My sister and I watched the first Harry Potter movie over Labor Day weekend and wanted to celebrate the occasion by trying one of the recipes from the HP books. Butterbeer comes up so often we couldn't resist, even though it was a bit tricky finding a vegan version.
Ultimately, we decided to go with this recipe because it called for the least obscure / costly ingredients (I didn't want to spring for some butterscotch extract, for example!) although we looked quite foolish wandering around the beer aisle looking for a "flavorful dark beer"; we don't drink so I'm pretty clueless about that sort of thing. Anyway, we picked one that looked promising (Fat Tire from Fort Collins, CO if anyone out there is a fan, haha!), got home, and set to boiling out the alcohol.
We halved the recipe, used almond milk instead of soy, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. (I don't even want to know how much fat and sugar was in that cupful!) Anyway, the result was definitely.... interesting! Warm, autumn-y spices, tangy, with sweet undertones and a funky kick (probably the taste of the beer we aren't used to, alcohol or not!) On the one hand, I'm not sure I exactly liked it, but yet I found it extremely fascinating! Ultimately, though, it was just a bit "much" so we left our glasses mostly full, scooped out the rest of the soy ice cream, and poured a bit of the butterbeer over it for flavoring ;-) I think next time we will try one of the cream soda based recipes; this one just wasn't "butterscotchy" enough for what I always imagined butterbeer to taste like.
Still, it was quite fun :-) I think we might try pumpkin pasties for the next film!
How cool! It looks yummy. But I don't like beer so I'd have to try a beerless version. Yum: I vote for the pumpkin pasties next. Those always have seemed very appealing, and it's the right time of year to start enjoying them. Congrats for trying a recipe way out of your comfort zone!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa! ;-) It was definitely fun, though not a recipe I'd likely repeat. Yes, if you don't like beer, definitely steer clear of this version.
ReplyDeleteI found a pumpkin pasties recipe on the Dumbledore's Vegan Army website that looks promising. I think maybe next month when things start to feel autumn-y ;-) Or maybe it will be my Halloween treat!
What a neat experiment! I don't think I would like the taste either because I'm not a beer drinker but I do love butterscotch.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was funny since I don't drink beer so I kind of didn't know what to expect ;-p I always thought of it being a more sweet, butterscotch-y flavor, but then I do think it's a beer-based drink in the books. It will be fun to experiment with another recipe, though.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to mention the lumps of vegan butter floating in the pan, lol! That looked *so* appetizing, haha! :p
ReplyDeleteBut, when it was all said and done it was better/more interesting than I'd have expected. :D
Thanks for finding the recipe!!
Oh, um, ye-ah... and the little flecks of EarthBalance floating in the mug, too. Ick! But, yeah, it was certainly a fun experiment ;-)
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