On January 6, 2011, Universal Studios Orlando announced the sale of their one millionth Butterbeer within the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.You may recall I bought the drink when I visited in September, 2010, making mine one in a million.
I revisited Harry’s World (read about my first encounter here) with my two grandchildren the day before Thanksgiving.The streets of Hogsmeade were jammed, a three hour waiting line formed outside Olivander’s Wand Shoppe. We moved through a snaking, stop-start queue before finally entering Hogswart’s Castle for The Forbidden Journey. Despite wasting time in line, the ride gets my nod as the absolute best! I flew, I dove, felt hot breath, laughed, screamed and fought along with Harry. I returned three times that day.
The grandkids (ages 6 and 8) jumped onto a few amusements in Dr. Seuss Land, but none of us were overly thrilled with the opposite side of the theme park.
My family, however, delightedly quaffed mugs of tasty frozen Butterbeer on that very hot day. Wonderful stuff.
I researched and found many recipes online, however, most of them concoct a warm version of the brew. While that might be appealing during winter, the directions below describe what seems most like the drink served on the streets of Hogsmeade.
Butterbeer Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pint of vanilla ice cream, softened
- 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 bottle (24 oz.) vanilla cream soda (very cold)
Directions
- Allow ice cream to soften, about 30 minutes, and bring butter to room temperature, about 2 hours
- Blend butter, sugar, and spices in large bowl
- Add to ice cream and freeze
- Heat cream soda in a pot until warm but still carbonated (at least 3 minutes). You could also just go with the very cold cream soda (my preference) and have a more frozen/slushy drink.
- Fill each glass with a scoop of ice cream mixture and pour warmed or chilled cream soda over ice cream
- Serve!
