harry potter butterbeer cupcakes....!

....so although i've always been a fan of HP, it wasn't until we took a trip to orlando and visited the WWoHP that i think i really kinda started being into it....if you are a fan you should definitely make the trip as it's pretty darn cool....and i'm not really a potterhead, but i am reading the books and every time one of the movies comes on, i just have to watch, no matter how many times i've seen it!....and i was this close to buying a robe at WWoHP, you know because at the time having a gryffindor robe seemed like a really great idea (but the 100+ bucks price tag deterred me--no wonder ron couldn't afford new robes every year!) and i'm hoping the kiddos get into the books as well....my oldest is 8 and started the books, but he hasn't really gotten into into yet....(there's still time though!)

and when we were there last feb, we got butterbeer of course!

so these cupcakes are my take on butterbeer (which in general is like drinking butterscotch soda with a nice creamy/foamy topping!)... the cupcakes are magnolia's vanilla cupcake recipe (i finally figured out how to make homemade cupcakes made with butter so the cupcakes bake up nicely!) and they are filled with sticky toffee sauce (i got as a gift, but you can make your own as well) and topped with butterscotch buttercream.....

...filled using the cone method where you cut out a cone shape from the top of the cupcake, spoon in some of the toffee sauce (which is thick so it works great as a filling---i used it for these cupcakes too)....then replace the cone--minus the tip of the cone...

the butterscotch buttercream is my go to buttercream recipe that i love, it uses butter and vegetable shortening so not overly buttery....to that add about 1/4 cup of the butterscotch chips (melt them in microwave for about 45 seconds with 1 tablespoon of milk), mix up well with buttercream....

for the toppers, i went with the same method as i've done before with the uncle sam and leprechaun cupcakes...vanilla tootsie roll head, hershey kiss body, dipped in candy melt, and detail also done with candy melt...they take some time, but for me i find it relaxing and so far they've always come out pretty cute!

ron's scarf is made with vanilla tootsie roll too--nuke it for only a couple seconds at a time in the microwave until you can roll it out....cut out a long scarf shape then add griffyndor colors with edible food marker....

...the sorting hat is a bugle corn chip!...just coated with chocolate until i got the look i was going for....and add to a disk of chocolate for the brim...

....dumbledore and "he-who-must-not-be-named" aka the dark lord aka "you-know-who" aka tom riddle aka VOLDEMORT (ha, you said it!)

...ron and hermione....

...severus snape and draco malfoy...

...the sorting hat and hagrid (since hagrid is bigger than the rest, his body is 2 hershey's kisses one on top of the other!)....

...and harry potter...

...a couple pics of my crew at WWoHP....walking around hogsmeade (see honeydukes on the left??)

...and you know how most kids want to be a gryffindor?...not mine he'd choose slytherin....(not sure if i should be worried about that or not!)

....and you get a bunch of homemade butterbeer cupcakes topped with a bunch of little harry potter dudes...and since most of them are witches, i think it fits right in with the coming halloween season! ps if you like butterscotch, you have to make these, as this flavor combo with the toffee filling was really really really good! (i have some butterscotch buttercream left over so i NEED to make something else with it, it's that yum)

..i really had a lot of fun with these, so hope you enjoy them whether or not you're a harry potter fan ...have a super awesome week!

oh and don't forget about Online BlogCon this month...it's taking place October 22-24, 2012.  No airfare needed and registration is only $15.  Since i still feel i'm a relative newbie at this blogging thing, this is a great chance to "meet" a lot of great speakers, network and maybe win some prizes and giveaways too....pop on over to learn more!



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