirl that I am, teared up at a few parts.
I need this cake to comfort me and give me strength for the final battle of good vs evil.
March 18th, 2011 at 1:13 pm
This looks and sounds so delicious!!
March 18th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
this looks awesome! i, too, am a big harry potter fan. the final movie releases right before my birthday, and this cake looks perfect for the joint celebration. thanks for the recipe!
March 18th, 2011 at 2:59 pm
Looks delish… love anything Harry Potter related!
March 18th, 2011 at 3:02 pm
I have been dying to make butterbeer, but I might just make this into cupcakes instead!
March 18th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
We went to the park and tried the butter beer (still have the cup) and the pumpkin juice. Thank you for this recipe. I will be making it.
March 18th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
Absolutely gorgeous!
March 18th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
That looks absolutely delicious!
March 18th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
how great!!! what a fun idea
March 18th, 2011 at 5:50 pm
What a great idea for a cake! I’m sure your sister enjoyed it! I, too, am late to the Harry Potter party, and I’ve been trying to read all the books before I see the movies. I agree with you. I’ve really enjoyed them this far!
March 18th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
What a perfect cake! I love it!
March 18th, 2011 at 6:17 pm
I’ve never heard butterbeer mentioned in the movies…I’ve never read the books either. This is such an awesome idea! I bet you’re sister loved it.
March 18th, 2011 at 6:18 pm
YES!
So awesome and so good!!! There is a Harry Potter marathon and people saw the new preview for Part 2, so you had perfect timing XD
March 18th, 2011 at 8:25 pm
This cake looks and sounds delicious! I have been wanting to make a cake with cream soda, one of my most favorite sodas ever and I love butterscotch, so what an added bonus! Can’t wait to give this a try! Thanks
March 18th, 2011 at 8:46 pm
I am a huge harry Potter fan and equally fond of dessert. I bet this is even more delicious than it looks (and that is saying something)
March 18th, 2011 at 9:14 pm
Cream Soda!! Extraordinary!! You are the best sister a girl could have! Bravo!!!
March 18th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Love Harry Potter! What a gorgeous cake.
March 19th, 2011 at 12:07 am
I had never heard of butterbeer before since I haven’t read any Harry Potter books so when I read the title for a second I thought there was beer in the cake! Well I much prefer butterscotch to beer so this cake looks and sounds great to me!
March 19th, 2011 at 1:50 am
Love this! The Harry Potter books and movies are some of my faves!
March 19th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Wow. SO glad I came across this! Cannot wait to try it.
March 19th, 2011 at 3:29 pm
This cake sounds amazing and it is so pretty. Love the way you piped the frosting!
March 19th, 2011 at 7:09 pm
I just showed this to my kids (big Harry Potter fans) and they went crazy for it. i guess I know what I’ll be making for the next birthday in our house.
March 19th, 2011 at 9:56 pm
Adorable and easy.
March 19th, 2011 at 10:11 pm
What a fun cake and it looks soooo good. I’d love a slice of that cake right now!
March 20th, 2011 at 1:58 am
Yum, the cake sounds delish, but I need to warn you: I clicked on the Harry Potter Butterbeer website and it tried to send a virus on my computer! You may want to remove the link. Just felt I needed to tell you!
March 20th, 2011 at 8:53 am
Just for the record…you have officially won the award for BEST SISTER EVER with this cake! I’ve never tried to recreate butterbeer at home but I think I am definitely going to have to skip right to this cake. Delicious!
March 20th, 2011 at 6:44 pm
I think I died when I saw this post! A Harry Potter inspired cake? I am sold! I am a huge Potter nerd and I’ve made homemade butterbeer before and absolutely loved it. I am definitely trying this cake!
March 20th, 2011 at 9:48 pm
You have outdone yourself, what a special treat for your sis.
March 20th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
This looks fabulous! I’m very, very late to the Harry Potter party and only on book 4, but I’m already a big enough fan that I want to make this!
March 21st, 2011 at 9:42 pm
My family and I are huge Harry Potter fans. We have read all the books and have seen all of the movies many times. What a great idea to make the butterbeer into a cake, super creative and it sounds fantastic, especially the frosting with the cream soda and butterscotch…yum! I wish I could use the Accio spell to get this to come to me…lol (nerdy huh?)
March 22nd, 2011 at 4:24 pm
YUM! I am late to the game on this one, but had to leave a quick comment.
We love to watch the Harry Potter movies with some close friends, and we’re counting the days until the next movie. I’ll have to bake this for our next movie marathon!
March 23rd, 2011 at 2:46 pm
How darling is this cake? I’m in love with Butterscotch, so me thinks I’d love this too!
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:40 pm
I LOVE CAKE VERY MUCH >.< !!! ~
March 24th, 2011 at 3:01 pm
This is ingenious– I’m also a big HP fan and this does indeed sound like what I imagined butterbeer to taste like. (I also like how your rosettes on top of the cake look like streaky seashells.) Have you come up with any ideas yet on what to do with pumpkin juice?
March 25th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
so late on this, but just saw it on Jen’s (my ktichen addiction) friday favorites! What a great idea. We are huge harry potter fans and I’m making this as soon as possible!
March 25th, 2011 at 9:03 pm
I’ve been very much away from my blog and the bloggers I read so I just saw this cake. It’s so beautiful and so interesting! I bookmarked the page. Thanks for sharing the recipe
May 7th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
This cake looks so delicious!
Its in the oven now and it smells like Heaven. So this is what a wizards Bakery must smell like! I can’t wait to try it ^_^
June 6th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
AH! this looks amazing! My boyfriends birthday is coming up in a week and i am definitely going to make this for him