Just google “butterbeer” and you will get over 1,000,000 different links — but which is the best butter beer recipe you ask? In my quest to find the best version of this magical ‘brew’ I had to compare the recipes with my memory of the crisp and sweet beverage from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. In fact, the Wizarding World has sold over 1,000,000 mugs of the frosty non-alcoholic brew. That’s right, although butterbeer gives a slight buzz to Harry and friends, the Wizarding World version is “virgin’ so to speak.
Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter is the only place you can purchase Butterbeer.
Butter beer appears in the HP books as a favorite beverage and is available no place else on earth save the Wizarding World in Orlando. We loved this sweet, yet refreshing beverage which brings to mind shortbread and butterscotch. It is served either cold or frozen. We preferred just cold over frozen. It is actually two parts — the first being a vanilla shortbread cookie flavored soda — kind of like cream soda. The second is a thick head of butterscotch non-dairy whipped topping. Can you say “yum?” — especially on a hot day in Orlando.
While perusing through hundreds of recipes online, I found some that had ice cream in them. Ugh! I guarantee you the real thing did not have ice cream in it. Many include alcohol or are served warm. None of these mirror the version sold at the Wizarding World. Perhaps if you’ve not yet been to the Orlando theme park you won’t care as you won’t have anything to compare. I guess if that is the case, try recipes that seem tasty to you. If you, like me, want to replicate the delicious ‘brew’ from Harry Potter World, here’s the closest recipe I could find.
Homemade Butterbeer
Ingredients for Butterbeer
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
¾ cup heavy shipping cream, divided
½ teaspoon rum extract
Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda
Directions
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine brown sugar and water. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer. (As I do not own a candy thermometer, I let it boil gently for several minutes and it seemed to work fine.)
Stir in the butter, salt vinegar and ¼ cup of the heavy whipping cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature. (If you want to serve your butterbeer cold, it’s important to follow this step and wait for the mixture to cool.)
Once the mixture is cool, stir in the rum extract.
In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture with the remaining ½ cup of heavy hipping cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until almost thickened, but not completely whipped — about 2-3 minutes.
To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses. If you have your butterbeer mug from the Wizarding World by all means use it. (Pour about ¼ cup into each glass.) Add ¼ cup of cream soda to each glass and stir to combine. Fill each glass almost to the top with more cream soda. Spoon the whipped topping on each.
"Bottoms Up!" as the British say.
Our Rating
Mom: Too sweet for me. Preferred plain old cream soda and thought that was more similar to Universal’s version sans the whipped topping. Try just plain cream soda with the topping which is pretty tasty.
Dad: Liked it — especially the whipped topping.
Kid: It was OK, but likes the Universal version better.
Although not an exact match to the Universal butterbeer, this recipe is the closest I’ve found. In my opinion just serving the vanilla cream soda with the whipped topping from this recipe is even closer. However, if you have a sweet tooth like my husband you just might enjoy this version. Like I said there are many, many recipes online. Try some out and find your favorite recipe for butterbeer . Good luck!
