Butterbeer

Okay, so this isn't the best picture in the world. It's just so hard to get a good picture of a creamy, frothy drink without it looking like a white fluffy mess in a cup. So, even though this doesn't look as cool and colorful as the amusement park's version, it's still delicious. Trust me!

Now, if you've ever read or watched Harry Potter, then you are well aware of butterbeer. However, it's nothing anyone has ever had a reference to before because the author made it up. However, she's been quoted saying that she imagines it to be a "little bit like less sickly butterscotch." So, with that in mind I scoured the internet looking for a recipe that would match the description, and crazily enough I only found one recipe that matched that description. So many places, including The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, make their butterbeer with cream soda. Which to me, would make it far too sweet and not really falling under the author's description of what she envisioned when she wrote the drink into the books. This butterbeer recipe doesn't use sugary soda as the base, it uses seltzer water. It gets the flavor from the homemade toffee sauce you make, the creamy texture from the dash of half and half, and the wonderful foamy top from the dairy reacting to the carbonation in the water. That's it! You can add more or less of the toffee syrup and/or cream to give the drink more sweetness/creaminess based off of your personal preference. You can also make this both hot and cold. I tried both and wound up dumping the warm version. There's just something about a warm fizzy drink that didn't appeal to me. However, I love the cold version. This is actually my second year making butterbeer but it's a tradition I plan keep. There's just nothing better than sitting down to watch Harry Potter with a butterbeer in hand.

recipe adapted from The Fig Test Kitchen

Toffee Syrup

• 1 cup dark brown sugar, plus 4 tablespoons 
• 2/3 cup water, plus 1 tablespoon
• 1 stick butter 
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Mix 4 tablespoons brown sugar with 1 tablespoon water and microwave for 30 seconds-1 minute until a syrup is formed.
2. In a medium-small saucepan, combine 1 cup dark brown sugar with butter and syrup. Heat over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and the mixture bubbles a bit.
3. Add 2/3 cup water and vanilla extract. Gently boil for about 10 minutes, until mixture begins to thicken and gets syrupy.
4. Remove from heat. This is also awesome on vanilla ice cream, just for the record.

        Butterbeer

• Toffee syrup 
• Half and Half
• Seltzer water (I used individual cans so it would stay carbonated)

Hot Variation

1. Mix 2-3 tbsp toffee syrup with 6 tbsp half and half and microwave for 1 minute. 
2. Fill rest of mug with seltzer. 

Cold variation

• Mix 4 tbsp toffee syrup with 6 tbsp cool half and half, whisking together with a fork. Pour in cold seltzer while still whisking with the fork. 

* If you want a crisp white foam on top, wait to add the toffee until the end. Stir slowly as to not break up the bubbles.