I’ll admit it, I know nothing about Harry Potter!
But when one of my viewers asked me to make a vegan Butterbeer Cake
I’ll also admit that I was highly intrigued!
Butterbeer is a popular wizarding beverage
Described as tasting “a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch”.
Students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would often buy it when visiting Hogsmeade.
The drink is made with soda, sugar, heavy cream, butter and a tinge of rum
So naturally my cake must follow suit but I’ve replaced the actual cream with cream soda!
I will also not be adding the rum since I want to keep this one kid friendly; but feel free to indulge yourself by adding it to the buttercream!
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Pan Sizes & Notes for Success:
This recipe works great with a gluten free mix like Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 AP Blend
Since I am making a 6 layer cake my layers are going to be much thinner than normal so the bake time is significantly less, about 18 minutes
You can of course use any size cake pans you prefer.
The batter will make
2- thick 8″ pans
1- 9″x13″ cake layer
6 -thin 7″ layers or 3- regular thickness 7″ cake layers
WATCH THE FULL YOUTUBE VIDEO TUTORIAL FOR HOW TO MAKE BUTTERBEER CAKE!
Vegan Butterbeer Cake
Ingredients
For the Butterscotch cake layers:
- Soy Milk 1¾ cups (420ml) *divided into 1 cup /¾ cup
- White Vinegar 3 teaspoons (15ml)
- Vegetable oil ½ cup (118ml)
- Vegan Butter 10 Tablespoons (140g)
- Light Brown Sugar 1¾ cup (350g)
- Salt 1 teaspoon
- Vanilla Extract 3teaspoons (15ml)
- All Purpose Flour 3 cups (375g)
- Baking Soda 2 teaspoons (8g)
- Baking Powder ½ teaspoon
For the Cream Soda Buttercream:
- Vegan Butter 3 Cups (6 sticks) (336g)
- Confectioners Sugar 5 cups (600g)
- Vanilla Extract 2 teaspoons (10ml)
- Butter Extract 1 teaspoon (5ml) *optional
- Salt ¼ teaspoon *optional
- Cream Soda reduction scant ¾ cup
- For the Cream Soda Soak: *optional
- 1 Can Cream Soda (355ml)
- 2 Tablespoons Molasses (30ml)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and then grease & parchment line your cake pans
- I am using 6-7" cake pans *see notes above about pan sizes
- First prepare the butterscotch by separating out 1 cup of the plant milk for the cake batter and the other ½ cup for the butterscotch
- Make the butterscotch with the light brown sugar and vegan butter combined in a medium sauce pot stirring constantly as you bring it to boil~ be sure the pot is larger than you suspect because it will bubble up!
- Once it starts to boil and the butter is melted add the salt and the ¾ cup plant milk, allow it to boil for about 5 minutes stirring and carefully watching it doesn't boil over.
- Transfer the butterscotch to a heat proof glass or bowl and cool
- Once the butterscotch is cooled to at least 135°F take out 1/3 cup for the drip and refrigerate it for later
- Now add the baking powder & baking soda to the flour in a large mixing bowl and set aside
Combine the soy milk with the vinegar and let stand for 5 minutes to thicken. *Soy milk is the only plant milk that will thicken, but you can use another milk if you prefer - Pour the cooled butterscotch along with the other wet cake ingredients into the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and whisk everything well by hand, about 50 strokes to develop the batter
- Divide the batter into the greased and parchment lined pan(s) and bake immediately in the preheated 350°F oven for about 20-25 minutes or when you gently press the centers they are springy to the touch. Or do the toothpick test for moist crumbs. **see notes above for pan sizes
- Cool the cakes in the pans until you can safely touch them without burning yourself then turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool the rest of the way.
- Prepare the cream soda reduction for the buttercream by pouring 1 can of cream soda into a small sauce pot and cook over medium heat for about 15-20 minut4es until it has evaporated in half
- I started with a 355ml can of soda and ended up with about 177ml after 20 minutes
- Cool the soda reduction completely and then prepare the buttercream recipe
- With the paddle attachment whip the vegan butter on high speed for about 3 minutes.
- Add the salt and extracts and whip for another minute
- Stop mixer and add the sifted confectioners sugar all at once.
- Mix on low speed until incorporated & then scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl again and then mix on high speed for another 3 minutes.
- Begin adding the cream soda reduction 1-2 Tablespoons at a time while continuing to whip on medium speed.
- Next combine the other cream soda for the soak with the molasses and stir together
- Now build the cake as shown in the video tutorial
Notes
Butterbeer cake can be left at room temperature for a full day in cool dry climates
For longer storage keep refrigerated for up to 1 week, loosely wrapped to prevent drying
*The butterscotch drip will be fine in the refrigerator unlike caramel drip that will tend to melt.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!! You are the most amazing , wonderful person on the planet ! Thank you!!!!!!
YAY!!
Hi Gretchen, thank you so much for this recipe! Is it me, or are the directions for making the butterscotch missing from the recipe? I can’t find it!
WOW! I can’t believe I left all of that out! Thank you for letting me know! It’s updated!
What brand of vegan butter do you use? I have found my buttercreams have melted and I get so frustrated with the texture. Next question is do you use unsweetened soy milk?
Yes to unsweet soy milk
Earth Balance is my preference since it is the most stable and even gets firm in the refrigerator which is a major plus
So excited to make this! Do you think I could use sugar free cream soda? That’s what I have already.
YES! definitely!
Hi! Thank you so much for this! I was wondering what kind of flour you use (king arthur? cake flour? white lily?). Thanks!
So this recipe calls for All Purpose flour and I use just a regular no name brand of flour unbleached AP