Vegan Butterbeer
Welcome to Hogwarts! Today you will be learning how to make the finest butterbeer, without harming any magical or non magical creatures. Prepare to be spellbound!
Hi guys! So if you don't know me you might not know just how much I LOVE halloween! Like it's a serious love affair, and as soon as Summer ends it's like all I can think about. Last year as soon as I posted my Halloween recipes I was struck by an idea, but there was no where near enough time to make it happen. That idea was vegan butterbeer! I also thought that I could recreate a Hogwarts scene using my lovely Grnadma's house. Her house is pretty old, and has a beautiful fireplace in the hall. So I waited a whole year, never forgetting my ingenious year. And now, finally, here it is!
If for some bizarre reason, you've never read or seen Harry Potter, firstly I strongly advice you to go do that, and secondly butterbeer is the drink of choice for wizards. Particularly in Hogsmeade, at The Three Broomsitcks and The Hog's Head. Hogsmeade is the wizarding village local to Hogawarts, and the only all-wizarding village in Britain. (just a lil' Potter trivia there for you.)
Butterbeer is described as tasting "a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch". That wasn't too much to go on, so it was really left up to my imagination what kind of drink I would like to create. Obviously the name, butterbeer conjures up frothy, creamy drinks, but it was really fun to play around and discover what worked.
This was the first food photoshoot I've ever really done on location. If you read my raw key lime pie recipe you will know I have previously visited a professional food photography studio with my food. But this was the first time I was shooting in someone else's house, with a set up I'm not used to. And I was really nervous. Luckily this recipe is super simple, so it wasn't like I was being asked to cook a condon bleur three course meal. In the end I am delighted with how the photos came out, they look exactly as I had envisioned a whole year previously, and it was super fun being a witch for the day. (I'm a witch every day but ya no one that actually wears a hat!) I was very very anxious in the morning, I forgot the lightbulbs to my photography lights, I was hyperventilating, but it all came good. So I'm super proud of myself.
The main ingredient for the butter beer is cream soda, I found no added sugar cream soda in Sainsbury's. This drink is pretty sweet, but I found that one serving doesn't contain too much sugar with low sugar cream soda. So yay for fellow diabetics!
The ice cream i used in my butterbeer was Almond Dream Salted caramel. But any vegan vanilla/ caramel ice cream would do if you can't get hold of this brand.
The recipe is non alcoholic, so perfect for kids parties, but if you fancy spicing it up you can add spiced rum, or Kin toffee vodka! I discovered this vodka while I was in Manchester as it was given away for free in the goodie bags at the Forward Ladies National Awards. I messaged them on insta, and they let me know the vodka is vegan. And Boy am I delighted cos it tastes friggin amazing, on it's own, with coke, or with butterbeer!
Thank you so much to my lovely Grandma for letting me use her house, for being supportive in everything I do, and just all round being the best!
I created, photographed and wrote this blog post all while listening to the Harry Potter soundtracks, I advise you to do the same cos it really adds to the spooky feel!
Happy Halloween everyone, I hope it is as dark and spooky as my soul!
Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 teaspoons of agave syrup
The fat off the top of a can of coconut milk
4 cans of no added sugar cream soda
Vegan vanilla or caramel ice cream (I used almond dream salted caramel)
Optional serving suggestion
Spiced rum or Kin toffee vodka
Method
1) In a pan melt the vegan butter over a low heat.
2)Add the spice, vanilla, agave and coconut milk to the pan. Stir until smooth and remove from the heat.
3) Allow the butter mixture to cool for a while.
4) Once cool, pour the cream soda into a glass (or tankard) until it reaches about 2cm from the top. Add the butter mixture on top slowly, it will foam up so give it time to do so before pouring on more, don't fill to the rim.
5) Add a scoop of ice-cream, and then top up your drink with the cream soda so the foam sits nicely just over the rim.