Saturday, June 26, 2010

Harry Potter's Butter Beer Float

My family is consumed with Harry Potter. We own and have all read all the books. We own all the movies. We even have most of the books on CD. We are anxiously awaiting the final movie (part 1) later this year.
During one of our many Harry discussion, the question arose, "What is butter beer?" Rowling doesn't fully explain it aside from mentioning it multiple times, which leads me to think that it's a popular drink among Hogwarts students. I set out on an internet search to find a recipe. The recipe variations I found were quite varied and many contained alcohol, which just isn't appropriate for children (or me). Aside from that, there are two main categories of butter beer: hot and cold. I took the general idea of the cold version and created butter beer floats. Let's just say that my (almost) 10-year-old was in Harry Potter heaven. Next winter, I'll have to try hot butter beer.

Harry Potter's Butter Beer Float

1 bottle IBC creme soda
2 scoops vanilla or butterscotch ice cream
2 tbsp butterscotch ice cream topping
Whipped cream
Crushed toffee bits

1. Put ice cream in bottom of glass. Add butterscotch topping.
2. Slowly pour soda over ice cream. Wait for fizz to subside, then add more soda.
3. Top with whipped cream and toffee bits, then serve with a straw and long-handled spoon.

Substitution Suggestions: You can obviously vary the ice cream flavor. For a more buttery flavor, add a few drops of butter extract. Diet soda will also work, but if you're going to indulge, why not fully indulge?!

Lessons Learned: The soda fizzes a lot when it hits the ice cream. Either spoon it off or stir it in before adding the rest of the soda. Or, as a friend suggests, reverse the order: soda, then ice cream, though that will limit how much ice cream will fit in the glass. I used three bottles of soda to make four floats.

2 comments:

B. Perky said...

If you pour the soda first and then add the ice cream it won't foam as much. I personally like the foam so I just take the rest of the bottle with me and refill as needed.

Anonymous said...

My family are big Harry Potter fans too. This was a great treat while watching the 1st movie the other night.