Butterbeer Recipe

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Leading up to the midnight showing of the final Harry Potter movie, I really wanted to have a Harry Potter party. It wasn’t in the cards, so instead I made some Harry Potter themed treats for Hubby and I to enjoy while watching Deathly Hallows Part I the other night.

There are quite a few recipes for butterbeer out there. But I wanted to make something that matches what butterbeer was in my mind while reading the books. To me, butterbeer is warm, buttery, and spiked with a bit of some spicy alcohol. The warm butterbeer is topped with a frothy whipped foam on top that leaves a mustache when you take a sip.

I set out to develop this recipe and Hubby and I agreed that this butterbeer was delicious and very fitting for Harry and his friends.

One Year Ago: French Silk Pie

Butterbeer

Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the Butterbeer
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/16 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch salt
3 Tbsp toffee bits (you can use butterscotch chips here if you have those on hand)
1/3 cup spiced rum
1 cups boiling water

For the Foam
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar, or splenda for sugar free version
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon butter

Directions:

Prepare the butterbeer:
Using an electric mixer, beat the brown sugar, butter, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in a medium bowl until blended and smooth. Stir in the toffee bits Transfer the mixture to a 4-cup (or larger) measuring cup. Add the rum and then the boiling water. Stir until the butter mixture dissolves. Pour through a sieve to remove any toffee bits that did not dissolve. Divide the buttered rum among 2 mugs.

Prepare the foam:
In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, whip the heavy cream on medium high speed for 3-4 minutes until it starts to thicken. Add the sugar and continue whipping until very soft peaks begin to form, another 3-4 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and butter, then whip for another 30 seconds or so, until soft peaks form.

Spoon a generous portion of foam on top of each glass of butterbeer, mixing gently. Serve immediately.

Recipe adapted from Food Network and Bakingdom

Beverages, Dessert

2 comments »

31 Responses to “Kentucky Butter Cake”

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Megan — May 1, 2013 at 7:04 am
This sounds amazing! I’d be shocked if the people you manage don’t think you’re the best boss ever!
- beantownbaker — May 1st, 2013 @ 7:56 am
  
  Ha, I’m ok with bribing them with baked goods into feeling that way 🙂
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2

Eva @ Eva Bakes — May 1, 2013 at 7:40 am
I wish my boss would do something like this for us. This cake sounds phenomenal! Anything that tastes like a donut gets an A+ from me!
- beantownbaker — May 1st, 2013 @ 7:57 am
  
  I had a boss once who would bring a store bought cake and cut it into the same number of pieces as there were people at the meeting. And he made us sing. It was horrible.
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Erica @ In and Around Town — May 1, 2013 at 8:38 am
Definitely the best boss when you get homemade cakes that have been compared to a glazed donut! Congrats!!
- beantownbaker — May 1st, 2013 @ 9:05 am
  
  Thanks 🙂 I am pretty lucky in that my team is pretty awesome too.
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4

Tracy {Pale Yellow} — May 1, 2013 at 11:03 am
Congratulations on the promotion! Your team sounds lucky to have you and this cake looks gorgeous!
- beantownbaker — May 1st, 2013 @ 4:21 pm
  
  Thanks!
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Jill — May 1, 2013 at 4:24 pm
Congratulations on the promotion!! This looks and sounds delicious!
- beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 9:05 am
  
  Thanks
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chelsea @ serves two — May 1, 2013 at 10:22 pm
oh my! a giant glazed donut in cake form??!! yes please! i am sort of curious though as to why it’s called a kentucky butter cake 🙂
- beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 9:04 am
  
  I have no idea why it’s called Kentucky butter cake. I did a quick Google search and it doesn’t look like anyone knows.
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Sarah C — May 2, 2013 at 10:06 am
I’m glad there’s no explanation as to why it’s called a Kentucky Butter Cake, because I am making this for a themed food fest at work next week, and I’m changing it to Hawaiian Butter Cake so that I don’t have to find another recipe. 🙂
- beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 12:07 pm
  
  I like the way you work 🙂
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Kathy — May 2, 2013 at 10:50 am
The staff meeting treat sounds like a regular monthly blog post…cant wait to see what is on deck next month
- beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 12:08 pm
  
  For sure! I have already started asking my team members who have May birthdays about what they’d like. One said anything with chocolate. One said anything but chocolate. So that’s going to be a challenge! Luckily I’m the only June birthday so I’m going to go all out for June!
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Ashley Bee (Quarter Life Crisis Cuisine) — May 2, 2013 at 11:38 am
Ever seen The Office? Hehe… they looove birthday parties! And that’s so sweet that you’re acknowledging your workers like that. I’m sure you’re a great boss!
- beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 12:08 pm
  
  Ha – if only we could all have parties like they do on The Office…
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Shannon — May 2, 2013 at 2:48 pm
best boss ever 🙂 this looks fantastic!! we have birthday buddies that we bring cake for, and it’s a pretty awesome tradition 🙂
- beantownbaker — May 2nd, 2013 @ 4:13 pm
  
  Oh I like the birthday buddies idea! I’m not sure that would work for my team since it’s ~80% guys… I do joke that everyone needs a buddy cause sometimes I look around and can’t tell who we’re missing. It would be a lot easier to just ask if everyone’s buddy was here like when we were kids on field trips.
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11

Brooke Schweers — May 3, 2013 at 7:40 pm

Yum! Looks devine! Such a perfect looking cake and the glaze makes it look extra shiny and pretty!
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Nutmeg Nanny — May 4, 2013 at 2:37 pm

Oh, this is such a perfect looking cake 🙂
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Laura Dembowski — May 5, 2013 at 11:13 am

Oh, I so want a slice of this! Love cakes that are soaked with syrup. So yummy!
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Angie — May 6, 2013 at 3:23 pm
i made this on Friday for a brunch on Saturday. It was delicious and I got lots of compliments! I was surprised when i made it because there were no instructions about adding the butter to the batter. I assumed that the butter should be softened and mixed in, but I would’ve expected it to be mixed in earlier so that it would incorporate more fully. You might consider adding clarification to that step.
- beantownbaker — May 6th, 2013 @ 5:46 pm
  
  Glad you enjoyed the cake. The second sentence in the second step talks about adding the butter. Are the instructions confusing?
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ErinsFoodFiles — May 6, 2013 at 4:13 pm
I think I’ve seen this recipe elsewhere on the interwebs… (of course my eye is drawn to anything Kentucky, my home state!) Glad to hear it’s so good!
- beantownbaker — May 6th, 2013 @ 5:47 pm
  
  It’s definitely out there on the web! I couldn’t find any info about why it’s called Kentucky Butter Cake though. Do you know anything about it? Do you guys eat it in Kentucky?
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claire — May 10, 2013 at 2:11 pm
So the glaze is on the bottom of the cake correct? You don’t reserve any to pour over the top?
- beantownbaker — May 13th, 2013 @ 8:24 am
  
  Yep, you pour it all in to the bottom of the cake while it’s in the pan.
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Maggie Wells — September 9, 2013 at 9:14 pm
Hi there! Wonderful cake. Just wondering — did you let the cake sit overnight with the syrup soaking?
- beantownbaker — September 10th, 2013 @ 7:58 am
  
  Yep, I let the cake sit overnight after adding the syrup.

Butterbeer Recipe