Cupcakes from the Wizarding World

Ladies!! If you ever find yourself in a situation where guys keep creepy smirking at you for no apparent reason, look down at your shirt asap! Because it is highly probable that a button on your shirt popped and now your article-of-clothing-under-the-shirt is showing. This happened to me while I was sitting at the very front on a public bus. Just wanted to share this important life lesson with you. You’re welcome.

So a really close friend of mine had his bday celebration a couple weeks ago. He initially planned on having a Harry Potter themed bday party since he’s never done it before. But in the end he scrapped the whole themed birthday thing because he worked almost every day and was too busy to launch his plans. ( Being an adult sucks! ) I only work 4 days a week and that’s enough to tire me out. I admire you 9-to-5-ers. 

Even though the party didn’t end up having a theme, Elephant and I were just too excited about making Harry Potter cupcakes to do something normal. We made butterbeer cupcakes and chocolate cauldron cupcakes. The Butterbeer ones were a clear winner! Everyone LOVED them!!!!! I wish I could find a better word to describe them because “love” is an understatement. 

Before I tried the cupcakes, I honestly had no idea what butterbeer would taste like. In the books, butterbeer is mentioned countless times and each time I tried to imagine what it would taste like. My limited creativity lead to visualize a warm mixture of melted butter and beer together in a glass bottle with a narrow opening. The thought of that made me never ever want to try butterbeer. It turns out though, that butterbeer tastes caramelly with a hint of cream soda. Mmmm caramelllll…. 

The chocolate ones were well-received too. Each consisted of an upside chocolate cupcake filled with white chocolate ganache and dipped a chocolate glaze, finished with a chocolate handle. 

I know there are many steps in these recipes but you must must musttt make these cupcakes! They will change your world!!

Speaking of different worlds, I’m still waiting for my acceptance letter from Hogwarts. Vancouver can be pretty difficult to navigate so my owl must be lost or something. 

Butterbeer Cupcakes

Butterbeer Cupcakes 
2 cups flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
Pinch of salt 
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened 
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed 
3 large eggs 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
1 teaspoon butter flavoring (we omitted this)
1/2 cup buttermilk 
1/2 cup cream soda

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a cupcake tin with baking cups.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and butter flavoring.

4. Fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the buttermilk, 1/3 of the flour mixture, cream soda, and then the remaining flour. Folding in these ingredients will prevent over-mixing and will result in a fluffier, less dense cupcake. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 of the way full and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cupcakes are golden and spring back when touched. Cool completely before frosting.

Butterscotch Ganache 
11 ounces (1 package) butterscotch chips 
1 cup heavy cream

In a small saucepan on medium heat, melt the butterscotch chips into the heavy cream, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature before using.

Butterscotch Buttercream 
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 
1/4 cup butterscotch ganache (recipe above) 
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 teaspoon butter flavoring 
Pinch of salt 
3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar 
Splash of heavy cream (as needed)

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Mix in the butterscotch ganache, vanilla, butter flavoring, and salt. Beat in the powdered sugar for 2-3 minutes, starting with 3 cups and adding more only if necessary. Add the cream a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved.

Assembly

Cut holes in the center of cupcakes using knife/icing tip. Keep parts that you cut out!! Fill the holes with the extra ganache that didn’t go into the buttercream. Place the tops onto the cupcakes again. Pipe frosting onto cupcake and drizzle leftover ganache over the tops. 

Chocolate Cauldron Cupcakes

Chocolate cupcakes
1 batch of your favourite chocolate cupcakes, we used this recipe 

1. Bake them without using paper cups. Instead spray your muffin tin with cooking spray to keep cupcakes from sticking to the pan. 

2. Let cupcakes cool completely before working with them, as they will be too delicate just coming out of the oven. I advise that you bake the cupcakes 1 day before decorating. 

3. After cooling, cut a hole on the BOTTOM of the cupcake using a knife or large icing tip. 

White Chocolate Ganache Filling
2 ounces (56 grams) white chocolate, finely chopped
3 ounces (100 ml) heavy whipping cream

Put white chocolate into a bowl. Bring cream to a simmer in a pot. Pour cream over chocolate and stir til combined. Place plastic wrap right onto the surface of the ganache then refrigerate til very cold. 

Remove from fridge only at the time when you need it. Then whip it into soft peaks using a mixer on high speed. Do not overmix as the mixture will separate.

Chocolate Glaze
6 ounces (180 g) semi-sweet chocolate (chips)
4 tablespoons (55 g) butter

Melt butter and chocolate together in a microwave at intervals of 30 secs. Stir after each interval. 

Chocolate Handles

Place chocolate into a piping bag and microwave at intervals of 30 seconds til chocolate is melted. Snip off the tip of the bag and pipe handle shapes onto a baking sheet lined with parchment/silpat. Make sure to pipe the handles really thick so that it won’t break when you handle them. Make extras in case some break.

Assembly

Fill cupcakes with white chocolate ganache filling, sprinkle with some drages. Dip cupcakes (with hole cut already) into chocolate glaze and place on parchment paper. Refrigerate til glaze sets. Then stick the handles into the cupcakes (not the filling).

Source: Pastry Affair and Grown to Cook