Looking for a different flavor to frost your holiday cupcakes with? Try butterbeer frosting – made from butterscotch chips and cream soda. It should be next on your baking to-do list.
Butterbeer. I love this stuff. When your son says,”MAMA, this frosting is AHHHMAZING” you know you did something right. My little guy is a natural charmer, but he never hands out those kinds of comments unless they are earned. You know 5-year-olds can be brutally honest.
These cupcakes taste amazing and are even prettier to look at if I may say so myself. The butterbeer frosting has butterscotch chips and cream soda, which creates the best whipped consistency. It holds a nice shape when being piped – it is just perfection.
Moving on, let’s talk about the cake. It is the perfect cake to load up with liquids. I added 3/4 cup of room temperature cream soda and 1/2 cup of buttermilk to it and it came out perfectly. I initially thought that all of the sugar in the soda mixed with the sugar that I added would make the cake fall, but I was wrong. Turns out, it’s the perfect Christmas cake.
Step by Step Guide to Making Butterbeer Frosted Cupcakes
Cake Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Mix in vanilla bean paste, then add eggs one at a time, ensuring each is well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Measure cream soda and buttermilk in a cup, mixing them together.
- Alternately add dry ingredients and cream soda/buttermilk mixture to the creamed mixture, starting and ending with flour. Divide into three flour additions and two buttermilk additions.
- Scoop batter into cupcake liners.
- Bake for 23-26 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Cool completely after baking.
Frosting Preparation:
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine butterscotch chips and heavy cream. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth.
- Stir in cream soda, one tablespoon at a time, ensuring full incorporation.
- Chill in the fridge for about 45 minutes until thickened.
- Once thickened, mix the ganache with a hand mixer until fluffy.
- Add butter and continue mixing, then gradually incorporate powdered sugar.
- Mix at high speed for 2-3 minutes until frosting is whipped.
- Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes using a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip.
Garnish Preparation:
- Melt yellow and milk chocolate candy melts in the microwave, stirring until smooth.
- Transfer to a sandwich bag, cut a tiny corner, and pipe lightning bolts onto wax paper.
- Let candy melt harden, then place on frosted cupcakes as garnish.
Butterbeer Frosted Cupcakes
- Total Time: 56 minutes
- Yield: 27 cupcakes 1x
Description
Looking for a different flavor to frost your holiday cupcakes with? Try butterbeer frosting – made from butterscotch chips and cream soda. It should be next on your baking to-do list.
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla bean paste
- 3 eggs
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 3/4 cup cream soda, room temperature
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
Frosting:
- 11 oz. bag butterscotch chips
- 2 Tbsp. heavy cream
- 3 Tbsp. cream soda, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
Garnish:
- 1/2 cup yellow candy melts
- 2–3 pieces milk chocolate candy melts
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake tin with paper liners.
- In a mixing bowl, add the butter and granulated sugar. Mix until light and fluffy about 3 minutes.
- Add in the vanilla bean paste and each egg separately and mix until incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine.
- In a measuring cup, measure out the cream soda and buttermilk. I added mine together.
- Alternately add the flour and cream soda/buttermilk mixtre always starting and ending with the flour. I did 3 parts flour and 2 parts buttermilk. Scrape down the sides and mix to combine.
- Scoop the batter into the cupcake liners.
- Place in the oven and bake for 23 – 26 minutes or until done. Place a skewer into the center of the cupcake, if it comes out clean or with moist crumbs it’s done. If it still has batter, let it bake a while longer and test again. Mine were done at 23 minutes.
- Remove from the cupcake tin and let cool completely.
Frosting
- In a medium microwave-safe bowl, add in butterscotch chips and heavy cream. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir. Repeat 2 additional times or until the mixture is completely smooth. It will take a minute or two of stirring for the heavy cream and butterscotch chips to incorporate.
- Add in 1 tablespoon of cream soda and stir until thoroughly incorporated.
- Add in the 2 remaining tablespoons of cream soda and stir until that’s thoroughly incorporated.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to cool until thickened. It should take about 45 minutes.
- Once the ganache has thickened, remove it from the fridge. If it’s rock solid, it needs to sit out to take the chill off and loosen up or you’ll burn out your hand mixer trying to mix it. Mine was thick but still pourable.
- Mix the ganache with a hand mixer on medium until light and fluffy.
- Add in the butter and continue to mix until incorporated.
- Add in the powdered sugar and mix on low until the powdered sugar is almost incorporated. Turn the hand mixer on high and mix for an additional 2 – 3 minutes until the frosting is whipped.
- Place frosting in a piping back with a 1M tip. Pipe swirls on top of the cooled cupcakes.
Garnish
- Heat the yellow and milk chocolate candy melts together. Start with 45 seconds and stir.
- Add another 30 seconds and stir again. If it’s still not smooth, do one more round of 30 seconds and stir until smooth.
- Pour in a sandwich bag and cut a tiny hole in one of the corners. Pipe lightning bolts on a large piece of wax paper.
- Let the candy melt lightning bolts harden and stick in the frosting.
Notes
Cake Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a cupcake tin with paper liners.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Mix in vanilla bean paste, then add eggs one at a time, ensuring each is well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Measure cream soda and buttermilk in a cup, mixing them together.
- Alternately add dry ingredients and cream soda/buttermilk mixture to the creamed mixture, starting and ending with flour. Divide into three flour additions and two buttermilk additions.
- Scoop batter into cupcake liners.
- Bake for 23-26 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Cool completely after baking.
Frosting Preparation:
- In a microwave-safe bowl, combine butterscotch chips and heavy cream. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth.
- Stir in cream soda, one tablespoon at a time, ensuring full incorporation.
- Chill in the fridge for about 45 minutes until thickened.
- Once thickened, mix the ganache with a hand mixer until fluffy.
- Add butter and continue mixing, then gradually incorporate powdered sugar.
- Mix at high speed for 2-3 minutes until frosting is whipped.
- Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes using a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip.
Garnish Preparation:
- Melt yellow and milk chocolate candy melts in the microwave, stirring until smooth.
- Transfer to a sandwich bag, cut a tiny corner, and pipe lightning bolts onto wax paper.
- Let candy melt harden, then place on frosted cupcakes as garnish.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 26 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Butterbeer cupcakes, butterscotch frosting, cream soda cupcakes, homemade butterbeer, unique cupcake flavors, holiday baking ideas, vanilla bean paste cupcakes, butterscotch chip recipes, cream soda in baking, festive cupcake recipes, candy melt garnish, whipped frosting techniques, baking with buttermilk, creative cupcake garnishes, Harry Potter themed desserts
how much salt?
We just used a “pinch” or about 1/16th teaspoon and I think that worked out well for us.
I think it matters more that you pick out a good cream soda, one you like to drink. I tried Blue Sky for the first time with this recipe and I think it was lacking a bit in flavor, the cupcakes came out tasting a bit like cornbread(??). I think it would have worked out better if we’d used something like an IBC or Stewart’s instead.